I know, I know! I tend to try to get all creative and alliterative with my post titles. And this one – call me for craft coffee in the cloud and more – is simply a summary or a list of all the things in my post! Read on to find out how…

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Craft Coffee Badges In the Cloud

I mentioned clouds, only for one reason. I do not plan to talk about clouds (real or the tech world-one), but only want to highlight that April 3rd happens to be World Cloud Security Day. So just a reminder that we need to ensure we are keeping ourselves secure out there in the cloud(s).

Next up: Coffee badging. Yesterday, I shared a list of buzzwords with you. Since they were are all ‘b’ buzzwords, I did not include this one – coffee badging – but it is another trending buzzword. So what exactly is coffee badging??

Coffee badging is a workplace trend that has emerged as a creative workaround for in-office mandates. Let me break it down for you:

So What is Coffee Badging?

Employees who practice coffee badging show up at the office for a brief period—just long enough to grab a cup of coffee or socialize with colleagues. After their coffee break, they promptly leave the office and continue working remotely from home or another location.

The term “badging” implies that they earn an imaginary badge for their coffee visit, even though it’s not officially recognized.

Why Coffee Badging?

The motivation behind coffee badging lies in saving time and money. Many workers are reluctant to spend excessive time commuting to the office, especially if their work tasks can be accomplished just as effectively from home. This is even more so after most employees have been working from home in the post-pandemic period.

While companies are now slowly starting to urge employees to return to the office, the desire for flexibility and convenience persists.

Other Workplace Trends

Coffee badging joins a host of other linguistic hallmarks that have emerged since the onset of COVID-19:

• Quiet quitting: Employees disengaging without making a fuss.
• Bare minimum Mondays: Doing the bare minimum on Mondays.
• Grumpy staying: Remaining in a job despite dissatisfaction.
• And more!

Creative Writing that Calls Out to Me

Call Me Adnan

Call Me Athena

Creative Contemplations

NaPoWriMo’s Day 3 prompt is to write a surreal prose poem. This one took me longer than I thought and while I am not sure of the ‘surrealistic’ part of it, it is prose.

And also inspired by the Poetics prompt at dVerse: Write a poem using one of the photos by John McKaveney as inspiration. Photos below in the collage:

Left: Photo by John McKaveney: Hotel; Right-top; Photo by John McKaveney: The Orion Nebula; Right-bottom: Photo by John McKaveney: Bright Moon)

Cosmic Time after Time

…

She had wrapped herself in the contours of a little one all curled up tight, in the corner of that farthest nebula. But even then, he found her right away. For her light shone bright through all the darkness around. She had reached high up to the sky, only to find herself back in the walls of the castle she escaped. And she never saw the ladder to the stars, right there on the castle roof.

..

She found it. The ladder! And when he climbed up one day for his regular nightly trips, she struck a match and burned it down. No way back for him!

.

Her laughter bounced off the walls of the castle, turning into hard cork balls, and hit the guests causing them to spill their guts. Everything they had ever hidden was now right there on the floor of her ballroom. They all stared at the floor – her open mouthed and googly eyed guests – as their stories spun together into an epic nebula.

It reminded her of the one she saw (so briefly that it was like a dream) eons ago, and brought to mind what her mama once said, “Cosmic time always finds a way.” And as they all continued to stare, the maids came in to clean the mess, swept it all off the floor, exposing the craters their tales had left.

~Vidya @ LadyInReadWrites

Contemplating Names and Tunes

The moon pic reminded me of the name Chandrika (today’s featured name, for the letter C). Chandrika (Sanskrit) translates to ‘moon shining’ and could easily be a title for that moon photo by John in the collage above!

And it reminded me of many a Bollywood song that reference the moon (we have zillions maybe!) but here is one recent classic (from the 1990s). You can watch the original song from the movie on Youtube directly here. And another older Bollywood classic from the 1970s below

The Craft of Craft Coffee

Have you had a cup of craft coffee? You know, that exclusive cuppa joe that is sure to be bussin’ and definitely a boujee experience! I for one, leave it to the expert coffee connoisseurs in my family – my DH and my DD – to pick coffees in the rare instances we head out for it. When I meet friends over a cup of coffee, I adhere to their expertise once again. Most often, we craft coffee at home, and well, in our case, it is usually plain old good South Indian filter coffee!

But What is Craft Coffee?

From what I know of it so far, craft coffee is kind of like a “movement” within the coffee industry. One that talks about emphasizing quality, flavor, and sustainability.

Craft coffee typically involves sourcing high-quality beans, often from specific regions or farms, and roasting them in small batches to highlight their unique flavors. It also involves precise brewing methods to extract the best flavors from the beans.

Enthusiasts prioritize attention to detail, ethical sourcing practices, and a dedication to the art and science of coffee making, resulting in a coffee experience that celebrates the richness and complexity of this age-old beverage.

Now that you know more about it, if you have not indulged in craft coffee yet, would you do so soon?

Ways to Indulge in a Cuppa Craft Coffee

Read up about it. Check out James Hoffman’s fact-filled brilliant The World Atlas of Coffee and then steep yourself (I know that is for tea) into more craftiness with Jessica Easto’s Craft Coffee: A Manual.

Some coffee to start off the process. You can maybe get these low acidity dark roast single origin Guatemala coffee beans from VitaCup or these Arabica Coffee Grounds (if you don’t feel up to grinding beans at first).

Then, get yourself some coffee cups, like this elegant yet adorable coffee cup perfect for a cappucino or a latte that comes with a dessert saucer and a walnut stirring spoon. Or these generous 16 oz double-walled coffee mugs for when you want more of it.

Now, craft yourself some coffee and enjoy every sip!

And Now, the End of This Post

Dear reader, do let me know if you have read any of the books listed today? Which book would you pick first? Will you attempt a surrealistic prose poem yourself? If you do, don’t forget to share it with me! Have you participated in the coffee badging trend yourself? I won’t judge/can’t judge… and I think it is okay as long as the work gets done well and on time.

I am linking up to A-Z, Blogchatter, UBC, NaPoWriMo.

And you can find all my A-Z posts (this year and previous years’ as well) here:

A to Z Challenge Posts