Generally, I'm turned off by the way many blog writers spend their time quoting each other. That kind of self-referential dialogue gets boring rather quickly. (And yes, I'm well aware of the irony of me saying that). On the other hand, we as Shpotzirists do appreciate good writing--or, at the very least, clever phrasing. So I thought I'd post the following recent passage from James Lileks, a famous name in the so-called "blogosphere." I particularly like the phrase at the end, which sounds like something Theo would say. 


The market doesn’t make high-quality judgments if the people driving the markets have low standards, or they have a variety of standards that don't put product quality first. I’d rather have a slightly great cup of coffee in an incredibly cool cafe than a great cup of coffee in a dive festooned with Nazi memorabilia. I’d rather have a so-so burger in a dive with a friendly waitress than a great meal in a place where the staff sneered at me and never refilled my drink.

It’s very complex. Starbucks’ regular coffee tastes like old donkey hooves soaked in burnt crankcase oil. But their Americano coffee is okay by me.