Seeking Refuge in Showbiz

     Each time I return to the city I find something more I dislike about it.  Today is St. Patrick's Day so there are enough drunken slobs to turn any right minded individual against this city today.  As I walked across town I discovered with some jarring clarity that we have turned St. Patrick's Day into a sort of North Eastern Mardi Gras.  I must have passed at least three mobil television crews filming people dancing about in the streets all over each other with their sense and inhibitions nowhere to be seen.  Mind you, this was around three in the afternoon... Regardless of the chaotic mess now inhabiting the streets of Midtown Manhattan I trudged along dogging the occasional swaying 'frat-boy' clad in green seemingly three sheets to the wind and about to take a spill. There exists a redeeming quality within this city that has been forged by civilization, the very same civilization that is responsible for the myriad of drinking establishments.  What i'm talking about is the fact that we are a nation devoted to our coffee!
     During the chaotic sprawl that is St. Patty's Day the coffee shop is a sanctuary.  Today I ducked into Showbiz Cafe on nineteen west twenty-first street and I must say I rather enjoyed my stay there.  Showbiz Cafe is owned and operated by Showbiz Software and serves as both a cafe and a retail store for every film production tool from hard-drives to monitors and all the software in between.  There was a new vendor by the name of Jezalins who did a fair job manning the quite counter by herself.  It was clear that the crowd I was amongst shared my appreciation for general silence while enjoying their coffee and discussing the news, a new script idea, or what have you.  Shobiz Cafe offers free seminars, often about how to better manage and organize yourself before and during film production, all of which are open to the public.  Sometimes if the seminar is especially enlightening they'll charge a general fee but nothing outrageous.  They also offer academic discounts on almost all their software.
Anyway, What I have to say is this, though the coffee was a bit burnt (nowhere near Starbuck's abomination) I still enjoyed my time spent there.  I ordered a medium cappuccino and some tiramisu and the prices were not bad at all. In fact, with the inclusion of a bag of chips i believe I only spent about six dollars and fifty cents.

Admittedly the beverages are not as flashy as Stumptown's.

I hope you've all faired well today as we all attempt to survive yet another holiday that's lost it's meaning.

Sincerely,

-S.