Buy Post Grape-Nuts Cereal, 24-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 4) from Amazon.

Disclaimer Before Posting: This is not to toot my own horn. I don't know 99.9% of you in real life and have nothing to gain by the following post. I'm writing it to challenge you, my dear cafeinated readers, to do a good thing too.

This morning, I stopped into a local coffee shop, part of a large national chain. The coffee is passable, but it is also convenient and I had run out at home. With a busy day ahead, I dashed in to buy a cup to go.

A homeless woman slept in the corner, slumped in a couch out of general sight, but regulars would often sit there and read or laptop for hours at a time. Their spot in this crowded cafe was taken.

It was 7:15 am. The cafe opened at 6:00 am, so she could not have been there long. Why would she get up from wherever she was at night only to head to the cafe to sleep? I don't know.

I thought about my opportunity to help her: This same cafe offers a range of sandwiches. The woman, I expect, would wake up hungry. And, if she was not, another homeless person would wander in from the heat of the day looking for cool shelter, hungry.

I worked it out with the barista to offer the woman a sandwich and drink of her choosing, and to charge me for it. This was maybe $5.00, not more than $6.00.

The homeless woman might refuse. I personally don't like the sandwiches there. I expect othes do not as well. Not a problem. At worst, I wasted $5.00. At best, I invested $5.00.

Some of you reading this have similar opportunities. That's what I want you to think about. Don't just buy a gift card. Those can be lost, or traded, or otherwise purchased in vain. Buy a meal for someone.

I was not going to be there when she woke up. I'll ask the barista next time I am in how things went. I'll report back here if I have news.

Take my challenge. Look around the cafes you frequent. Take a risk. Most of you can give $5.00 to lift the morale and reduce the hunger (and stress) of someone. If you can afford coffee shop coffee, not matter where you buy it (even McDonald's or Dunkin Donuts), you can do this.

Poem for May 3: Remembering You Without a Card
For a Long Lost Friend

by Brockeim

I remember.
I remember.

Someone needed to.
So I remembered.

I remember,
forgetting, though, I could,
forgetting as might I should,
but I do remember.

There are more convenient things
to forget.
And more convenient people
to remember.
I remember naked poetry and flirtatious hats,
leather-bound notebooks, and hand-made scarves.
I remember lazy afternoons starting 20 minutes
later than the prescripted time, ending days too soon
as dreaming was offset by life, mammon, and other worlds
less mysterious than the one we invisibly shared. 

I remember.

Today was a good day. Among the better January 10ths on the list of all January 10ths.

Good coffee, great people, and even a sunny day.

May there be many more.

Thanks to all who said kind things on Facebook, email, Twitter, ESP and other forms of communication.

AT-A-GLANCE Recycled Desk Pad, 22 x 17 Inches, White, 2012 (SK24-00)

This is the 2012 calendar. The 2011 version looked much like it.

I cannot review 2012. Not yet. Today is the first day of year, and how can I say how a calendar will hold up 366 days of the year? We have, of course, the bonus Leap Year day thrown in, but, for this calendar, as a monthly, no extra product will exist.

Last year's calendar, though, I have expert knowledge. I was there all 365 days. From the time midnight hit January 1, 2011, until just a few hours ago at 11:59:59 p.m. December 31, 2011, I experienced all of it firsthand. This calendar recorded all of it. Most of it, anyway. The paper, recycled, is durable enough to withstand ink, coffee cups, and the pressure of books waiting to be read.

As a larger desk pad calendar, there is room enough to remember dental appointments and the other mundanities of life. So often, calendar makers do not see beyond Monday-Friday, giving those five days more than their fair share of paper. Not this publisher. They understand Saturday and Sunday are not days we do not exist, but exist as fully as any other.

Saturday needs room, not merely a number. So much life starts on Saturday. "6 am -- Meet -- at The Jupiter Cafe." Then, "Pick up dry cleaning before 10." The rest of the morning and early afternoon is given over to reading, as always, so scheduling it is not important. But at 3:00 p.m., there is transition. Early dinners with beautiful women whose charm lasts long after the moon has traveled over the Earth are noted, with an arrow to a day or two earlier: "Buy wine at --'s Winery and Fine Luxuries." Sundays might find, "Worship at -- Church at 10," and "Visit the gallery at 2. Pick up -- at 1:30 p.m." Thus calendar can, and has, handled all of this.

There is room in each entry for all of the day's events. In the case in which your life has more than a pleasant evening dining scheduled, perhaps this is not for you. There is software to accommodate the more complicated life. But, for the simpler lifestyle, one built around enjoying the people around you, this is a perfect addition to the home desk.

May your days be full with love, wine, and coffee, and people who prefer all.

--Brockeim

Buy a AT-A-GLANCE Recycled Desk Pad, 22 x 17 Inches, White, 2012 (SK24-00).