Words of Wisdom.

The Asian owner of my favorite Chinese food restaurant said something so adorably fortune cookie Sunday that I just had to share. Some background information first:

Near the downtown areas of Waterville is the Concourse, which consists of a number of stores and restaurants. My favorite haunt (besides Goodwill) is The Pagoda Express, an absolutely darling Chinese food restaurant. They actually have the best crab rangoon I have ever tasted, but that's not the point of my story. I try to order take-out at the restaurant every once in a while and I do make the effort to dine in, when I can con a friend into going with me, that is.



The staff at the restaurant knows me very well. I habitually order the same types of thing. There was added excitement over the past month that I have been visiting, because my caller ID has changed to read "Awesome, I Am." Anywho, that Sunday my old roommate Tori was in the area and we ordered take-out using her cellphone. The restaurant was empty when we walked in (it was near closing). My favorite waitress greeted me with "Are you doing awesome today?"

I laughed. "I am indeed!" I said. The owner of the restaurant, the previously mentioned man, was at the counter and the waitress came up and explained to him how my caller ID has a great declarative statement. I turned to Tori and said: "See, even the phones know how great I am!"

"Well I tell myself I'm awesome all the time!" Tori said.

The owner looked at Tori and said, "You tell yourself you awesome, you awesome everyday."

Fortune cookie wisdom, that man has it.

Coffee is my life-juice.

Coffee. It's my beverage of choice, as much of a vice as it is a virtue. When I was young, it was my mother's beverage of choice as well. She'd brew a pot every morning and load each cup up with cream and sugar. It was generally unwise to attempt conversation until that first cup had been consumed. During my high school years mum was attending university. On the mornings I woke before her I would try to start a pot for her, so when she had to roll out of bed at least a few of her ducks started congregating in row-formation.

Because of those morning rituals, coffee became this taboo thing for me, something that grown-ups consumed. I was certainly not going to partake in something so adult.

When I moved to Waterville, my first place of employment was at a chain-coffee shop called Tim Hortons. It's straight out of Canada, land of the People Who Take Their Coffee SRSLY. One of the company's laws was that every twenty minutes, you brew a fresh pot of coffee. The old coffee is dumped out, regardless of how much is left in the pot.

Being from The County, I found this attitude unacceptable! It's wasteful! So I picked up this habit of drinking expired coffee to save it from being tossed. It didn't matter that I disliked the taste, I drank and drank and drank. (Sugar and flavor shots helped fix the taste.) As a result, I developed a taste for the stuff (and a caffeine habit) and am addicted. Alas, my love was not meant to be. Several months ago I had an abrupt change of careers, and this dried up my coffee supply.

Fortunately, relief was around the corner! Relief by the name of Jorgensen's, a local coffee shop in downtown Waterville. I love the wide variety of coffees, from Butter Rum to Orange to various organic free-trade roasts. Jorgensen's is the place to be. They also have Gelato, which is Italian for "Frozen Frosting Ice Cream of AWESOME." (It's actually a gourmet ice cream dessert.) The coffee is a bit pricier that the chain stores, but if you're willing to stick around, they provide free refills at the self-serve stations and the coffee is free on every seventh visit. They even have free wi-fi. I'd never leave if I didn't have obligations, like a full time job.



Did I mention the chocolatiers across the street? <3

I'm what you'd call 'approachable.'

I live in the city of Waterville in the great state of Maine. I usually get a lot of laughs when I refer to Waterville as a city. If you came from a place where the animal population vastly outnumbered the human population, you'd consider Waterville a city. (Although in my old neighborhood, the feral cat population reigned supreme before the foxes moved in...)

Ahem. I live in the micropolitanistic city of Waterville. I am two minutes from the city lights of downtown. The opera house is a mere stone's throw away. There are five bars within walking distance. The local grocery stores are a half-an-hour journey. All of my needs can be fulfilled by taking a short walk. (And I didn't even mention the cafes and craft stores and chinese food restaurants.)

I walk everywhere. During these constitutionals, I stumble across many familiar faces. Most of the time these people don't recognize me or merely nod and look away. Today, while on a coffee run, a familiar face stopped me and we conversed.

Scene: Old Rite-Aid parking lot.
Woman - (goes out of her way to walk up to me) "Where do I know you from?"
Misty - (winces at end of sentence preposition) "I used to work at Tim Hortons?"
Woman - "Oh... well, no, that's not right. Do you live around here? In town, I mean."
Misty - "Yes, I'm over on Silver. I walk everywhere."
Woman - "That must be it then! I know I've seen you around! What's your name?"
Misty - "I'm Misty. And you are..."
Woman - "Dee."
Misty - "It's nice meeting you, Dee. I'm sure you'll see me around again. Have a nice weekend!"
Dee - "You too!"

And that was that. I wish I could say this was an isolated incident, but people come up to me all the time. My only pet peeve is when drivers ask me for directions when I'm crossing six lanes of traffic on a crosswalk. It's happened twice. I guess I suffer from supreme approachability. I can't say I mind it all that much, except when people are trying to approach me with their cars. I'm an entertainer and I love meeting new people and interacting with individuals from all walks of life.

Regardless of my approachability, people should stop asking me for directions. I get lost in the shower and frequently confuse the words 'left' and 'right.' Does that sound like a person you should trust directing you to the hosipital? :P