I’m currently working from home in order to finish up some projects for my Midwest employer before I start my new fancee library job. Because isolation plus homesickness is a precise recipe for depression, I’ve been trying to spend at least half a day in coffeeshops or otherwise out in public. On Monday, I went to Bear Rock Cafe in Shirlington – I was in the area anyway, and I needed a sandwich, so… It was totally adequate, though the servers seem to be easily confused by any deviation from the menu. They have wireless, but I ended up on their neighbor‘s network.

On Tuesday, I decided to find the coffeeshop that we drove by Sunday night while en route to the Galaxy Hut. After a fortuitous wrong turn, I ended up right behind Murky Coffee, which reminds me a great deal of Caffe Paradiso, my beloved coffee and homework spot in Urbana. The coffee was great, and absoutely my only complaint was the lack of real food, though they do seem to have plenty of breakfast-y baked goods.

On Wednesday, I found my way to Rappahannock, which was generally unimpressive and just like a very generic Aroma. The signs encouraging folks to “Meet your neighbor by sharing your table” were charming, but the barista’s total confusion at my order of apple cider (which was on the menu) pretty much convinced me that I don’t need to go back.

SB’s a devotee of Jazzman Cafe, but that’s a little far afield for me, and I’ll leave the discussion of it to him. I, after all, have a big cup of coffee, Spoon, and a bunch of hipsters to hang out with.