John Cade

This is hilarious.  Take a look at this Amazon.com screenshot:

(click for the full-size image)

One of the things I like most about Nashville (other than the killer music scene) is how social it is. It seems like around every corner, there is a coffee shop. And in every coffee shop around every corner there are tons of people, each of them either conversing with the people around them, or staring endlessly into the enchanting glow of their Macbook.

It sounds like mockery, but I am actually one of those people. Except in my case, it happens to be a Macbook Pro. So sue me.

Nashville is very trendy, which worries me because I’m not sure if the coffee shop ‘movement’ is a trend or a mainstay. I hope it’s a mainstay, and I think it will be for several reasons. One of the reasons happens to be that a fair share of business takes place at coffee shops. I can’t tell you how many meetings I’ve held or attended at coffee shops to sell my design services to someone. Or even just to sit down, have coffee, and design for that matter.

It’s cheaper to buy someone coffee than lunch when doing business, which happens to be important in a town where it seems like everyone is a struggling musician. Thankfully, I’m not one of those people. I mean, I am a musician, and I am struggling, but the two are unrelated.

My favorite place to ‘light up’ my Macbook Pro is at Portland Brew, just off of West End. It’s not the most popular, but it’s a bit more calm that the more popular ones, like Fido and Bongo Java. Even if their low-fat white chocolate mocha with sugar-free hazelnut isn’t as good.

And that’s my rant about coffee shops.

Give em a try.

What’s your favorite local coffee shop (wherever you may be)?