They say that it’s all about the love of “the bean.” That’s coffee. Coffee can be a very good thing and a very bad thing, depending on how you use it. It’s really good for staying up if you have to study for a test. But it can be bad if you’re trying to sleep. It’s also very important to have a good coffee shop to hang out in. In Highland Park, we have Chapter One and PJ’s and there’s a Starbucks over the bridge in New Brunswick. But the best Coffee Shop in the world – excuse me – The Seems, is “Magic Hour.”

Magic Hour is located in The Department of Time – in Time Square to be exact – and is very popular. People from all Departments come there to hang out because of the ambience, the cast of characters who are regulars there – and the amazing coffee. (I prefer the Fair Trade Seems Roast. Or the Big Building Latte.)

There is also this one girl who works there during the day. I think her name is “Mellow.” And she IS mellow. And really pretty. Sometimes I’ll go there on a Sunday morning, leave my Me-2 at home to play with Benjamin, and just sip a Certain Tea and read the Daily Plan. I like to do the crosswords and see the latest installments of the Jinx Gnomes – which btw I heard is gonna become a TV show in The Seems!

Mellow has a lot of secret admirers who come in and just sit around hoping to get a few minutes of conversation and just watch her in action. She isn’t like a supermodel or anything but just she has that certain “je ne sais quo” as my old friend Thibadeau used to say. I don’t know if she has a boyfriend or what, but I know that if she was looking for one, there would be a line around Magic Hour.

Actually, there’s a line around Magic Hour right now. I have my laptop and I’m working on my Blogs here. Sometimes people ask me what I’m working on but I don’t really like to admit that I’m a Fixer or anything, because then people get all weird. Usually, I just say that “I’m working on a project for school – it’s about The World.” People usually just say “oh, cool” or “good luck,” and then they leave you alone. Don’t get the wrong idea, I like people. But sometimes not in the morning. Sometimes, it’s more fun to WATCH people a little bit rather than actually talking to them.

Anyway, I’ve got the seat by the window so I’m not getting up anytime soon. People are starting to dribble into Time Square, Mellow is working the counter and there’s good music on in the background.

Ahhh…life can be good.

"Empty" by Ray LaMontagne

So, after studying the accuracy of Punxsutawney Phil I decided to make a personal phone call to Georgie, a Weatherman whom I know and I am pleased to announce that I have gotten this whole Spring thing sorted out!

Georgie actually owed me a favor from this thing that happened one time in a Rain Tower in The Department of Weather when I was a Briefer. Anyway, the big news is that I called in a favor and Spring will be arriving in exactly ten days! It’s good to have friends in high places.

So, enjoy this last bit of cold! Soon it will be all Spring flowers (and hopefully not too many Spring showers.) Or else, heads will roll!

The only problem with this whole Spring thing is that I have to go visit my relatives in Cape Cod this summer and I am dreading that like the plague. I will be locked in the car with my Mom, Dad, and Benjamin (me and him in the back) and we will have to listen to my Dad’s awful “Lake Wobegon Stories” CD’s and play city, state, river. Ugh.

Oh well. I guess I can’t complain. If it wasn’t for my parents I wouldn’t have a place to live or clothes or food. Sometimes you have to give a little back.

Talk to you soon. Your friend,

Becker

To all the thousands of people who sent me email, etc…asking if everything was ok or if I was in the hospital or if I had been kidnapped by the Mother of All Glitches or if I was lost in the In-Between, thank you for your flowers and best wishes!!

Some of you may have noticed that it’s been awhile since I posted a Blog, but everything is actually okay. The truth was, I was away at the annual All-Fixer Retreat – a two week sabbatical in The Seems where we discuss new or current threats, get shown all the new Tools from the Toolshed, do team building exercises and just basically hang out.

It was really fun (except for the night when Greg The Journeyman drank too much Inspiration and started challenging everybody to arm-wrestling. Casey Lake beat him and I think it insulted his manhood because he went berserk and tried to knock down a pine tree with his hands. But that’s another story…)

So, I am back home now and getting a full update from my Me-2 about what I missed (I’ve banned Me from blogging ever since that whole New Kingdom YouTube video thing). Other than Benjamin being his usual self and eating a bag of marshmallows and getting sick, everything has been “status quo.”

P.S. To Billy F. from Pawtucket…no you can’t become me if I disappear and then take over my blog and make it about mostly about skateboarding.

Talk soon,

BD

Thanks to everyone who responded to my Moral Dilemma blog about whether to contact a certain someone in The World. Even though being a Fixer probably IS "The Best Job in The World," it still gets a little lonely sometimes and that's what was making me think to check in. That and also because this someone was really cool to hang out with on that night we met in the Dream.

Of everyone who responded: I got 35 "Break The Golden Rule" votes, 104 "No Way, Dude. It's Not Worth It." votes and 3 votes that made no sense and were probably written by someone's little sister when they left the computer on. Like "I want a cookie," and “Mommy plays Candyland with Uncle Andy.”

Anyway, I still haven't quite decided what to do. I wish I could manage a little friendly check-in and not get caught but if convicted by the Court of Public Opinion I could lose my Badge AND get sentenced to time in Seemsberia. For those of you who read the weather forecast for Seemsberia in my other blog – you can imagine that it might no be such a fun place to hang out. Although, the Inner Child and some of the other therapists stationed there are doing amazing work. The rumor around The Seems is that Justin and Nick F. Time (The Time Bandits) have been rehabilitated and found The Plan! But who knows…maybe I can find someone in The Know who can help me out.

Ok. Ok. Sorry – my Mom is yelling at me to come down for dinner. I hope it’s Highland Pizza.