Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Hot Coffee Drinks and Chocolate

I'm a caffeine fiend, that much I know. Over the course of one "good" day, I'll down three or four coffee drinks of varying sizes. Sometimes, I'll go for a chai latte, instead, but always something caffeinated. Always.

While avoiding responsibility this morning (and drinking a coffee drink), I came across Cole Bertsos's blog in the State News. "A Week in the Life" is a journalistic blog chronicling Bertsos's attempts at new ways of living. Vegitarianism was the last round. This week: no caffeine!

Ugh. Reading her descriptions of caffeine withdraw was rather scary, for me. Shakes, headaches, exhaustion, aches and pains. I found myself muttering "better her than me" more than once. But really, her suffering has scared me a bit. Just how hooked am I? I mean, I go long stretches without coffee (in Archives, when I'm not actually allowed to have a drink with me). I try to cut myself off by 8pm on most nights. But my day never really starts until I feel the lovely caffeine coursing through my veins, keeping me poised in French History, or that horrid Excel class. I think I could go a week without caffeine if needed, since I'm not a pop drinker. But chocolate has it, too. Oh, my sweet chocolate (bad pun). Between the M&Ms and Caribou Coffee, I'm a slave to temptation.

Anyway, do check out Bertsos's progress this week. She's got a superb style, which makes her blogs fun to read and informative. "I'm Caffeine Free" is definitely one I'll come back to later this week, to check his progress!

On other fronts, John Updike has passed away this week, leaving behind quite an impressive oeuvre. He will be missed.

The new year has begun, and my resolution is/was to read more books in 2009 than I managed in 2008. For those keeping count, that'd be at least 43 books. And what is my total, to date? Three. It's going to be interesting...