I've decided to grab one other writing friend and go out to a place with a free-refills beverage bar tonight. Partly, I want this because I spend too much time on the forums or doing research (Scientology's HARD!)
So, for those who have the whimsy:
Join me from 5:30 PM tonight at the Misawa Cocos "California style" restaurant (next to McDonalds) you are invited to attend.
I'll bring pens and dollar-store notepads. Buddy'll bring a laptop computer. If we've got a good mascot picked (see the Japan Mascot thread) and I can find one, I'll bring one of those. In any case, look for two fairly dorky short-haired dudes who somehow radiate the raw sensuality and divine power that comes with being a budding novelist. (I'm still pumped from using the mouse.)
Feel free to join in! We can ignore each other or bounce ideas off each other as the desire strikes.
If we're lucky, it'll be an icky rainy night that will drive away all the people who would otherwise make the place crowded on Sunday night. ^_^
If it's productive, we can even make this a regular weekend thing.
Peace be unto you.
Feylias
(150 words in two hours; I need to jumpstart my morning. )
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50,590 / 50,000
nov. 10, 2007 - 21 33
I can probably make it to cocos around 5:30. I have a little laptop that will last for awhile.
I might tell the hostess I am part of the party that has:
Haha, that ought to at least get me seated very far from the hostess stand.:P
50,524 / 50,000
nov. 11, 2007 - 06 42
Well, I was trying to delete the thread now that the GT was over, but I bumped it instead. Whoops.
Cocos isn't an ideal place, for all that it has bottomless drinks. The music is annoying, and most of the electrical outlets are in the smoking section. :/
--Fey
15,232 / 50,000
nov. 11, 2007 - 07 29
Hey, I still think it's cool if you guys did manage to get together, I just missed the forum post so maybe next time? I'm not a big fan of Coco's either, but it's hard to find places that stay open past 8 or so, besides the mall, which also has annoying music, but at Tully's you can't hear it as much.
Also, what are you trying to find out about Scientology? I don't know much about it, but I did go to an Church of Scientology Open House once. I was struck by two things: the production quality of their promo video was excellent but managed to say next to nothing in 20 minutes, and even in follow-on discussions, they were extremely reluctant to give out information about what dianetics was all about without making you spend some cash (you had to buy the book to find out -- or check it out from your local library...). Never read it, but it would probably give you a lot of background.
Keep up the good work!
50,524 / 50,000
nov. 16, 2007 - 20 10
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50,524 / 50,000
nov. 14, 2007 - 06 04
My definition of "A place to write in Misawa" is somewhere that isn't too crowded and won't complain if I take up space for a while, that has food and beverages available, that has more Japanese customers than American customers, and that has an electric outlet for my laptop.
Angelo's, for instance, wouldn't work because it's usually a bit crowded.
The udon place across from the Maeda grocery store (which is on the same street that has Sanwado.) is delightful in that it is warm, comfortable, outletted, and has good udon. It does not have caffeine, and it closes at 8:30pm and on weird days.
CoCos is open very late (I don't know how late, because I'm too old to spend a lot of time out after midnight. I'm guessing it's open until midnight.) It's warm, and it has a bottomless drink bar, a menu full of energy-filled desserts, and has waiter call-buttons that mean you never have to yell or wave. Unfortunately, the drink bar coffee and ice tea are all from mix or concentrate, the music's annoying US top 40 stuff, and the food is mediocre.
There's a big and under-visited Ramen place that's good for writing. If you drive past McDonalds/Cocos, heading away from White Pole road, you'll pass a 100 yen store on your right and immediately see a Ramen shop on your left. That Ramen place has outlets and is open until 11:30pm. The food's okay, the drinks are uncaffeinated and cold, and during the time I was writing there I wished I had a sweater on. Still, I'll remember it as a possible late-night place to park my arse.
McDonalds is open 24 hours. I don't know if they'll give free or discounted caffeine refils, and I'm not sure if the lobby's open all that time. I'm not a big fan of their food, but I'll try them out later, just to see.
Only 1500 words so far today; time to get cracking.
Feyli
50,524 / 50,000
nov. 17, 2007 - 05 54
Regarding the Tully's thing today.
Tully's had enough free outlets to plug in three laptops, but only two people with laptops could sit together.
(This was convenient, because there were three of us, and exactly two had laptops.)
Even during the busiest time of the day, there was enough room that having us take up room didn't hurt.
Downsides:
No bathroom nearby; you'd have to go back into the mall itself to find one.
Small tables; one laptop takes up one table. Three of us each needed our own table.
Uncomfortable chairs...but I find that helps me write.
I did a quick survey of the other places at the mall, and the Italian cafe upstairs (by the arcade and the theater) had outlets at several tables also, but only in the smoking section. The food looked more interesting, however, and there was coffee there also.
Fey
50,161 / 50,000
nov. 17, 2007 - 03 17
Heh, I finally found the forums. Sorry I haven't been able to go outwith yall, got kid anchors for the next 2 weeks. But keep up the writing.
15,232 / 50,000
nov. 29, 2007 - 05 19
Home stretch!
I've done a lot of making excuses in the past few days and patted myself on the back for "learning/remembering a lot about myself as a writer", but basically I'm not going to be able to put in the effort due to other important priorities (like reading about routers and watching snow melt). But thanks to all of you for the inspiration and suggestions on where to write. Hope to share a tiny table with you at Tully's sometime.
When I'm not at Tully's, my favorite place to write is, believe it or not, the noisy circus of a food court upstairs. Yes, it's loud, yes, you're likely to see lots of Americans trying to be Japanese and lots of Japanese trying to be Americans (but what could be more interesting than that?!), but I like to grab a mini udon and curry set at Hanamaru in the corner (which might be owned by McDonald's), and park myself there for a few hours. The water is unlimited and so are the distractions, and the bookstore where you can pick up more pens and A4 notebooks, is right there. Give it a try sometime. I recommend the zaru-udon.