About last night (or the night before)

A few nights ago, I read from a literary anthology I am a part of. The event was at the Ugly Mug coffee shop in Orange. I had a lot of coffee beforehand because the event started at 8 pm and I had to drive myself and my friend Gina (who was also reading from the anthology, which she edited and curated) for the event after a full work day in Riverside. 

I started getting ready at work about five and muttered under my breath, "why do I do this to myself"? A nine hour work day was turning into a fourteen or fifteen hour day. But I consoled myself by thoughts of good food beforehand, poetry and more coffee of course. 

We got there quick, despite taking the 91 freeway, and after a circuitous and ultimately successful search for parking, we ate friend chicken and waffles at Bruxie in Orange. Then we ambled over to the Ugly Mug which is in a craftsman style house. 

The proprietor is notoriously grumpy and he did not disappoint. It took my friend Gina four tries to find a coffee drink from their menu that was available. I ordered my usual espresso which he replaced with an Americano. When I brought out my credit card to pay, he smirked and pointed to a sign that said CASH ONLY. I looked back at him with a raised brow and said, "Am I in a Seinfeld episode?" He said, "Yep" and directed me to the ATM down the street.

I got my steps in, got growled at by a dog (which was ironic considering I was reading a story about a dog that bit my twin sister when we were little) and made my way back to the Ugly "cash only" Mug of a coffee shop. 

Despite all that, the poetry was superb. An open mic bookended our readings and I was very impressed. The poets could perform and did and were super talented. Gina and I did our readings, which went down well, and then there was another open mic. At the end, the poet slash host read a poem about Gleek (the monkey from the justice league cartoon) he had in homage to my piece about wonder twins. 

I got home after eleven and fell into bed to sleep and perchance to dream. To dream of writing full-time one day...