Write This

by Cecilie E. Roaldset

This column is dedicated to where we write and why. Uncapped will be accepting submissions for this column for the fall zine at the beginning of July so grab your pen/laptop and send in 300 words or so. Tell us where "your room" is; it can be anywhere you feel that you write the best, most creative work; non-traditional places greatly welcomed.

Elbow Room and Deco Lamps

The first time I entered Uptown Espresso to write I held a freshly-made smoothie, in my backpack, my laptop; on a beautiful summer day I was working on a brochure for a local non-profit. I found a corner table with a cool deco lamp and pulled out my laptop and went to work. The Uptown Espresso location on 4th and Vine is my favorite deadline-looming place to write; I discovered this spot in the fall of 2001 when I was invited to come to a Writergrrl Zine meeting. I would escape my drama-filled house in Magnolia, reading The New York Times, watching people come out of the Seattle Center.

The Uptown Espresso in Belltown is my favorite haunt because of the bright big windows and large oak tables. The place is decorated with art deco lamps, smooth tables, and comfortable chairs. It’s located next to a famous grass-roots record label, people, and tourists. Uptown Espresso has a potpourri of everything that is Seattle—it has plenty of outlets for the laptop writer and pay-as-you-go WiFi. Uptown usually has un-intrusive music on and the barista will lower the volume if it’s too loud. They also have no issue if you bring in food, and loiter way past when you finish your coffee. As a writer who gets easily distracted, the atmosphere is great; I finished my project and have ended up meeting several useful connections while working there. I ended up doing bookkeeping for a small business owner on Vashon Island, have become connected to other Internet resources, and have met some great people. The baristas in this Uptown are the best in the city; they make excellent coffee and keep the atmosphere light. I favor this Uptown over all their other locations because you can overtake a table not having to worry about elbows, thinking out loud, or wondering if someone is reading your screen over your shoulder. To me this Uptown is an extension of my own living room, no phone included, and nothing but the words on my screen to focus on.

Cecilie Roaldset is a regular open mic poet, an observer of life, and has native connections to Scandinavia. She is currently working as a grant writer for a non-profit organization and has a poetry portfolio and a novel in progress.