Nothing in Particular

For today I thought I would just write about anything that happened to come to mind about the Ugly.  Nothing really specific, but rather just random things I observe.

I'm currently just sitting in the back corner of the Ugly.  Haven't sat here before and I really don't plan to again.  It's pretty cold because I'm sitting right next to a door and surrounded by brick walls that are cool to the touch.  Also, there's a large machine right next to me sifting coffee (at least I think that's what it's doing) and all I hear is a constant humming noise.  What is particularly interesting though is how they store the coffee.  The beans they have are all inside large garbage cans that have different labels like "bolivia" or "yirg."  Mind you the coffee isn't just inside the garbage can by itself.  The beans are actually in large sacks like you would imagine them to be if they came straight from Columbia. Like this.  An employee (I am sure he's an employee now) keeps walking back towards the machine and checking on it, occasionally putting his hand amongst the coffee beans being sifted and checking them for something.  Every so often the machine will spit out a good amount of beans into a large plastic bin they've put under the spout.  It's almost uncomfortably cold now, I feel like a girl.  What's up with a five dollar minimum on credit card orders?  I don't understand it and never will.  I had to order two bagels, and consequently look like a fatty by then eating both of them.  I can only assume that it costs money to be able to swipe credit cards in the first place so anything under 5 dollars would be almost pointless.  Yea, that has to be it.  A stout, portly fellow just walked in and sat down at the bar area.  He's wearing a green sport jacket with black pants and of course, converse-esque sneakers.  It's starting to pick up a little bit in here.  More orders going in and out.  Something noteworthy: apparently a thing called a "Coffee Taster's Flavor Wheel" exists.  It looks like a color wheel except its coffee.  It looks exactly like this.  I think an old arcade machine would really suit this place.  You know, like an old ms. pac-man or galaga.  But I guess something like that would retract from the social nature of the Ugly.  Maybe that's just my video game lust talking.  I think I'm the only person in here not drinking coffee.  Yup, definitely.  Interesting observation: the majority of the people in here are using Macs.  It's only too fitting for this place.  Steve Jobs would be proud.  Alright that's it for today, It's too cold back here.

Ugly Traffic

For today I thought I'd write about and sort of catalogue every person that comes in here (employees are not included because they seem to be walking in and out of the establishment every so often).

*****Side note*******

I've never mentioned the bathroom before because I hadn't been in it, but I feel like I should because it's pretty much a work of art on the inside (and because of certain social customs, or 'mores' as they're called, I doubt it would be very acceptable for me to bring my laptop in the bathroom and begin typing away, so this is a recollection of the wash-closet as I remember it).  Once you walk inside you immediately notice large (what looks like) hand drawn sketches of people I couldn't identify.  One in particular looked like a younger girl in a dress or a coat and she has a ghost-like quality to her.  Above her looks like a spray-painted stencil of a crow, or more specifically a raven.  I say raven because right under said bird is the line "Quoth the raven....nevermore."  A reference to Poe is only too fitting for this place.  Across from the little girl from my nightmares is what I remember as a side profile of a naked woman, or a woman scantily clad.  Whichever it was it's really well done.  I kind of forgot to mention how big these drawings are.  They take up almost entire spaces on walls so they're pretty large.  There are also random pieces of writing on the walls which typically adorn public restrooms.  I can't exactly remember what any of them say but I know it was more specific than "Call 555-5555 for a good time."

******End Side note*******

Alright on with the people watching.  A girl walks in and my intuition tells me she's in the Eastern marching band.  Not because I'm the son of Miss Cleo but because she's wearing a varsity jacket that says "Eastern Marching Band."  A guy walks in with long, wiry, dirt blond hair, an undefined type of mustache, and pink Converses.  A guy and a girl walk in together.  The guy looks to be around my age (22) and is wearing a hat that is apparently called a flat cap.  The girl's a little on the short side I guess, along with her hair.  Another guy and girl walk in together.  The girl looks around for a second, spots the beverage fridge and exclaims "OOOO I want a juice."  A woman just walked in that I think was my lit prof last semester.  Maybe I'm mistaken though.  I could just be thinking that because I remember her saying she comes in here all the time.  Yea, I was mistaken, wasn't her.  Some guy just walked up to the kid with the mustache.  "What's up Jules?"  Seem more like acquaintances than friends because the kid that asked the other one what's up was laughing a bit too hard and left rather quickly throwing out a "Rock on" right before departing.  I wonder if Jules is known for 'Rocking.'  A bald man comes in and whips out a laptop.  He doesn't look very typical of the people that come in here.  Ah but wait, he is sporting a soul patch.  He also has little divots in his ear from what I can only assume are piercings.  An older gruff looking fellow rides in on what looks like a Harley.  He's got a mustache and a leather jacket with a bald eagle superimposed on the American flag.  He's a bandana and chain wallet away from looking like a stereotypical biker.  A tall guy walks in with a knit cap.  Nothing noteworthy about him otherwise.  A woman with spiral curly hair is standing up near me reading over a paper and she proceeds to individually crack every single knuckle and other joint in her hand.  She stands there for awhile and eventually turns and begins to look around.  Is she waiting for someone or something?  Apparently she was waiting for the bathroom.  Wow, the guy in there must have been in there for awhile.  Well I think thats substantial for today.  I'll end this on the sound of the woman flushing the toilet.

Ugly Mug not so Ugly

For today I thought I'd write about what it looks like in here.  And to put it simply, this place has quite a bit of charm.

In many ways you could call the Ugly Mug drab or lacking a certain polish, but I think that only adds to the overall character.  Other coffee places like Starbucks almost have too much polish, they're too uniform.  Being that they're a franchise they're meant to look the same and seem familiar, and they do a great job doing that.  The Ugly Mug definitely has no hint of a franchise  (To avoid repetition I will now refer to the Ugly Mug as "The Ugly").  It almost looks as if it could have been someone's home a long while ago.  From the used books lining the walls and works of art seemingly done by those who reside here it has a very 'homey' feel.  For example, where the creme, straws, honey, and sugar rest is more or less someone's old nightstand.  

Another thing is the overall collections of oddities, more or less things that don't necessarily belong.  Something that just caught my eye is the presence of a base drum (the big one that rests on the floor of a drum set) sitting rather inconspicuously on top of the drink fridge.  Other things include light fixtures that don't match, small lamps placed on ledges (the one next to me doesn't seem to be in working order), and on a shelf sitting high above any normal person's reach there are some antique looking globes with small sculptures of jesus (or something closely related to that).  Also, there are a number of photographs and art on the wall.  This is mention worthy because you can actually purchase certain ones.  Next to the pictures are the name of said picture, the artist's name, and extra information on the artist.  The particular picture I'm staring at is a photograph of a S.W.A.T looking individual raising his middle finger to the photographer.  Yet I can't help but think he isn't an authority figure because he seems to be holding a paintball gun.

Everything in here feels worn and used.  The floor itself looks like it was stripped of its carpeting years ago and judging by the numerous chips of whatever substance was used to coat the floor, it hasn't been refinished in some time (most likely ever).  I've mentioned the chairs before but I feel compelled to cite them again.  The chairs are that of a movie theater, numbers and all.  I'm currently seated in chair 29 if you'd like to know.  What I've personally always liked about older movie theaters was the fact that the chairs were ultra comfortable and have been worn in by the asses of thousands of people.  The fact that they have these here and have seemingly plucked them from an old movie theater only adds to the ugly's character.

I could honestly sit here and go on and on about this place but a guy behind the counter is having a spirited chat with someone that works here and he keeps incessantly saying the word "like" in between each word he speaks.  I like, have to like, leave here now or like, I'll jump behind the counter, and like, hit this guy with like, a dictionary so he can like, come up with like, a new word to like, use.

Whoops

Well I missed the second(?) assigned post last friday.  What else is new..........

Though I did finally come to a decision on where I would observe, that place being The Ugly Mug. And I believe I have found the perfect place to observe for several reasons.  Firstly, I immediately feel out of place here.  Since I'm neither donning Chuck Taylors nor a tattoo (or a piercing for that matter) I feel as I'm looked upon as a preppy-type figure, invading the secret underground coffee parlor that is this place.  Yet I don't really consider myself preppy or anything of that ilk.  I would say I'm more eclectic.  I got a couple confused looks to say the least.  Also, it seems a scarf is mandatory attire in here.  Did I miss something?

The second thing about this place is that I don't like coffee.  The only times I'm ever in a coffee shop is if a girl I'm dating requests it or my parents insist upon it while I'm traveling with them.  I just don't like coffee for some reason.  The taste was always extremely bitter to me.  I'm also what you could call coffee illiterate.  I just recently learned what a mocha was the other day, and the whole cup sizing system that Starbucks uses should come with a written tutorial and a free class at the Y as far as I'm concerned.  What happened to small, medium, and large?  Oh well, pardon my tangent.

The third thing about this place is that each person that works here is hardly discernable from a customer.  The only reason I know who anyone is that works here is the fact that they are standing behind the counter.  I fear I'll walk in here one day and order a bagel from a customer.  And thats another thing, its really hard to tell if anyone in here has even ordered anything.  Its difficult to make a clear distinction between the lounging folk and actual customers.

Yet already this place has surprised me.  After hearing music that could easily be called emo for the majority of my duration spent here, on comes some rap music.  Who knows, by the end of my observation I may be drinking lattes and have a couple tattoos to go with it.

Where to go??

It was recently assigned to our class to observe an environment/location, one which was slightly (if not entirely) foreign to us so we could study a place that we've yet to fully experience. I've been pondering possible locations, my first inclination was a bar but with all the distractions (including one of a certain alcoholic persuasion) I'm having second thoughts. Next on my list may be some type of cultural center locally. Lastly would be some type of office environment or something closely related. I'm not dead-set on either of these options and am keeping my ears and eyes open, yet these are all possible situations.