Chill out, Rocklin! Check your NIMBYism for a moment, and think like a human being.

I understand where you are coming from. You worked hard to get to this place. Living in Rocklin may be truly more of a privilege, and not a right. Let's park our egos for a moment and consider the situation. What if we were the market that this development is meant for - the under $35k set? 

Would it not be nice to receive some help? Would you decline that kind of opportunity if it were given to you?

You climbed a ladder. It took huge amounts of hardship and effort on your part. Think of this as the ladder that keeps on rising. For a moment, can you envision that perhaps, the more people you extend this ladder of opportunity to, that the possibility becomes very real we all get elevated together? You try to take care of your fellow human beings -- even if that meant giving up some of your comfort. How much better could Rocklin, and eventually the world get? Put another way, you elevate others, you get elevated further. Aren't we all being a little bit selfish, and I'm afraid to say very short-sighted here?

If there is one thing I love most about big cities - it is that they are places where a myriad of cultures coalesce. In this post, I decided I would catalog my usual go-to cups of caffeine in the San Francisco Bay.

Blue Bottle: cappuccino (at Blue Bottle stores)

Blue Bottle: affogato - when I want desert over espresso (they always have this at their Ferry Building store)

Blue Bottle: New Orleans Iced - with some milk, mmmm!

Four Barrel: cappuccino (at Reveille's Coffee Truck on Pacific - been going there since the inception of fancy, slow coffee)

Jittery John's: iced coffee served, haven't tried the bottled versions (at Small Foods 2nd Street in San Francisco)

Philz Coffee: the Tantalizing Turkish (I like mine medium sweet, with creamer)

Sightglass: cappuccino - spot my cappuccino weakness yet? (at Jackson Place Cafe in San Francisco)

If it has to be Starbucks, since it's the only coffee house in the neighborhood: ristretto Americano (I learned this trick from a wise co-worker; the long pull makes a difference in concentrating the flavor)

​Seasonal at Peet's: Golden Chai with almond milk (so not coffee actually, but still good, and it makes me feel good about my turmeric consumption)

Summertime at Philz Coffee: an Iced Mint Mojito (they actually have this year-round, but I always look forward to it in the summer)

I will be updating this collection as it grows further. In the meantime, I try to keep a habit of nurturing my caffeine needs, even just every other day. ;-)

(to be updated with images)

The woman in this photo - I would love to be her. I don't know who she is, or what she is like. I just know she is walking the streets in Montmartre, a bohemian neighborhood in Paris, and probably is living there too.