Trying the Martin Luther King Jr. Library in San Jose. I've left Charlotte at home today for obvious reasons: they're not very welcoming to Gargantupuppies in places like this. Boy, was she unhappy about it, too... I guess she's gotten very used to coming with me everywhere I go, because she stood by the back door and gave me Sad Puppy Eyes the whole time I was getting ready. I felt awful about leaving her behind, but it's tough enough as it is to find someplace to write that meets all my needs, let alone allows Gargantupuppies, so she's going to have to stay behind sometimes.
There's a "Tully's" coffee here at the library, located outside the entrance but included as part of the building. Tully's is a poor man's Starbucks - not too bad, and they've got a nice patio out here - I'll take a video or something, the next time I'm down here, and post it here so you can see - but it's in the shade of the building for most of the day, and not very comfy, except on the hottest of days. Right now I'm freezing, and the chairs aren't quite built right, kind of like the patio chairs at Starbucks on North First - you've either got to be sitting back talking to someone, or reading something, but you can't really write without giving yourself a neck ache.
One more problem with this patio - it's on the corner of Fourth and San Fernando or something - translate that to "smack dab in the middle of the 21st century". San Jose State University backs onto the library, which is kind of shared between the university and the city, so there's a million students coming and going. There are a million cars going past, people walking everywhere, and so much noise that my iPod couldn't drown it all out no matter how loud I set it. This certainly does not qualify as white noise, and I can't write any other time period while I'm sitting here, so I'm packing up to try their study spaces inside...
Okay, the inside study spaces are worse, for different reasons. It's too quiet, and I make a lot of noise shuffling around, typing, talking to myself... I keep freaking out about what people might be hearing, or how I might be disturbing them, which means I can't concentrate at all.
The view is unparralled, of course, and I let myself be blinded by that, but the chairs here are, if anything, worse than the patio chairs - I shall now designate this type of chair a "patio" chair, and henceforth you'll automatically know what I'm talking about.
So I've packed up, climbed back on the lightrail, and come back to my favorite Starbuck. I spent about an hour inside, where, by the way, they keep it freakin' FREEZING, a trick to keep people from camping all day at their tables that I have never respected of any restaurant... I read my email and played around a bit, but then I just couldn't stand it anymore and I came back outside, to go find my favorite picnic benches.
So far, these picnic benches are my favorite spot. They give me the correct posture when I write - ie the desk surface is high enough that I don't have to look down and give myself a neck ache - and I can have Charlotte with me when I write, and I can bring my own goodies, water, food, etc and nobody freaks out, and by and large, I'm left to myself.
The downside: I have to be outside, so this isn't going to work in anything but good weather, which luckily, California does have a lot of. I can't leave Charlotte here, so if I need to go poddy, I have to pack everything up, walk back to the Starbucks, tie her up outside, out on the lawn where she's reasonably far away from everyone, take a chance on leaving her there while I scoot inside, etc etc... Not terribly convenient or easy. I also have to be sure to dress for the weather, which, like being inside the freakin' Starbucks, can be very unaccomodating if I guess wrong.
So the trailer is best so far, and the kitchen table at home, and sometimes I can make the picnic bench work, but everything else so far has been a bust. I'll keep looking, and let you know if I find any other alternatives.
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