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THE COFFEE PROJECT

Everyone has a story to tell. We traded a cup of fresh brewed coffee in our shop for some of those stories. 

  • I fell down a well once. It didn't hurt much and the birds fed me until the rain came and the water rose me out. 
  • Today is my last day in SF but I'll be moving here soon. This is my favorite city. I wanted to move here since I came to the US five years ago. 
  • My mom glued my first set of legos together and I still hold it against her. 
  • I'm a boy wearing woman's underwear and it feels great. Maybe this could be a new direction for me. 
  • I saw you at the coffee shop every day for a month. One day, you didn't show up. I hope you're ok. 
  • She liked to   to the electric neon Light Show. Flash on flash off one foot on the light switch. Loveful Heights. 
  • My father sat me down at the young age of 8. In his thick greek accent he told me the two most important things in life. "Have good credit & shit every day."
  • Your husband and I are in love. 
  • There was once a cat named Bruce. Bruce was like many old cats- fuzzy poof tail, zig zag orange stripes, and just a few streaks of grey in his handsome muzzle. But Bruce was very different from many cats was well. He had a secret, and that secret was a friend. The friend's name was Dixie. Dixie was large an owl with two bright eye-like circles and a warm… (to be cont…)
  • Lilac Elixir Imble Sheen 
  • I had a dream last night. I was hiking through mountainace area in the dark. I was with a group of friends. Out of nowhere a cheetah man came out flying though the air. We began flight. Somehow I knew karate. I woke up & wished I knew how it ended...
  • Once upon a time, there was a girl named Andrea who was awesome because she could collage the best psychotic squirrels in the world and also she had telekinetic abilities. She became a famous artist who saved the world from destruction. 
  • When opening up the walls to our house during construction we found 2 vintage Acme beer cans at each host. Also found: hippy lesbian pornos. We now know what it took to build San Francisco.
  • My father used to have a cup of pens at his desk. All of them Pilot Razor Points. A sense of nostalgia fills me as I remember his desk. Beside the cup of pens there was a small bronze of Sisyphus pushing the stone up the mountain. I always wondered if my father was Sisyphus was I the stone? 
  • I saw a beautiful woman at a coffee shop. I speculated her qualities and traits. It made me feel more energized and confident about my life. 
  • I bought a very expensive pair of boots to take hiking in the jungle. I carried this heavy prize with me, waiting for the correct time to put them on. When they were at last on my feet they had not been broken in, and hurt me intensely. I left a very expensive pair of boots on the trail in the jungle. 
  • Once upon a time there was a small child who lived in a small city. He built forts, fought imaginary monsters and was the hero of every story he created. He lived in a huge world and played until his heart was content. He drew his ideas. Built with sticks and swore to himself that day. I will grow old but I will never grow up! - Gabriel <3
  • When I turned 21 I made a trip with a best friend across the country to West Virginia. We headed into the forest and within minutes I met a man named Day. He was a wise man and explained to me the concept of the WEGO. The Ego is something you must get past in order to experience the WEGO. 
  • There was a time I almost got jumped by young kids in Berkeley who were as young as 9, 10, 11. I was in high school. I probably could have taken most of them, but strength in numbers! So, I ran and they chased me to my car. The End. 
  • One day I pooped my pants before getting into a taxi. 
  • So it was my birthday yesterday and it was quite a night. Began by getting drinks with friends, then getting food. In a belligerent state we decided to go to the cemetery, when we were walking some friend slightly scared due to the only source of light being the moon, we spot 2 people in hoods and we followed them. We lost them in the trees… the end. 
  • I bought a couch once and put different legs on it. We had a party and it collapsed when our pregnant friend sat on it. 
  • My grandmother had 5 miscarriages and one still birth. My mother was born very sick. Her birth mother had no choice. She thought the baby died. My grandmother adopted my mother. My mother had me. Love is not biology. Love is not paperwork. Love is. 
  • I moved to San Francisco in a moment of impulse- a decision made in 36 hours over a job offer for my spouse. I came wondering if I'd made the wrong choice. I'm here now wondering why I didn't move years ago: it's the city that I didn't know I'd always meant to come home to. Romantic, perhaps, but true. 
  • Timing I distracted her, made her ignore her friends' calls. Successfully tempted her into my hotel room and to turn off her phone. Her friends, meanwhile, moved to another bar having no idea where she was. As I walk her out, on floor 15, overlooking Manhattan, we wait for the elevator. Coming down from the rooftop its doors open and the surprise gives way to laughter.
  • 2-6-14  When I was 11 years old, I had a 9-hour spinal fusion to correct my severe scoliosis. It was Valentines Day. My mom, stepdad, genetic dad and two aunts waited together in the hospital. The first thing I remember when I woke up was a dark room filled with blinking neon lights. There was a tube in my side and down my nose and throat, in my hands and my urethra. I wanted to see my family. My mom and stepdad were allowed in to see me. I don't remember what they did or said but as they started to leave, I tried to tell them to stay. No sound came from my intubated throat so I yelled as loud as I could. It sounded like a wheezing whisper and my mom and stepdad left. They later guiltily told me the doctor had told them I would be insensate and unable to communicate. I think now that there is a potential world inside of everyone and everything. I think it is better to make this assumption than its opposite; that without recognizable signals there is no life. * *This does not mean I am pro life. 
  • There was a brief time I fell for a woman. She was strong. She was beautiful. She was very wounded. And when she flew out to make good on our sweet, tentative telephoned promises, I realized I was disappointingly, paralyzingly, embarrassingly, straight. 
  • Sam, Zoe and I discovered the neon, walking in the rain. The neon drew us in, but it was mostly the name. Toys were on our minds and we were exploring ideas. We softly agreed that sticks and glue and paper and scotch tape were the best toys. 
  • I may have fallen in love with my best friend, too bad we are both in relationships and can never truly be together. 
  • "The only thing you really need to know is the location of the library" - Albert Einstein KILL YOUR TV.
  • Today I enter the conference room for my annual salary review! Let's see what the boss says. Part II to come. 
  • I had an awesome bike ride through Golden Gate Park where I saw some odd stuff, some amazing stuff. Taking note that I was riding around 11pm. But I saw a fleet of coyotes playing with a beach ball. That was pretty awesome. 
  • There was an owl on the street who told stories at night. And never during the day. The owl geotagged himself. Herself. In hoots. And howls. The owl makes mixed tapes. The owl never goes to dance parties. The owl never does cocaine. But she used to. A lot. Be 'a lot' needs not ever be used in stories because it is 1) boring and 2) obvious about some activities. The owl makes maps out of stories and drops them. Drops them in cats. Intersections. Stop lights. 
  • Today my landlord gave me a utility bill for $450. Happy Valentines Day! <3 It was for three months, but still.
  • Get whacked in the head every night with that damn battery pack
  • When I was in college, I used to include "female empowerment" on my list of interests. The only person who ever hired me because of it was a flamboyant man at HBO. Ironically I ended up in the sports department. 
  • My words will break cement.
  • A handsome man once taught me how to use a typewriter. February seventeenth
  • She gave me a paper heart- it read: "I like you / I like cats more/ I like you..." I looked up at her. She said to me, "I like cats more". Then we went to dinner. 
  • I once was abused by a party trick.
  • Wine is red. Violets are blue. Poems are hard. Wine. 
  • One time I had to shower with a dude to shower with two other girls. It was still awesome. 
  • When I was a sophomore in college I went to a Weird Al Yankovic concert with a friend. We invited Weird Al to hang out afterwards. He requested Hooch Malt Liquor. We hung out in his hotel room watching Steel Magnolias, drinking Hooch, and giving each other foot massages. 
  • 2/19/14 Jon didn't know my name. The only thing Jon knew was that he wanted my basketball. Who knew that 15 years later we'd still be friends chillin in Electric Blanket drinking coffee with each other. 
  • My story begins on Thursday Feb 20th. Sad start to my day. Tom will not co-operate with me. We are not appearing to be getting back together. He was to punish me for not coming to see him. He hurts very much. And I do not know what to do!
  • I really enjoy bike riding. When my nephew was old enough, I decided to take him on a bike ride. There came a point halfway through the ride that we went downhill this narrow, windy bike path. My nephew ate shit. I didn't know it was his first time riding without training wheels. He was all hysterically crying, especially after he felt and saw the blood drip from his eyebrow. I don't think he's ridden since. 
  • Geena was on the roof of her mother's apartment building in North Beach. The time was irrelevant to her condition, but she recalled the that ambient light had been milky enough to see the ash collected at the end of her blunt. She could see it was raining, maybe. Raindrops collected on her glasses like a windshield. She lit the marijuana anyway, a damp fire. Geena stepped into the elevator going down. One floor down, a man got in. Geena was excited. "I'm starting a revolution," she said enthusiastically and with conviction. The man turned away, put off. Geena's hair hadn't been brushed for days. She was braless under a men's button-down shirt. He exited the elevator. "I'm starting a revolution," she said, repeating it over and over. 
  • My gum fell out of my mouth in laughter as a client described a bed bug problem in gory detail and then laughed together with me. 
  • One time I met a man in a black suit and a woman in a white dress. I was embarrassed by my grey sweatsuit but then we all had tea and a threesome and became friends. 
  • Late night walking in Chinatown, the police made me do push ups, threatening me with a billy club.
  • I can't remember the last time I was this happy!
  • The most heartbreaking day of my life was when I was saying goodbye to my parents in Morocco. I felt like I was about to collapse. But I thought I did what I had to do and chase my dream. Whatever it takes.
  • There was once a woman who took beautiful pictures of my lover, my daughter and me. 
  • At 1st grade my teacher wanted to hold me back a grade because of my age, but I stood up and didn't let that happen. 
  • I have been lost and now I'm found. I want to write about being lost. 
  • This summer I spent 3 days visiting Austin, TX. On the third day, I found a friend whom I had been missing for 3 years. We decided to rent a kayak at sunset and float along the river that cuts through the middle of the city. As the sun set behind us we were shocked & delighted to see & hear above us hundreds and hundreds of bats streaming out from under a massive bridge leaving for their breakfast. They looked, together, like wispy strands of a wildchild's hair, straggling into the hot summer above us. 
  • In elementary school, I was one of the most popular kids in school. However, it's not in the way you might think. I was popular in such a way that EVERYONE, from 1st to 5th grade, knew me... and bullied me. In fact, when I was in 5th grade, even 1st and 2nd graders bullied me. By the time the summer came along though, I made a promise to myself not to let people walk all over me like that again. I decided to be more outgoing and talkative. Once I did that, I guess the other students stopped viewing me as the shy person that they could always pick on. Instead, I started making a lot more friends. Now I'm in high school, and I'm friends with at least half of my class in almost all of my classes. 
  • One day I missed a plane. I was going to Africa. I went to the airport early, checked in, did my shopping and waited in the lounge for the plane. I had my earphones and awesome music playing. The board said "wait in lounge" so I waited- then it said nothing. By the time I walked to inquire, they said the plane had left. I went into a crying fit. They said there is a plane tomorrow. I said tomorrow is too late. After a few hours, a plane tomorrow was a blessing. So Einstein was right. Time is relative. And with time- you go from crying to thanking. Had a great trip afterwards. 
  • I once got arrested for recycling a beer can when I was 20. I spent 25 hours in an inner city jail & 30 hours community service.
  • One day a girl and her best friend took a trip to the Outer Richmond. They discovered simple pleasures, tapioca pudding, and suitable tables to make their projects on. They made new friends and envisioned themselves in San Francisco in the 50s, listening to jazz with slicked back hair. It was a good day.
  • Once I traveled to a foreign land with an open mind and it served me well. On vacation, it's easy to say yes to things out of your comfort zone. Looking to find a curious adventure seeking state in San Francisco. City by the bay, please steal my heart. 
  • California Story While Camping in Stamisala County: As a boy scout, I was camping with Pack 39 at age 12 or 13. We were on a 9 day trek. We ran into a church group with women on Day 6. One girl really caught my attention. The group was at out camp ground area. All of us guys took extra time to look as suave as possible. We each discussed which girl we were going to "court". When I said the one I liked, I said she has nice "triceps".
  • In 2nd grade I fell in love with my first love, Leonardo DiCaprio. I collected photos of him in a plastic grocery bag and carried it to school every day. One day, a news crew was interviewing my classmate Chris for getting into a fight with my P.E. teacher because Chris refused to take out his earring in gym class. As I walked by the cameras, my bag of Leo paraphernalia ripped and I screamed as I lost all the photos. Watching the daily news later, I heard my scream in the background.
  • I insisted that for my first "real bike" that it be a boy style bike, complete with a bar that comes out from under the seat across to the handlebar stem. Easy to start riding, but I was so scared that when I stopped, I'd fall on the bar and hit my crotch. I went around and around our circular driveway, too scared to stop. My dad had to reach out and grab me. My fears never came true. Boy bikes are ok for girls!
  • When I was young I went to an art opening in a strange place. As I walked through the door people wearing animal masks greeted me and ambient noise of many instruments drowned out any voices. I saw a girl who I loved but haven't seen for a while. She used to love me but we haven't spoken for a while. Have you ever seen a ghost? Maybe this is the closest thing I will come to crossing into another world and coming back. The trick is living to tell the tale.  
  • I went to a baby shower today. Being single and seeing my friends have babies makes me feel behind. My mom told me "you're on the right track for being you."
  • It was a beautiful day. I left work to get a cup of coffee. I found a beautiful cat. Luxurious coat, azure eyes, pink bow. I told the cat, "I'm going to Puerto Rico tomorrow!" There was no reply. Only an unsettling stare. And a cup of coffee. ...to be continued. 
  • We went to the SPCA to adopt a dog, walked away with two cats and the next day I found out I was pregnant. My husband has had to change their litter ever since. 
  • This morning I woke on Treasure Island a land of my human body. A beautiful angel picked me up in her car and explained that God had been watching me and that she was there to take me to God, across the bridge. Across to heaven. Much like a child. My lungs are not needed. San Francisco, disguised like a world city. Full of love. Full of God. 
  • Home is no longer a wooden structure with drywall nailed to frames. Not a place with a specific zip code, 5 digits. It has become the snippets of life I've kept with me from one side of the country to this one. People who are scattered like jacks when they fall. I remember growing up beside you. I remember the last meal we shared, the final goodbye. And you, I I have spent the last few years peeling your fingerprints from my skin. 
  • A story of Lisa is a tale of adventure and sadness but a tale worth telling. Glitter and textile paint and glue make up my body sunshine and gummy bears fill up my soul. Grief and sadness fill my heart. But hope and joy are my future. 
  • This is a story about becoming who you are. My father became a father at a young age and he had a difficult time managing his emotions. For many years he told me everyday that I was the stupidest person he ever met. For years I let those words define me but then I met someone that gave me the courage to be smart and I have continued to embrace a new way of looking at myself. 
  • This one time I danced naked in the pits of hell. It was alright I guess. -Ladie
  • I met a man last week who had sung at Carnegie Hall. He told me how much he had hated the experience- the crowd, the formality, the weight of it all. But he described it with the maniacal detail of a man in love with a woman who wouldn't know him from Adam.
  • Been around the world, lived in several cities, and 'aint no place like SF. Our own culture, weather, food, style, weed, coffee and vibe <3
  • Uh Oh, I have to wear black slacks and a white shirt with a tie and buy jazz shoes (black) for my first dance performance. I swore off black years ago and am feeling superstitious about performing. :( 
  • A chicken walks into a library and asks the librarian, "book? book?" in his chicken voice. The librarian gives him a book and the chicken leaves. The next day the chicken is back and asks the librarian again, "book? book? book? " in his chicken voice. The librarian gives him yet another book, and the chicken leaves. The next day the chicken asks for another book. By now, the librarian is really curious, so he gives the chicken a book and follows him out of the library. He follows the chicken through the forest, and all the way to the pond. There, he sees the chicken give the book to the frog. The frog takes one look at the book and says, "reddit. reddit." The end. 
  • I met the love of my life one warm night on the corner of Valencia and 22nd Street. It was my first time in the Mission. Eight months later, I live here, and we have been together since. A small story, but significant nonetheless. I've never been so in love, or so happy.
  • My ex once told me that I wouldn't like "I <3 Huckabees". I asked what she wanted to bet, and she said, "my clothes." I liked the movie. When we were having sex the next day, she said "I didn't come over here expecting this."
  • Silk. So it was a movie about silkworms, but it ended with a possibility of a new beginning, a new possibility. I could say thank you for a lovely movie. When I saw you I knew you had to be the one. If only I could grow the courage to tell you I love you. xoxo
  • A week ago I had a revelation I want to be a unicorn, but without the horn. I don't like horns, but a hornless unicorn needs extra support. His schoolmates make fun of him. It's not a good thing to be a blue and pink hornless unicorn. But I don't care. I want to be one.
  • One time my friend started talking to some random people at a bar. Before we knew it I had invited everybody to my place. The girl was rather drunk and the guy was an amazing guitarist who shared some hilarious tunes with us. Suddenly the girl felt not so great. On her way to the bathroom she could take it no longer and projectile vomited all the way down my hallway. My friends helped clean it up. All in all an epic Tuesday. 
  • My Papa was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. My last fond memories of him were curled up on his couch wrapped in an electric blanket as he recalled, ever so slowly, his childhood in Portugal. The blanket kept us warm and safe. I love you Papa. -Madison
  • We left our teenage dog at home while we went and got groceries. He was tired from a long walk, but...it's a risk. This story is a mystery...what will we be going home to? 
  • The snow was falling delicately, covering the world in elegant white inside. The electric blanket warmed the bed, the candled glowed with love. The 3 kitties were snuggled at the food of the blanket, purring with bliss. 
  • My brother the wind I will go soon find the riffle of the wave I am water
  • I had a green electric blanket once...at the age of 5 I dreamt we had won the lottery and was hugging all the money, just to wake up and be hugging my green electric blanket... sad story. 
  • Once upon a turtle, and then suddenly out of nowhere, when I least expected it, my best friend who still lives in New Orleans told me that everything was all wet on account of things being the way they are. 
  • I'm moving to Mexico City to become a professional Lucha LIbre groupie. 
  • I had 3 cats who would go camping with me. On evening hikes they would run ahead of me to show me the way, leaping and bounding each other, all having fun in the wild.
  • When I want to feel happy I dress up like a fireman and help people who are in trouble or need me.
  • I grew up where inters were very long, dark and cold. Hot water bottles were essential to heat the bed at night. Then finally one day my mother bought me my very own electric blanket. I haven't thought about it for years.
  • This morning as I was watering my garden which has a ton of veggies and fruits, a beautiful monarch butterfly landed next to a California poppy and they perfectly matched each other's color orange. The flower fluttering from the wind and the monarch pulsing its wings with the beat of the sun. 
  • Spirit takes flight: I was meditating on the edge of a Mendocino cliff. Eyes closed, spirit calm. The wind was intense. I felt that it had the strength to blow me off the cliff into the rocks and surf below. I wanted to go- to soar. So I settled further into my body and let my spirit fly free. Ahhh Bliss.
  • One summer day my best friend and I, who were 13 at the time, decided we wanted to be punks, so we attempted to dye our hair pink using cherry kool-aid. We learned of this technique by watching Cindy Crawford's House of Style, which is decidedly un-punk. Needless to say this did not work. But at least we say on his porch for four hours with sticky heads attracting flies while his mom laughed her ass off.
  • The first library I ever visited was my grand parents' basement. Shelves lined the walls, filled with Readers Digest Condensed books, dusty national geographic issues, and Time Magazines. I remember discovering stories on Martin Luther King Jr., the moon landing and AIDS. I'd come up from the basement with dust on my hands and a musty smell in my nose; amazing at how much mystery and wonder could fit on a few shelves.
  • Last week I tripped on the sidewalk on 17th Street. I've fallen on the same knee (my left) so many ties I'm starting to think I'm supposed to learn some lesson from it, but I can't figure out what that would be...
  • There once was a man with a hat who had an incredible cat. They went for a spin, the cat did him in, and sped away with his hat.
  • In the last weekend of my freshman year of college, I got wasted, got naked and climbed into bed with my RA and her huge, Irish boyfriend. They were asleep.  
  • I was once trapped in my car in a snowstorm. I sliced and rewired my car outlet to an electrical blanket and I'm pretty sure that's why I'm not dead. Thanks, electrical blanket. 
  • I realized I wanted to be with my boyfriend indefinitely the first time he went out of town for more than a few days. Everything was just a little less fun, a little less interesting when he wasn't around.
  • One time I broke into a construction site for a new house. I was with my boyfriend. We climbed to the top floor- what would eventually be the attic. We say together and wrote stories about attics. A pigeon flew through the window and we held very still. The pigeon flew away when it found nothing to peck. We pretended that we were runaway orphans. We stayed there all night. I dreamed about boats. In the morning we left as the run rose. 
  • Things I like to do. 1: I like to swim. I'm on a swim team. 2: I like to ride my bike. 3: I like to go to house of air. 4: I like to go to ganasisks. 5: I also like to go to peano, soccer. 6: last I like to spred love, peace and hapyness. The end. Emilia
  • Jean Jacket asked out Strawberry from the first floor. We had a date planned, but then he cancelled on me with a few hours notice. Do I ask him out again? [yes] [no] 
  • Hale Bop. We went to the South Valley train yard to paint trains. Above the sky was a blueish green blotch suspended in the darkness. To the left of me, as I am painting, was the Hale Bop comet of 1995! This was a night I will never forget. P.T.A.
  • I ran into him in the desert, on a Friday night, covered in this smile that said "the universe is beautiful"; that said "I'm so happy to be alive right now"; that said "yes". I thought about nothing but the present moment- nothing but the way he made me laugh & the way we drank in the neon night, heads thrown back, arms toward the sky. Even when I see him now, he does something funny to me.
  • In kindergarten, Lonny Tomasini slapped me because I told him his fly was open. Since I knew he was stronger/ meaner than me, I knew I had to do something crazy to get revenge. The next day I had the whole class chanting Lonny Tom-a-weenie. Safe to say he kept his distance for the remainder of elementary school. -Sazan Pasori, 21, Inner Richmond
  • My friend invited me to her house but warned me that her parents & friends will be playing mahjong. Well, one of her parents' friends is JET LI! He was losing and grumpy. -S
  • I love myself more than anyone will ever love me. Therefore everyone's love is inadequate & I will be alone forever. 
  • Anecdotes from a 5th grade teacher: I, a tall 28 year old flat chested male get called mommy by my students way too often.  - A student found maggots in his backback. - Julian