I have experienced the "beating of a dead horse" on other writer's blogs. I thought I'd continue the tradition here with one of my favorite visual tangents....the lonely, paper coffee cup.

 

I'm a promiscuous coffee drinker. There's good coffee in spots throughout Austin and I've learned where many of these spots are. And then there's bad coffee. You can try to change the quality of Starbucks drip coffee by moving it from a paper cup to a ceramic cup but the disappointment in the taste is immune to gussying it up in a "better" container.  On the other hand it's tough to kill a great cup just by choosing a particular vessel from which to enjoy a standout brew.  Most paper cups offer ample transparency to the coffee taste.

Mañana Coffee makes a decent but not exemplary cup of brewed coffee. They make up for not achieving the highest tier of coffee brewing in two ways. First they do make coffee that's better than 90% of the other coffee purveyors in town. And, second, the atmosphere they provide, in which you can drink your coffee, is superb and (some readers here will be delighted to learn...) the wonderful patio, which is covered against the chance of rain, is large and well designed; perfect for sitting around while you enjoy a beverage. It's adjacent to the downtown lake (Lady Bird Lake) and right next to the very popular running trail that follows the contours of the water. Located at the bottom of two high rise residential towers there is always wonderful people watching to be had.

It's so pleasant there that I never walk away with coffee but instead enjoy it slowly and while (mostly) seated. 

When I get coffee there it's with the intention of sitting at a table in the shade and enjoying the brew slowly and with intention. It's one of my favorite meeting places as well. Last week I met with a film maker there for morning coffee and later in the week I met with an old assistant who sat with me and reminisced about the "golden age" of photography. As we practiced it. All while we remained mostly stationary. From the first sip to the last. 

There are inside tables for the coldest and hottest days as well as "wash rooms" for calls of nature. Very nice wash rooms. Clean and well maintained. 

Up until now Mañana had generic, white paper cups with a logo rubber-stamped on them. Now they have cups with built in insulation to keep one's hands from heat trauma, and a nice combination of color and design applied. So much prettier than a mug that's passed through countless hands and, hopefully, been well washed. Again and again. Ah, the chorine smell of those commercial dishwashers...

I like coffee but I also like photographing solitary cups and amusing myself by seeing how cool the foregrounds and backgrounds come in and out of focus when photographed just so. It's a treat.  

I can assure you that you can look forward to more, and different, solitary coffee cup photos. You know you love them. The mannequins told me so.....