Great places to be renewed

I received a great little gift on a recent visit to Red Rooster Coffeeshop in Aberdeen, SD. It came in the form of the hand stamp used to indicate that I'd
paid the cover charge for the evening's concert. The stamp on my hand was the
word "renewed."

Isn't that a terrific message, I thought. Isn't that exactly what's supposed to happen in a coffeeshop. You experience a little community and...you are renewed. That's exactly what I look for when I visit a coffeshop, whether it be in Culver City or Iowa City, Decorah or Dubuque, Oakland or Mineapolis.

Bill's Coffeeshop in Iowa City offers this; so does Uptown Bill's, its crosstown cousin. I've written about other coffeeshops in other cities where I found this spirit; now I'll add Red Rooster to that list. What makes these and other coffeeshops special is the sense of community one finds there.

You can get coffee, even good coffee, lots of places. But you can't get "renewed" at just any coffeeshop. It's something to keep in mind as you travel duing this year.

As you travel, be sure to let us know about coffeeshops where you find a sense of community. We'll pass the word along to other readers so they, too, can be "renewed" as they go from place to place.

Imagining the modern Cupid

What if Cupid were around today? You know Cupid, the chubby little one with the wings who spreads love with a bow and arrow. What would Cupid look like ifhe (or she) were around today? What would he drive (wwcd)? How would Cupid spread the magic of love in our time? Here's your chance to use your imagination. We'd like to hear your ideas.

A large cup of coffee quotes

Coffee on an airplane always smells bad. Whenever it is served, suddenly the whole cabin stinks of it. -- Jonathan Carroll

Almost all of my middle-aged and elderly acquaintances, including me, feel about 25, unless we haven't had our coffee, in which case we feel 107. -- Martha Beck

In my next life, I want to be tall and thin, parallel park and make good coffee. -- Paula Danzinger

Notable coffee, tea and food for thought -- motto of Quotations Coffee (Brevard, NC)

Coffee stains on the flip-down trays mean to the passengers that we do all our engine maintenance wrong. -- Donald Barr

Support counter intelligence -- Sign on a tip jar in a Los Angeles coffeeshop

Thought you'd be interested in these

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Kelly Dobson continues a chronicle about his work with homeless individuals in a weblog. His latest entry features Willie in a column titled "A lumbering sort of way." Read his blog at: http://homelessinminnesota.blogspot.com.

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"I'm watching you" is the title of a story about government spying on Iowa peace groups, including members of the Catholic Worker. The story is in the Jan. 12 issue of Cityview, the Des Moines alternative paper. You can read it at: www.dmcityview.com/cover.