I'll have a non-fat chai latte, hold the cup

Waiting for Audrey recently at a downtown Starbucks, I ordered a latte.

The woman behind the counter responded in the same tone she might use had I asked her to co-pilot an imaginary spaceship to the planet Xatox or express milk my waiting llama on the sidewalk.

"You want an actual cup?" she asked.

"Yes, an actual cup would be great," I said with a smile.

I also ordered a piece of banana cake, and upon hearing the crinkle of a paper bag I chimed in, "That's for here, too."

"Oh, yes," she said, soon adding, "We only have this saucer. All the actual plates are broken."

"A saucer would be fine."

I'm not a green-tinged saint but, hey, I try.

Common sense, not to mention a study or five, tells us ceramic mugs and plates are more environmentally friendly than disposable cups and paper bags, even when you factor in the energy needed to manufacture and wash the dishes.

But invariably the chain coffee joints offer you a disposable cup rather than a reusable one.

Starbucks says it wants to "re-establish" the ceramic mug as its "global standard" for people swilling java in-store by 2010.

Let's hope the planet is still around.

Image: http://yogitimesblog.blogspot.com/

Rogers or Bell?

Discuss.

Not such a great year at Bank & Somerset...

Employees regroup after arriving Monday morning to find the building that housed their business was badly damaged by fire overnight.

The four-storey commercial structure is on the northeast corner of Bank and Somerset, across the street from Somerset House. Nearly a year ago, the intersection was blocked after the partial collapse of that building during renovations. The blockage during subsequent legal ping-pong between the city and the former hotel's owner, about whether to save it or raze it, played out for months before reno work restarted in spring.

Bank Street businesses then spent the summer in the midst of a major street reconstruction that remains to be finished.

Just me, or is Ottawa's approach to downtown redevelopment a little ad-hoc...?

Word Cop - Just go with "For example"

Case and Point?

ZeroMeansZero - Case and point the ongoing saga of the sewage into our river... [1 additional demerit for missing comma after "point". 3 additional demerits for gratuitous cheap shots throughout blog].

Beholding and Becoming - “When the Kings Come Marching In” is case and point.

Aggravated Cases - Use in Blog Title:

Case and point - http://spencercaselog.blogspot.com/ I am Spencer Case, currently known as Specialist Case among my battle buddies in the 207th MPAD [2 additional demerits because when your name is Case and you are in the military, "Case in point" would have been a way better name for your blog. However, sentence is suspended due to the mitigating factor that you blogged in Iraq and your last post in 2006 says you should be going home soon and then nothing... ]

Case and Point - Case for and point of living. Maybe. Big stuff. Small stuff. All good stuff. [1 additional demerit for not using other possible definitions of "case and point", for example, "surreptitiously search a building and identify valuable items"]

CASE AND POINT - MY POINTS I THINK THAT MAY BE OF INTREST TO MOST PEOPLE. AND sell race cars and parts [Penalty: HTTP 404. Use in Title combined with use of upper case that switches to lower case for no apparent reason and mispelling of "interest", with no mitigating factors

Too many other examples to cite here.

Further research is suggested to verify the hypothesis that those who use "case and point" have more extreme and less tolerant opinions than those who use "case in point", but that both groups are less strident than those who instead use "for example", "such as", or "like".

Alerts for Deputized Word Cops from Language Log:

1. "Wile away" may actually be acceptable.
2. Keep your eyes open for overzealous censoring software that produces text with words like "clbuttic", "conbreastution" and "Buttociated Press"
   

Ode to Yoga at the YMCA

Wow, I almost missed my Saturday blog. Yikes!

Okay, here goes. I'd like to discuss the merits of doing yoga at the YMCA above going to Rama Lotus or another of the $17 per yoga-class places. As my fellow bloggers know, for some years I've been a yoga enthusiast at Rama Lotus, and other expensive yoga establishments in Ottawa.

Recently I signed up at the Ottawa Y, with a membership that includes free access to all the classes. So, I signed up for two yoga classes: hatha and power, and attended them both this week for the first time. I was shocked by how wonderful it was.

First off, did you know that the Y is actually a charity? Your membership is going to help keep the place going, and helps those less fortunate stay healthy. It's good to be a part of that. Apparently, no-one is ever rejected from being able to work-out at the Y -- if you don't have enough money, they'll work out a deal where you pay what you can. Really, it's the yogic way.

Anyway, reasons why Y-yoga classes are better than Rama Lotus classes:

1. They provide the mats, for free. So, I don't have to lug a mat to work.
2. The instructors are volunteers. Makes me feel that I'm being taught yoga by generous souls.
3. I wore a t-shirt and gym shorts to yoga, and didn't feel I was embarrassing myself with a poor fashion sense.
4. It didn't cost $17 a class, it was free (kind of, I do have a Y membership).
5. There were between 3 and 7 people in my class, not 50 of us scrunched together. It felt like a community.
6. The yoga instructors were very good.
7. The class is one hour, not 90 minutes. After work, a one-hour yoga class is enough.(If not, I can always do a workout!)
8. I can leisurely get changed and have a shower afterward, without bumping into 40 different people sharing the 10x10 change-room.
   

That's it for now. Namaste.