Wednesday, March 12, 2008

one midnight gone (well, a little more than one)

props to anyone who caught the Into the Woods reference.

Anyway, I got out of my internship a little early today (4:30), so I decided to pop into a coffee shop in downtown Battle Creek to do some homework, and what not.  So, here I am at Brownstone Coffee at 18.5 Michigan Ave in battle creek.  I was pleasantly surprised when I walked into the shop.  Initially, I did not expect to be impressed.  It's in Battle Creek, which doesn't bode well (Battle Creek, in general, just doesn't appeal to me).  Anyway.  I walked into the dimly lit, narrow, but exceedingly long shop, heard the soft blues/jazz music playing overhead and ordered my Americano from the barista, who was quite warm and friendly.  I found my way to one of the tables lining the left side of the shop, each individually lit by a light, alternating between mini torch lamps and "lawyer-style" desk lamps.  Across from me there are three circular glass tables with chairs that match the table support.  the chair backs all have steaming cups of coffee etched out of them.  - it adds a nice little bit.  Anyway, on the right wall there is a series of three murals, one of a Hindu god (with 8 arms - can't remember the name), another of a guy with a yellow trench coat (reminding me of Dick Tracey) hanging out of a train to grab a cappuccino from a cappuccino machine, and the third of a finely painted coffee cup with a barista floating out of the steam rising from the cup.  and then there are pictures and paintings for sale hung all throughout the the shop.  my favorite part, however, is the ceiling.  it consists of finely detailed tin ceiling tiles, painted a creme color, the duct work is exposed, track lighting at 45 degree angles to the walls, and then, above the coffee bar is an A-frame skylight.  So, in a word the coffee shop has character.  and the coffee wasn't bad either.

anyway, the internship is going well.   I'm learning lots.  there is quite a steep learning curve - I'm doing virtually all cognitive therapy (stuff I haven't done).  my patients are, for the most part, good to work with.  We did an evaluation of one guy yesterday - he was motivated and congenial.  Today, that was not the same story.  He was agitated and uncooperative.  and refused services.  we returned later in the day, no change.  we found out that he was upset about the status of his pills (crushed in applesauce) and was attributing that change to us.  but we never saw him for swallowing eval, so we didn't order that.  Anyway - that's the life of an SLP when you work with brain injury - ups and downs, and - WOW, where did that come from.

Anyway, the coffee shop is about to close (that's a downer - they close early, then again it's in BC, and they probably don't have the customer base to stay open past 6).  Anyway, I will write later.

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