Folks,
I’m sitting here in my new favorite place in the world, Filter. This is the ultimate coffee shop in terms of ambiance and people watching. It only really seems to be lacking in the quality of drink category but that’s only because I’m a huge fuckin’ snob about my coffee and espresso but believe you me, the food more than makes up for it. Well anyway, I didn’t want this to really be a review sort of post, just go to Yelp if you want that. NO! Instead I’m taking the time to procrastinate and do a pseudo-sociological survey of the crowd around me. I should really be taking care of some work now that I’m in a setting that does include me getting paged every five minutes, patients knocking on my door, or tension caused by departmental politics to distract me. Unfortunately, I may have picked one of the more interesting and stimulating settings outside of my job that requires an appropriate level of analysis on my part to feel fully comfortable within. Oh that and this latte is making me WAY too jittery to be productive…
Filter, at it’s original location up the street, affectionately dubbed the “living room of Wicker Park”. I kind of questioned this sort of dubious, self-serving sounding pet name, but to be honest the nickname is a lot more literal than I could have imagined. The massive space is filled with all sorts of vintage furniture and instead of an entertainment center, the “family” has a big ole’ window from which to watch the masses scurry by, peer in, stumble in front of, etc. The owners even let their kids crawl around between the tables! All you really want to do here is curl up on one of the couches and hang out. This is where all of the hipsters go to let their hair down, show off their sweet hipster wears (suspenders, headphones, crazy ass hats, obscene frames, etc.), and chat about whatever their trendy hearts desire. They somehow seem to mix in quite seamlessly with the more productive group of patrons. There are plenty of students of many different persuasions keeping this place abuzz as well with their laptops, various highlighters, and page tabs that come in more colors than the largest Crayola box I could have dreamt up as a kid.
Yes, this is my Mecca, my own personal (in a way) bodhi tree to which I go to meditate underneath…do I need to dream up more hyperbole or produce any more pithy statements regarding my love of this place? Yeah I didn’t think so, but just do me a favor folks, if you’re ever in Chicago come check this place out. Well that is unless you’re trying to get something done, because if so this is not the place for you.
This sporadic and tangential post was brought to you by the magic of caffeine and a full day’s work.
Maybe you’ll hear from Whiskey soon…who knows?
-Wine
Whiskey, Wine, and Moonshine 