Autobiographical Fragment

Big Coffee Drinker

Starting a new job sucks. Luckily for me, I’m not really starting a new job. I’ve actually worked here, on and off, for about three years. However, it’s been almost exactly two years since I left, and back then, I was doing a completely different job. In fact, being a barista in the coffee shop is just about the only job in this bookstore that I haven’t done. I was hired as a sales person, quit and moved to Utah, hated it, moved back, worked in shipping and receiving, quit and moved to Utah, hated it, and now here I am - the newest barista at the Tattered Cover Coffee Shop. It’s interesting how I got here, really. Working in a coffee shop, I mean. You know, given that I’m 23 and I only just started drinking coffee about a year ago. That was my first real act of rebellion against the teachings of my childhood. Taking the first sip of that slightly burned tasting white chocolate mocha was my first tug on the loose thread in the bindings around my own curiosity and independence. That’s right, I’m telling you that I’m a closeted lesbian, clinging to the last breaths of my Mormon upbringing by my fingernails, and I’m blaming the coffee, which incidentally, I hated that first time around.
I can’t actually say for certain that my starting to drink coffee, and figuring out that I was gay were at all related. To be honest, I was on my way out of the Church well before I knew I liked girls. I can tell you, however, that they share the commonality of both being things that I discovered, ironically enough, in Utah, surrounded by Mormons. My family, all of my friends, all of my coworkers, everyone I knew - Mormon. Which, as you can probably imagine, made those discoveries a touch uncomfortable for me. Which is why I moved back to Colorado, and came back to work at the liberally minded bookstore that I’ve come to call my second home. Although, I’m still not out. But I’m working on it! I mean, I did the whole closeted thing in Utah. I would make the occasional, but well timed comment about how cute some male customer was. And then I would go home from work, pop in an “L Word” DVD, cry my big-gay-self to sleep. But things are different now! Sure, I still live with my Mormon family, and I’m still going to church, and I haven’t told a living soul that I’m...you know...that. I’m getting to it though.
That’s all just background information though. Now that I’m back, I’m living in the here and the now. I’m back in Colorado, and I’m back at work with old friends, and there are some new people, but they seem pretty great too. Except for one of my new coworkers. Maybe it’s the fact that her name is Lauren, and I have never met a Lauren that I liked, or maybe it’s how genuinely good-natured and kind she seems, but there is something about this girl that I do not like. She’s really talkative, and is always asking me questions about myself - what I’m majoring in, what I like to do in my free time, what kind of music do I like, do I need help washing those dishes, can she get me something to eat while she’s out on her lunch break, etc. And, she seems legitimately interested in my answers. I mean, what’s her game? I guess it’s pretty cool that she’s a Women’s Studies major, and that she likes Tegan and Sara, but there is just something about her. She just makes me nervous all the time. No other person in this entire world has ever made me feel this off balance before. Oh, and she watches me. How creepy is that? I get that she’s training me, but she watches me while I make drinks and just smiles. All the time, this girl is smiling at me! On a side note, her smile is incredible. She gets these little crinkles around her big blue eyes - which are constantly sparkling, by the way. I’m not going to lie, her smile kind of makes me a little weak in the...wait! Do I have a crush on this weirdo? Oh crap.

Introduction: Catherine Boyle

1. What has been your favorite course of study in or out of school? Why?

I have really been enjoying my Education courses. I am passionate about children, and believe that everybody has the right to a great education. I love attending my practicums where I can actually spend time in the classroom, which makes me excited for my future career.

2. How many pages was the longest paper you have written? Did it include endnotes and bibliography?

The longest paper I have written was 23 pages, not including my bibliography.

3. Which was your favorite paper? Please tell us about the topic in a couple of sentences.

Surprisingly, my favorite paper I have written is my longest paper, which was a report on Michelangelo’s Last Judgment. I was able to explore the history and context of the piece as well as all of its different influences such as Dante’s Inferno, which was very interesting.

4. Is there a particular kind of writing you love to do?

I am not the type of person to just sit down and write, just for the sake of writing; however, when I do write I enjoy writing about personal experiences that I have learned from or have changed my life.

5. Which books have you read lately: art, fiction, non-fiction, sci-fi, poetry, environmental, film? Any comments are welcome.

Over the summer I reread all of the Harry Potter books. I absolutely love Harry Potter, and the world that J.K. Rowling created. I think that it is pure genius how she ties in many different themes in such an enjoyable and easy to read way. Harry Potter fostered my love of reading at a very young age, and I now read all types of books: fiction, non-fiction, scifi, anything all the time. It was nice to revisit my favorite characters in literature this summer, and I plan on doing it again very soon!

6. Which artist or writer really impresses you? Why?

Again J.K. Rowling. Her life story amazes me, and I think that what she has created through her writing is a work of art in itself.

7. What is your main interest besides writing, art, music, (i.e., the humanities)?

My main interest is skiing. I love the feeling of being in nature, of looking out from the top of a mountain onto the spectacular landscape of Colorado. The adrenaline that it gives me compares to nothing else.

8. Please describe briefly an article in a newspaper or a magazine that got you thinking lately.

Over the summer I read an article in the Denver Post about how Earth could have possibly had two moons at one point in time. Scienitsts are thinking that the larger of the moons gravity was so strong that sucked the littler of the two in, to create the moon that we have today. That is why the moon is somewhat lopsided, and why one side is smoother than the other. I thought this was interesting because many other planets have more that one moon, Jupiter has over 60, and I wonder how life on Earth would be different if we still had two moons. Would the ocean tides be different?

9. Which recent cultural event has really impressed you? This can be a museum, a concert, or anything like that, but also a sports game (if you consider this a cultural event, for which there are good reasons).

This weekend I am going to see Phish for two days, which I know will be an amazing cultural experience. People from all over the country, and the world, travel around and follow this band religiously. I am excited to meet some interesting folks.

10. Is there another, non-cultural event that has affected you deeply.

This past Spring semester I studied abroad in Florence, Italy. This changed my life profoundly. Never before had I been away from everyone and everything familiar to me, and pushed so far out of my comfort zone. It forced me to grow-up and become an adult. My experience also affected me in the way that I know understand how the world views Americans, and sadly why it is in a not so positive manner.

11. Please share with us a thought or an idea that really widened your intellectual horizon. If possible, give a source for this idea so that those who are interested know where to go.

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.”

–Dr. Seuss

Introduction: Louis Zeller

1. What has been your favorite course of study in or out of school? Why?

Probably my philosophy courses, I've only taken lower level classes but they were the ones i most looked forward to. Those classes really get you thinking about the things you believe in that sometimes can stay hidden away subconsciously somewhere.

2. How many pages was the longest paper you have written? Did it include endnotes and bibliography?

10 pages I'm pretty sure, it was about the pine ridge reservation for the Oglala Sioux. I got really attached to that one, partly because it was so long and partly because the story is so heart breaking.

5. Which books have you read lately: art, fiction, non-fiction, sci-fi, poetry, environmental, film? Any comments are welcome. Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut, An Apology for Idlers by Robert Louis Stevenson, In Cold Blood by Truman Capote and I've been reading all of Herman Hesse's books, just finished Steppenwolf and in the middle of Rosshalde right now.

6. Which artist or writer really impresses you? Why?

Herman Hesse is probably my favorite writer right now, his style is very honest and introspective. I like to see what actually going on in the mind of an author more so than the story being and Hesse does that for me with good balance.

7. What is your main interest besides writing, art, music, (i.e., the humanities)?

I like to hike up in the mountains, its always nice especially at night though.

8. Please describe briefly an article in a newspaper or a magazine that got you thinking lately.

My friend showed me an article about how the star, Beetlejuice, may turn into a supernova sometime in a span of 150,000 years. Scientists predicted that it would pretty much give the Earth a 2nd sun. Imagine waking up and rolling outta bed to see a supernova illuminating the sky at 4 AM, now thats something I can look forward to.

11. Please share with us a thought or an idea that really widened your intellectual horizon. If possible, give a source for this idea so that those who are interested know where to go.

"One never reaches home, but wherever friendly paths intersect the whole world looks like home for a time." - Demian by Herman Hesse