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NYC Starbucks: 41st & Madison

In an effort to combat my self-absorbed style of blogging (see blog entry below), I’ve decided to make a change. Each time I visit a Starbucks — before I put any effort into writing a post of my own — I will take the time to read some recent entries from other bloggers. I will also start actively looking for some great new blogs to read — and would love some suggestions!

There’s just so much out there. I tend to get wrapped up in my own thoughts and ambitions, when really what I’m doing is depriving myself from the thing that inspires me in the first place: reading.

Time was I would go to Starbucks solely to read. I’d read up on Astrology, read fiction, or even just a study guide for the GRE. Now, I go to write about this and write about that. But if one stops reading, eventually they will run out of topics to comment on themselves.

Also I pledge to tweet more than just pictures of Starbucks! But that’s another issue all in itself.

So what can I say about the Starbucks on the corner of 41st and Madison Ave?

It’s small. It’s very crowded. People would rather stay in here, drink their coffee, and stand then take it to go. It’s design confuses the amateur patron when looking for where the line begins — which I’m sure isn’t fun for the baristas. Also, this Starbucks is almost discrete. It has the Starbucks logo in the windows but no signing on the exterior walls of the building. Perhaps it would draw even more of a crowd, which probably wouldn’t be a good thing.

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Tags: blogging, Bryant Park, Grand Central Terminal, iced coffee, Manhattan, Midtown, New York City, NYC, reading, Starbucks

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Categories 2 Cup, Bryant Park, Midtown

Reflection: On Blogging

22 Sep

I have to admit. I haven’t really considered myself a part of the blogging community — or blogosphere — until recently. Since I started this blog on January 1st, I have been mostly concerned with getting to all these Starbucks in 365 days. I’m here to write, not to read. That’s been my mindset since the onset.

And looking at the whole picture here, this self-removed tendency of mine can be found in most aspects of my life: school, work, when meeting new people and even within the gay community. It’s time to break the chain.

Recently, a fellow blogger — thanks Kayla Krantz! — nominated me for The Liebster Award. Basically, this award is given to an up & coming blogger, from an up & coming blogger who thought their writing was worth sharing. In true chain letter format, those nominated are asked to pass the torch to 11 other worthy bloggers. Some may see this as an honor, others a hassle. Me? I see it as my opportunity to participate more in the blogging world and break the chain of self-isolation.

Below are 11 facts about me, 11 questions that I was asked to answer, the 11 blogs I’d like to nominate and the 11 questions I’d like them to answer.

11 Facts About Me:

1. I’m a gay man.

2. I live in NYC.

3. I drink a lot of Starbucks (but those 3 things kind of go without saying).

4. I’m in my second year of studies at NYU’s grad program in Public Relations and Corporate Communication.

5. I received my B.S. in English Language Arts Education at the University of Central Florida in Orlando.

6. If I wasn’t studying PR, I’d be studying Astrology. I’m an Aquarius with Leo rising.

7. Now — besides this blog — I mostly write emails and press releases.

8. I really, really want a dog, like a big dog — boxer or great dane — but it would be way to inhumane to keep one in my small NYC apartment.

9. Twitter is starting to take over my life. Follow me at @harlequinboy.

10. I’m equal parts extraverted and anti-social. So basically I talk to myself sometimes.

11. The first thing I ever wrote down was a Street Fighter fan fiction when I was 6 years old. I haven’t stopped since.

A Quick Q&A:

1. Milk or semi-sweet chocolate chips?

Definitely milk chocolate.

2. What is your dream job and why?

My dream job is a little obscure. I want to be an influencer in the LGBT community. Like the anti-Perez Hilton. I want to write books, give speeches and be a positive example of the modern day gay man. Of course — this is the dream. The realist sees in my future a career working in event coordinating or marketing for an LGBT non-profit.

3. What is your favorite drink? Any drink.

Oh, that’s easy. Dunkin Donuts Iced Coffee.

In all seriousness, if it weren’t for Starbucks coffee (in all its glorious forms) I wouldn’t make it through the day.

4. Would you rather live in the city or in a more rural country setting?

My life up to this point has been a continuous journey from small town to big city. I was born in a teeny tiny town in rural Pennsylvania. Grew up in the small city of Palm Bay, Florida. Spent two years in Tallahassee, Florida — a college town that also functions as the state capitol. I lived in Orlando for three years, where I got my first taste of urban living. And I moved to the Big Apple just last year. I’m now certain that city life is meant for me, and I can’t imagine turning back to anything less than honking horns, crowded streets and towering apartment complexes.

5. Is this your first blog?

Yes. Unless you count the LiveJournal that I kept in high school.

6. What is currently your favorite song?

That would be a three-way tie between Lady Gaga’s Applause, Avicii’s Wake Me Up and Same Love by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis.

7. Best dessert you’ve ever had?

Chocolate ice cream with peanut butter swirls.

8. What is your favorite thing about your blog?

The one aspect about this blog that gives me the most pleasure is that it is forcing me to explore the nooks and crannies of Manhattan in one year. Believe it our not, but I don’t have Starbucks tunnel vision. Each time I go to a new Starbucks — even if it is in a neighborhood I’ve walked through hundreds of time — I feel like I’m discovering some new corner of the city that I otherwise wouldn’t have seen.

9. If there was a natural disaster who would be the first person you’d look for?

My boyfriend, Jeremy. He lived in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, and I suffered through enough storms growing up in Florida, so I think we’d make a pretty good team in any kind of natural disaster.

10. Who is going to see Catching Fire in the theater when it comes out?

This guy!

11. What is your favorite store to shop at?

Target. It’s your one-stop-shop for anything you could possibly need. I worked for the company for five years, and it’s been difficult living in Manhattan without a convenient Target in my neighborhood. Bring on the City Targets!