Of Vice and Men

Well, of vice and people.  Writer people.  Fine.  Me.

I’m in the mood to keep it light, so when I say vice I’m speaking, for the moment, of those things we like to pretend we need to have to write anything decent, things we spend inordinate amounts of money on because it makes us feel good and wealthy and, for some reason, like AUTHORS.

There is a more serious aspect to this topic.  I am not dismissing nor am I overlooking.  I have gotten heavy before and I’m sure I’ll do it again.  I am open to restarting that discussion.  For now, right now, I’m exposing my eccentricities to the world at large, because hey, we all like to laugh at the foibles of others and if you’re laughing, I know you’re reading.  At least, I hope you are…

Thus I present…

MY WRITING RELATED VICES!  

Pens:  

I have written extensively on this topic already.  Yes, one can write extensively on pens.  Short version: I love them.  I am picky about both the pen itself and its home.  Do not hand me one of those craptacular white plastic tubes when I ask for a pen.  Those aren’t pens, they’re abominations and I’ll shove it where the sun don’t shine.  You’ve been warned.

Mugs:

(The hot sauce is totally photo bombing them)

I have many of them.  My favorites are from The Unemployed Philosopher’s Guild (Shakespearean Insult, First Lines) and the one with my “publishing company’s” logo (i.e.: the organization name I publisher under that is not at all official, my concept and RJ Keith’s gorgeous execution).  There are others.  Why so many?  Some days I want to wrap my hands around it, some days I can barely keep hold of the handle.  Different work needs different inspiration.  Some days I just need way more caffeine.  Believe it or not, this is something I actually  think about before I brew a beverage-requiring mug.  It’s all part of the ritual.

Chocolate:  I do not like dark chocolate.  I have tried.  I’ve had really good dark chocolate.  I don’t like the mouth feel.  Ew, get your brain out of the gutter, you know what I mean.  Maybe I just have an over developed sense of bitter or too many buds in that section or something.  I am not, however, an all hands on deck girl.  Quality needs to be decent and I would rather spend more and get less.  Hershey = no.  Cadbury from the States = no, especially if it’s that fruit and nut shit.  Cadbury from the UK and Ireland = yes (and I consider myself lucky I am but a fifteen or so minute drive from Mon Ami in the Strip District [because it is a long strip of shops not because… oh, never mind, you’re hopeless] which, while it has an absolutely terrible website, is a lovely little store stuffed with British and Irish chocolate, a wall of malt balls, handmade truffles, and all sort of fun chocolate bars including bacon and Southern hibiscus peach).  Used to be that M&M’s would do in a pinch, but now that I’m on the wagon (by which I  mean I got on the scale and then fell off related to the increase) I’ll probably be sticking to the good stuff.  After this bag.  Because no sense in wasting them, right?

(It’s not you.  It’s that none of my pants fit…)

Sushi:  Do I get sushi every time I write?  No.  I would eat it at least two meals a day if I could but it takes too long to make and is way too expensive to buy because Shiri don’t eat none of that supermarket crap.  When I know I have a major editing session, though, this is how I kick it off.  Perfect package: carb, veg, protein.  Sweet and spicy.  Magically delicious.  Learn the rules though, kids: two most important?  Do not drown in soy sauce (it’s a seasoning) and do not load with wasabi (condiment, not colorant).

Coffee: Right up front, I have a Keurig.  I know, I know.  You purists out there sneer and you’re right.  The quality of the brew isn’t the same.  But it’s fast.  And I have one of the eco cups, grind my own beans, and make sure that my day at starts with some real coffee.

I have some less decent stock too, but I’m finishing it up so I can move along to the Ritual and McMennamin’s goodness, especially, as just mentioned, that first, sweet sweet cup of the day.  I also frequent Allegheny Coffee and Tea Exchange, which is right near Mon Ami in the… yes, the Strip District (quit it already); they have a crazy selection of flavory, afternoon blends.

Tea:  Check it out: I have a little tea pot and it’s short and stout, there is its handle, there is its spout.

Tea is the evening writing beverage.  Because I’m a horrible, horrible insomniac even with medication, so I cut myself off from coffee at 3 cups, or 5pm, whichever comes first.  At least when I’m on an actual person schedule.  Bewley’s brings me back to my semester in Ireland, the one I wish had turned into a year and then, maybe, into forever.  I have never written as quickly and as much as I do in tiny hotel rooms in Dublin or cold and wet on the bus between Donegal and civilization.  If I’m going green, I usually hit up Lotus and go for the tin with the least English and prettiest pictures on it.  AGH Coffee and Tea Exchange is, as the name suggests, a purveyor of both, so when I’m shopping for my coffee, I usually hit up the wall o’ tea for a couple of herbal blends.

That’s what I “need” to make this whole writing thing happen.  What’s your poison ?