We all know the feeling. You feel yourself fading away in the late morning or afternoon, unable to quite focus on what’s in front of you. Maybe you’re swimming upstream against a neverending current of mind-numbing work, or maybe you’ve been bouncing between twelve different activities and your mind is pulled in twenty different directions. Or maybe there’s something more serious, more personal, drawing your attention away. You’re just… gassed. You gotta fill up. You need a cup of coffee, or a mug of tea, or a soda, or whatever your stimulant of choice is, urgently. No, that little burst of chemical energy doesn’t solve your problems, but it gives you just a small extra push to face them a little more confidently. It helps take your mind off your problems. It refreshes you. It leaves you feeling just a tad more… rich. 

For me, this kind of extra burst comes just as much from encountering a new perspective or a new idea as it does a cappuccino. An article. A podcast. A conversation. These are the kind of intellectual stimulation that helps get me through the day. Ideas that enrich your life, show you a new side to the world and inspire you to become a better version of yourself. Things that leave you feeling richer. 

These two types of energy, chemical and intellectual, often combine in the humblest, yet most exquisite of locations — the local coffee shop. This space is meant to be like a college town coffee shop. Coffee shops are great for coffee, of course, but also for intellectual stimulation. Little pick-me-ups of thought. I can’t give you the caffeine as stimulation, but maybe I can help with the intellectual side. Meeting interesting people and having interesting conversations about interesting things is one of the great joys of college, and while I’m lucky to have a fair bit of that in my work life, it’s not to the same level. This blog won’t totally make up for it, but it might capture some of the same vibe.

Now is anything I’m gonna type on this blog make you a better version of yourself? Definitely not. I’m not aiming that high. And I definitely don’t have ideas that good. Think of me like an idea barista — I don’t grow the coffee, roast the beans, or invent the drinks, but I prepare them for you. (Except I’m not preparing them to order, so maybe I’m less of a barista and more of… a random idea generator.) And quite honestly, a lot of the ideas I’ll be serving up are pretty trivial. Conversations about the most important unimportant things are everywhere in coffee shops, especially around college campuses. And no, just because something is unimportant does not mean it is uninteresting. 

A little bit of background about me – I’m just about three months out of college and working full time. Which is to say, I’m both young enough and old enough to appreciate the kind of free intellectual wandering that characterizes academic life, especially for young people. I’m really happy with where I am, and while I’m absolutely ready to shed some parts of the college lifestyle, I am missing others something fierce. Mostly those are the random conversations about anything and everything, which this blog is an attempt to capture the spirit of. I also have an unapologetic, full-throated love of college sports (is this the part where I mention I went to Notre Dame?), which will come through on occasion quite often. 

I have a lot of technical or analytical writing as a part of my job, but precious few outlets for more creative work. As a somewhat aimless twenty-something, my options were basically to start a podcast or a blog — and given that I don’t have anything resembling real audio equipment, a blog was the obvious (and cost-effective!) choice. And faced with several co-equal passions and a desire to talk about each, I settled on a deliberate scattershot approach. Nice because it keeps me free to write what I want, but not so nice because it means I have no guardrails. It’ll be a fun ride. 

I doubt anything I have to say on this site will be important in the grand scheme of things, but they’re a little part of me, of my way of seeing and thinking about the world. I’m not starting this blog because I think I have a unique perspective necessarily, or because the world desperately needs to hear my voice. Just the opposite actually — I’ve always loved sharing my ideas, but that’s because I learn so much from what other people say about them. One of the coolest things about college, about being a person really, is getting to see and understand other people’s perspectives. I’m sharing mine here, and I hope you’ll do the same in some way. I’d love to get to see the world through your eyes. 

I’ll try to mix and match here, covering a lot of diverse topics and items, without any real unifying theme beyond “this is what I’d want to talk to someone cool about.” Sometimes I’ll write about movies, TV, or video games, sometimes about current events or a random thing I just read online, and sometimes I’ll write about nothing in particular. I’m committed to you never quite knowing what you’re going to get. 

And yes, there will be college sports. A lot of college sports. Arguably (definitely?) too much college sports. 

So, like a nice, piping hot mug of coffee in the middle of a long work day or a late night winter study session, I offer you this site. Just a little something to break the doldrums and spark a morsel of intellectual joy. Getting to know someone else and their ideas always pushes me forward, and I believe it can push you forward too. It won’t solve your problems, but I hope it’s a little pick me up.

Which is, to say, you can read this blog however you like. If you want to have it be strictly a sports blog, feel free to stick to the sports tab. Movie reviews your thing? Head over there. Just want to see some thought on random nonsense? Check back sporadically for that. Whatever your speed is, I hope you’ll find something to your liking. 

So cheers, friends. Pull up a chair and order your favorite overpriced beverage. Join the conversation. We’re glad you’re here. Welcome to Emergency Caffeine. 

– EC