"ONCE, you hugged the ugly Socrates,
Because you saw the flame in the mouth...
And recognized the sound;
FOR you have heard it,
In your own SOLITUDE."
... I SHOULD write a thousand,
A million, billion thoughts,
All under the form of;
A LETTER TO YOU.
THE DIVINE magnet is in you,
And my magnet responds.
Which is the biggest?
A foolish question - they are ONE".
( Herman Melville )
STARBUCK...is your avant-garde Coffee-LOVER. For starters.
He's a sober QUAKER. From Nantucket.
Nose-to-the-grindstone, that sort of GUY. But not God.
Always, he's the TRADER. At least, on a Cup-of-Coffee, EVERYDAY.
For what? For A Book-of-Reason.
Like CHRIST, to say the least.
Let Skipper Ahab DRINK some...C-O-F-F-E-E.
And READ some...B-O-O-K-S!
MOBY DICK. Yes, even Ahab of all men, MUST R=E=A=D Moby Dick.
Or is it MOBY_DICK?
Does it really matter, EXCEPT for the REASON that it came into BEING?
Like MAN that he was, Herman Melville wrote about GOD...
In MOBY DICK.
Better sail, with Melville on Moby_Dick.
For the hyphenation is on point; AN ARGUMENT.
Moby_Dick characterizes the f=i=s=s=u=r=e between CULTURE and PSYCHE.
"I feel like the GOD-Head is broken up,
Like the BREAD at The Supper,
And that WE are the PIECES.
Hence this INFINITE FRATERNITY of FEELING.
Now, Sympathizing with THE PAPER,
My Angel turns over ANOTHER PAGE..."
( Herman Melville )
PERHAPS, Moby_Dick is more...
than the "Mast-head" of any sea-going Vessel; even Captain Ahab's "PEQUOD".
I THINK we're here, sailing "ONWARD", with STARBUCK(S) ;
you can read between the lines, Howard shultz!
Moby Dick is NOT just about Herman Melville.
Moby_Dick CANNOT be only American.
Moby Dick, no! Moby_Dick, yes!
ONCE UPON A TIME, Herman Melville was a child.
He was raised, with the notion that God was a deft "Magician" ;
who ALWAYS plucked "good from evil".
In point of fact, his father was a martinet. Yes.
ALWAYS, Melville Sr. spelt the Supreme Deity as: "G. O. D"!
Without any apologies, dear friends, ALL capital "LETTERS". Yes.
You h-e-a-r-d me!
I THINK we're sailing on a "Letter-head". And we do spell it, EVERYDAY.
And without any exception, EVERYONE of us.
LIFE.
Life is a "Letter-head"!
Moby_Dick, is our reference point.
MAN is the "Vessel". Moby_Dick is a reference for our lives.
Yes, welcome to Moby_Dick or "God-Man"!
That's who we are.
Culture or Psyche? Maybe. You have a choice? Maybe.
But GOD leads the journey, and MAN follows.
NOT only as Americans...but as ALL RACES.
Our reference point, is God...holding the MAP of The WORLD.
But first, a Cup-of-Coffee or a Book-of-Reason? Maybe.
STARBUCK or Moby_Dick? Yes!
"GOD-Man"... is a $TORY, like STARBUCKS.
But, it is "more"...than the Sale of Coffee.
Perhaps, a tale of Reason... from STARBUCK, the seafaring Quaker.
He believed that CHRISTIANITY offered "A Way To Interprete The WORLD".
"This STARBUCK seemed PREPARED,
To endure for LONG AGES TO COME,
And to endure ALWAYS...
Uncommonly CONSCIENTIOUS, for a Seaman,
And endued with a deep natural REVERENCE;
The wild watery loneliness of his LIFE,
Did therefore strongly incline him to SUPERSTITION.
BUT:
To that sort of superstition,
Which in some organization seems;
Rather to spring somehow,
From INTELLIGENCE,
Than from ignorance.
Outward PORTENTS
And
Inward PRE-SENTIMENTS;
Were his".
( Herman Melville, Moby_Dick )
There's an ISLAND, in the South Pacific.
A popular region for "whaling", they call it: Starbuck Island.
ONCE lived a Seductress there, in Greek folklore.
Long Ago, they said.
She led Sailors there, to a Ship-Wreck.
Unlike the Starbuck of historic Moby_Dick.
STARBUCK...the Chief-mate:
Re-tells the Story of A MULTITUDE, of Saints and Sinners.
Aren't We All?
STARBUCKS...the Coffee-mate:
Re-tells the $tory of the "God-Man".
"Culture" versus the "Psyche"?
F=I=S=S=U=R=E.
God-like or Man-like?
We begin with CULTURE...from First Principles:
the W-O-R-D of GOD transcribed into "LETTERS"...
"Ye've shipped, have ye?
Names down on:
The PAPERS?
Well, well:
What's Signed,
Is SIGNED!
And what's to be,
Will be...
Anyhow, it's all fixed,
And arranged already...
Morning to ye shipmates, morning;
The ineffable Heavens bless ye... "
( Elijah The Prophet; Moby_Dick )
I reckon with a friend of Conrad Hilton's, the world-famous American hotelier. He once advised the latter, before he launched a career in HOSPITALITY:
"If you want to launch BIG SHIPS,
you have to go where the WATER is DEEP".
MEN do think they LIVE on EARTH. Oh, sorry!
Well, that's LIFE.
But they don't...
We don't live here, and we never did - not in the true sense.
Most of the TIME, we live in "them" clouds:
- in Our HEADS -
And surely;
- in Our HEARTS -
We sense things, and we can't name them.
We feel things, but they elude our full expression.
Hell or Heaven?
Like Bishop T. D. Jakes would ask;
or High Water?
Whatever. We seem not to comprehend it all - at least, not that easily!
That's why we make this JOURNEY...or LIFE.
We search...for LOVE , we search...for MEANING.
We seek...WHAT to love, we seek...WHO to love.
- in Our HEADS -
And surely;
- in Our HEARTS -
Romance, perhaps is over-rated. Let's talk of Romanticism. Yes.
WORK is the a-sexual Prose - "The NOVEL", a more severe STORY about our lives.
LOVE is the sexual Poetry - "The VERSE", our true mating STORY.
We all are the product of that PRO-CREATION, anyway.
WORK...is a SOUL~MATE.
LOVE...is a SOUL~MATE.
And LIFE...is the SONG of SOUL~MATES!
Yes, we sing it, EVERYDAY.
Yes, we sing it, EVERYONE.
In our Heads...and in our Hearts.
Yes. In the C.L.O.U.D.S. Close to G.O.D.
That's Where...We L.I.V.E.
Really...Really...L.I.V.E!
Away from our bodies, we LIVE close to OUR MAKER.
And we Sing..."CREATION" !
That's how we roll.
Life is A Romance...and We men tell the Story.
In Our WORK and in Our LOVE.
The Story comes ONLY...from Our Heads and Our Hearts.
MAN is a Co-Creator...with GOD.
We're SOUL~MATES...in the Creation of LIFE.
But we b-e-g-i-n EVERY CREATION, even of "body":
from Our Heads and Our Hearts.
The Artisan, the Artist, and the Scientist - ALL of Us:
create from Our Heads and Our Hearts.
Even when we create "babies";
we b-e-g-i-n from Our Heads and Our Hearts.
It's Our Romance. It's Our Romanticism.
But, it's all Ours.
That's how we roll.
Most of the time; T.I.M.E.
We don't live on this "The Earth".
NOT in our "concrete" bodies. No!
Our bodies dwell ONLY in the proximity of the Earth...
In the "concrete fixity" of Today.
Most of the time; T.I.M.E.
We Live...
But, L.I.V.E...in "The Abstract".
NOT in our "concrete" bodies. No!
Our souls dwell in the infinity of the Ethereal...
In the "fluid meta-physics" of Tomorrow. Yes.
"What about...Tomorrow?"
"What about...Our FUTURE?"
As we WORK and as we LOVE, we "dwell on" Our FUTURE.
We meditate in "The Clouds".
That's where we humans dwell. Mostly.
In Our Heads and in Our Hearts.
OUR D=R=E=A=M=S:
that's where...the S=O=U=L dwells.
We L.I.V.E...or "dwell on" the F.U.T.U.R.E.
We are but, MAN. Call me, ADAM.
We are human.
Yet, we could be like GOD. Call me, JESUS.
We could be like CHRIST.
We could L.I.V.E...like He lived:
With a V.I.S.I.O.N...of Our T.O.M.O.R.R.O.W.
It's in the DNA. CULTURE is in our DNA.
Only if we could recognize it... especially from FIRST PRINCIPLES.
That's the FUTURE!
{ Pardon: our dearest wishes may be mis-interpreted by the Psyche. }
The Secret Wisdom.
CULTURE screams in our DNA...to THRIVE!
The WORD craves within us, to come A.L.I.V.E.
Like in the Book of Genesis. Like in the Beginning.
Of the WORLD.
MAN is everyday t-r-y-i-n-g to declare, like his MAKER;
"Let us M.A.K.E"...with Love.
CULTURE easily recognizes this, but PSYCHE may not.
We live today, but with a sense and feeling, of Responsilibity.
For Tomorrow.
EARTH must recognize, why HEAVEN has to come down!
Christmas is a reminder.
CHRIST is the beginning...of a new chapter.
C-U-L-T-U-R-E.
Agreed, our feet stay "grounded" on the Earth.
But we L.I.V.E..."afloat"; in anticipation.
- In the Clouds -
Hell or Heaven?
Jesus Christ set an example, long ago, when he journeyed on Earth.
Therefore, MAN ASPIRES to A BETTER LIFE, on Earth.
In his H-e-a-d and in his H-e-a-r-t.
For every extra-ordinary achievement sprang therefrom,
that sounds more like...POETRY .
On the contrary, our "bodies" are merely receptacles or "vessels".
And that sounds more like...DRAMA.
{ "Bodies": no wonder sooo much DRAMA, on "Earth"! }
WELCOME! to the "ATMOSPHERIC CAFE":
"A White COFFEE CUP with GREEN LETTERS".
Call me, STARBUCKS. We started, with LETTERS!
C-U-L-T-U-R-E.
STARBUCKS builds "A Coffee Castle"...in the Clouds.
In Our Heads and in Our Hearts.
With L.O.V.E and L.E.T.T.E.R.S.
It's the KING-size "human" touch. Call it, MIDAS Touch.
A SOUL that flows like the "Waters of Gold".
Look at it from a "People-oriented" Behaviour:
one that makes...Economic Sense.
Colleagues. Partners. Suppliers. Customers.
ALL of them, PEOPLE.
We must look at STARBUCKS as A HUSTLE.
From the perspective of A MAN - working in concert with other men.
"Partners" who've decided, not only to make money;
but to "Create"...V.A.L.U.E.
Lasting VALUE, from "a Cloud-based Space" of Reason and Emotion.
Even, SPIRIT.
Yes, the "Atmospheric Cafe".
MODERNITY is a blessing, and we MUST celebrate it.
It's about Achievement. Growth. And Progress.
But more importantly, Modernity is a function of Human Evolution.
History...that has "paid its dues", in the course of Time.
I mean...evolutionary H.I.S.T.O.R.Y.
Now, catch-22: HI-STORY...is actually A S-T-O-R-Y about LIFE.
Our LIVES.
P-E-O-P-L-E !
We must NOT forget that it is People who "Create VALUE".
Like technology, for instance.
Technology today is the poster-child of Modern Science and ART.
But technology would have no true Value, EXCEPT it bears a human face:
A Conscience.
"CONSCIOUS CAPITALISM" is a modern paradigm.
It's about Power; but beyond that, it's about Conscience.
Power must be balanced by Love...if it is to SERVE.
P-E-O-P-L-E.
And PEOPLE do drink...COFFEE.
For example, the "Pumpkin-Spice Latte".
People. Coffee.
Call STARBUCKS: the "COFFEE People".
Better still, the "PEOPLE'S Coffee" !
We're NOT @ Home, and we're NOT @ Work.
STARBUCKS has become A GLOBAL THIRD PLACE.
"She's a STORY-TELLER -
The Siren, the Starbucks Logo.
She carries the LORE,
Of STARBUCKS,
- Ahead - "
( Steve M.)
AT STARBUCKS, they recognize that we're first of all, PEOPLE.
Men and women, they come with "baggage".
All that he-said, she-said crap; that's baggage.
Our past affairs, our present encounters, plus our future dreams -
all of that, is baggage.
And all of that, is a hodge-podge of STORIES.
"SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE", this reminds us of the beauty of Romance.
But more importantly, it unfolds as a picture or A STORY of "Crossroads".
S-L-E-E-P-L-E-S-S.
Yes, Starbucks understands the body language of Romance.
But beyond that, it understands the mental language of "Crossroads".
Yes, but with the perculiar mystique of A Coffee Culture.
Such that the customer can navigate the web;
those "intangible cluttered spaces" in the Head and in the Heart.
Yes, the Clouds, that's where the customer L.I.V.E.S!
By Romanticizing the Human Story, especially the "Crossroads" of Life,
or Moby_Dick;
Starbucks has been able to drive:
Social Change -
a paradigm that has increased the "moral weight" of its power.
"And Remembering Our Past,
In a lot of Ways;
She's A MUSE -
Always there,
Inspiring us and pushing us,
- Ahead -
And She's A PROMISE too,
Inviting All of Us;
-To FIND what we're LOOKING FOR -
Even if it's something,
We haven't even imagined yet.
She INSPIRES -
The SPIRIT of The WRITER;
You WONDER -
What She THINKS!
She stands un-bound,
SHARING OUR STORIES;
Inviting All of Us in,
To EXPLORE and to CONNECT,
With One Another".
( Steve M. )
ROMANCE or Romanticism is a voyage in "the clouds".
Either of them travels, in this case, on a Sea full of Words.
But words are born "in our heads and in our hearts" too;
and transcribed into L-E-T-T-E-R-S...
"MOBY DICK".
I can smell the sweet scent already.
Oh, the aroma of dark roasted coffee!
Yes. Exotic. Distant Places.
"SLEEPLESS".
Is that not what A Cup of COFFEE does to you?
I like to travel wide, and awake!
"SEATTLE".
Bon Voyage! Seattle is our seaport destination.
You can help yourself to A Caffe Latte, Mr shipmate.
Uhm! We're to embark on this steamer together.
"PEQUOD".
Of course, Herman Melville steps onto deck with us.
And he romanticizes the Chief-mate on board.
"For be it polar Snow or torrid Sun,
Like a Patent Chronometer,
His Interior Vitality
- was warranted -
To do Well,
In All Climates."
( Herman Melville )
"STARBUCK".
LONG AGO, three Men of Letters bonded over A CUP Of COFFEE.
JERRY BALDWIN ( English teacher ),
ZEV SIEGL ( History teacher ),
GORDON BOWKER ( Writer ).
They were University of San Francisco graduates.
Obviously they were spawned from A CULTURE Of LETTERS.
For example, Moby_Dick.
After a brain-storming session, they found their SOUL~MATE:
STARBUCK.
And they added an "S" at the end.
Perhaps, to siginfy that they were "three" friends.
They began from at least, two formidable premises:
Books...which embody Power,
Friendship...which embodies Love.
From this Cultural Background, they Patented A DREAM:
STARBUCKS ® ( 1971, Pike Place ).
There-by creating for their fellow humans, especially
- in their HEADS and in their HEARTS -
"A GREAT GOOD PLACE".
Yes, and that's the head-and-heart of author Ray Oldenburg, talking.
It's like drinking a Cup of Caramel Frappuccino,
and finding ourselves lifted in the Clouds.
Yes, we're ready to L.I.V.E :
with the Power - of Purpose and Love.
But, at the rate of "One Cup At A T.I.M.E."
"And as ALWAYS:
She's urging All of Us,
FORWARD -
To the NEXT THING!
After all,
Who can resist her?"
( Steve M. )
The STARBUCKS "Espresso Machine" flows, with its own poetry.
It'd draw my girl Alicia Keys, away from the Keyboard;
toward another warm Cup of Coffee.
Yes, see her humming in her h-e-a-d, "UN-THINKABLE"!
And in her h-e-a-r-t, "I'M READY".
Yes, she's experiencing a-once-in-a-lifetime phenom.
{ The Uber-Caffeinated Trip }.
It is the classic Espresso Bar Culture,
which made Howard Shultz fall in love with Coffee, in Italy.
You can call STARBUCKS the "Poetry of COFFEE and CULTURE".
"Put It In A LOVE SONG", I hear Alicia Keys sing.
CULTURE engenders "Selective Behaviour".
More so, for "A Man of Letters".
It's not a far-fetched realization, especially when you have travelled
the same route as HOWARD SHULTZ.
Yes, he bought STARBUCKS from the original founders ( I988 ).
America gave him Laissez-faire.
And he gave back, to Americans, Conscientious ( or Benevolent ) Capitalism.
And to advance Culture "beyond Coffee" and the American borders,
he developed a company-mantra:
"Pour Your HEART Into It" !
"We had an idealistic Dream,
That our Company,
- could be far more -
Than the Paradigm defined,
By Corporate America.
We had a Mission,
- to educate consumers -
Everywhere, about fine Coffee.
We had a Vision,
- to create an atmosphere -
In our stores;
That drew People in,
- and gave them a sense of wonder -
And Romance;
- in the midst of their harried lives -"
( Howard shultz )
ALL, which Privilege cannot give, PROVIDENCE can guarantee,
by taking us on specific voyages.
MOBY_DICK.
What Captain Ahab couldn't earn,
Chief-mate Starbuck may freely give.
GOD_MAN.
Men by their human nature are flawed.
But they can rise above this limitation, through SERVICE.
Which ONLY GOD can "direct",
- in Our Heads and in Our Hearts -
Perhaps through Men of LETTERS. And at auspicious TIMES.
GATES GILL is also "A Man of Letters".
He recounts his own Story at STARBUCKS -
reminiscent of Charles Dickens' Stooge-like epiphany.
He learns discipline, dignity and RESPECT.
And learns to live by Merit, and not Class.
STARBUCKS is a journey...of discovery.
Herman Melville said "discovery" is finding what is "already there".
While "perception" is seeing what "could be there".
STARBUCKS is also, a voyage of PERCEPTION.
Perhaps, that's the reason STARBUCKS has inspired more than two-dozen books, in its short life span.
Maybe there's A Gospel of Perception, afterall;
derivable from the Starbuck of Moby_Dick.
"But this AUGUST DIGNITY I treat of,
Is not the dignity of kings and robes;
But that abounding dignity,
Which has no robed investiture.
Thou shalt see it,
SHINING -
In the arm that wears a pick,
Or drives a spike;
That democratic dignity which,
ON ALL HANDS -
Radiates without from God, Himself!
The Great God, Absolute!
The Centre and Circumference
Of all democracy!
His Omnipotence,
Our divine equality!"
( Herman Melville )
LIFE is indeed a tall tale, if we could bring ourselves to tell it.
And when we do embark on that voyage, to tell it;
Men of Letters regard it as LITERATURE -
an embodiment of CULTURE, essentially.
It un-folds, before audiences and spectators, in WORDS -
Oral or Written.
It conjures up memories of aromatic Coffee, and reminds the listener
of scented people.
And travels to distant, exotic places.
Like Moby_Dick; like STARBUCK(S).
LETTERS are the habit of learned folk, be they Scientists or Artists.
Or perhaps, Artisans.
It is the LANGUAGE of a perculiar People...and their Dreams.
It's all about LIFE...and...T.I.M.E.
Yes, Alicia Keys is back to her Steinway.
And Herman Melville is hovering "in the clouds",
- in Our Heads and in Our Hearts -
As Letters of Moby_Dick.
# STARBUCK.
Yes.
"The Element Of FREEDOM" re-echoes in the "Atmospheric Cafe":
@ STARBUCKS.
It already sounds to me, like A LEGACY!
"Our Goal was to Build,
A GREAT COMPANY;
- one that stood for some thing -
One that valued:
The Authenticity of ITS PRODUCTS,
And the Passion of ITS PEOPLE ".
( Howard Shultz )
Postscript: Life is not only a Mystery, but also a Promise.
We therefore understand that STARBUCKS is NOT
"A Recipe for Success".
But the Culture of Starbucks evokes ONLY
"A Promise of the FUTURE".
And ONLY GOD guarantees the FUTURE.
{Yes, CULTURE of "The WORD"! We re-visit "CHRIST"-MAS!! }
"Wait 'Till You See My Smile"
( Alicia Keys, 2010 )
