Machine yearning

what do we want from the internet? what will it take to get it?

this is something like a sequel to my last essay, Choosing to walk. you don’t need to have read the last one in order to read this one, but it will probably add to the experience.

---

Recently, I experienced a real New York miracle: I made a friend who works at a coffeeshop near my apartment. This has been a nice addition to my life in mostly small and quiet ways; sometimes I show up before opening to chat in the empty store at blue dawn, fuck around with the espresso machines, eat the chocolate croissants made with imported French dough right when they get out of the oven. One morning, while we were chatting, my friend burned the whole batch of madeleines and didn’t have time to make more before the shop opened. Later, a little kid came into the store with his dad, asking for a madeleine; he comes in regularly, my friend explained to me afterwards, and gets a madeleine every time. This time, though, my friend had to explain guiltily to the wide-open face of a child that there were no madeleines to be had.