Cultural Artifact

I chose a Starbucks coffee cup. It seems so small and plain, innocent, nothing fancy, but it's like the cup heard around the world! If someone sees it in your hand, you can walk into a place and people want to know what drink you have in there. Starbucks has been known to change the design on the outside of the cup for seasons, years in business, and original design. I chose this particular object because it represents who they are. No-one has a cup like this one, although very frequently imitated. For instance, the brown sleeve that protects your hand. They were the first to my knowledge to invent this piece and so many have tried to master the same concept. Their cups and glasses teach class, a certain level of prestigious coffee drinking.

Mini-ethnographic account

I chose to start studying the culture of Starbuck's coffee. For instance, why do most people look so "retro" and put together that go to Starbuck's? How do most that order know what all the language means? It's funny to go to the same Starbuck's at the same time everyday and see the same people, not employees, that are there. If you are a Starbuck's fan, do they go at the same time everyday, get the same drinks/food everyday. How many favorite drinks do the average Starbuck goers have?

Observation Field Notes

What surprised me? I picked the park because I go there throughout the week and see the same things. I always see someone pull up, stay in there car, wait for someone else to "meet" them and they look like they both shouldn't be there. I probably should do this as my discourse but it's being too nosey. I can gather all this information while running around like a chicken. What intrigued me? Mothers who are there with there kids and if you walk up to them and say, "Enjoy this, they'll be grown too fast." They simply don't get it. They look at you as though you're crazy! As to when I had toddlers, all you wish is that they could run and play and do more. Little do you know it comes all too soon and you wish you had the time back. What disturbed me? The fact I feel like most of us are running and exercising while someone's wife/husband could be doing something wrong and we just don't know, nor is it our business.

Culture or Discourse that I want to study

I want to do my study on Starbuck's. I am a coffee lover, have my own crazy ordering ways, and want to reach deeper into the culture of the Starbuck's world. How anytime of the day you can walk in and the place is packed, people laughing, drinking, studying, listening to their own music. Why is it so big? Why do people, myself included, pay so much for a cup of joe? This is my new mission for the semester! Let the journey begin...