We’re partners in caffeine-imbibing with a real coffee shop, the Cafe Monte Alto in Plymouth, New Hampshire. It’s a very cool place on Main Street, across the town green and down the street from Plymouth State University. They grow and sell fair trade coffees from their plantations in Peru, and boy, it’s a great coffee! We’re fortunate that their various roasts are not only outstanding, not only 100% Arabica shade grown, not only reasonably priced, but also available by mail order from their website. I never want to be without Monte Alto’s Dark Roast, so I order it in five-pound bags! We have a link to Monte Alto on our Home page. The owners are not only artistes in coffee roasting, but also love to have artists hang their work on the cafe walls and exhibit on their…

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Something about the hot weather makes people come together. Maybe it’s all the time outdoors or the shedding of all those winter layers. From summer camp crushes to the “long walks on the beach” everyone claims they enjoy, summertime is a season of love. The Rolling Stones knew a thing or two about a “Summer Romance.” So do our members in this month’s issue. Here’s our “summer reading list.” Don’t worry, you won’t be quizzed on it the first week of school. Timothy Boudreau’s short story about unrequited love in mid-life hits hard at just how cruel the heart and its desires can be. If love is a language, perhaps not everyone can speak it. This month’s poetry comes from Chrysa Keenon, a Writing undergraduate student in Indiana. Her poems look at love as if…

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It all started with a little getaway in March. My girlfriend and I had booked a cruise and, in anticipation, I was gathering books to bring along. Those of you who are book nerds can attest to the anxiety of trying to pick out just a few books to take in your luggage. I was weighing my options, no pun intended, when I came across Moby Dick, that hefty tome of classic American literature which had eluded my syllabi in both high school and college. Now as an “adult,” I thought it was time to give it a read. When I told my girlfriend of my choice, she sort of looked at me sideways, then said that’s a bold choice for a vacation read, especially one where we will be spending a week at sea….

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We’re excited to announce the winner of our Logo Design Contest! Congratulations to Dan Chu for submitting the winning design!! It captures the “round-the-clock access “of our virtual café while giving a nod to the effects of drinking coffee all day and all night. This is a big 3-inch in diameter adhesive sticker on circular vinyl, suitable for affixing to your car window, your bumper, your water bottle, your laptop or a porta-potty… you know, the usual sticker places. If you’re low on ideas and want to buck tradition, here are a few other worthy candidates: your Keurig (because, obviously.), your phone/tablet case (because let’s face it, who uses computers anymore?), your self-balancing scooter (because who drives cars anymore?), your coffee mug (because what’s better than an ad for an imaginary café on a real-life…

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Searching. We are all looking for something in life. It may be as small as a lost object from our youth or as large as our place in the world. In 1987, U2’s Bono proclaimed that despite searching the world over, “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.” His single-minded focus to find that which eludes him took him to the ends of the earth. Such is the nature of desire and the power of the human will. But sometimes, in the absence of looking, we discover treasures as well. Earlier this year, I found what I wasn’t looking for and was tracked down by a creature I didn’t realize was following me (stay tuned for details). What do you search for? What drives you to glance under slippery rocks and peer around dark…

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Hello Café patrons! I’m pleased to introduce you to our summer intern, Bronwen. We are very happy to have her on board to help with these long lines. So much coffee to serve, so little time! You know how it goes. Bronwen has a background in editing and publishing, literary magazines and English literature, so we are excited for the experience she brings to our site. She is currently a student, pursuing her Masters Degree in English. Her literary interests include graphic novels and the Jane Austen classic Pride and Prejudice. Please join us in welcoming Bronwen to the Café! –Your Baristas  

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