Salons
Sitting in a post-boho coffee shop only a couple miles away from UCLA, I am struck at how coffee shops have always been a hotbed of underground thought.
Now, this is not to say that every word spoken at one of these places is pure genius. Quite the opposite. The thoughts and words spoken hear tend to be undisciplined, boosted by the youth who neither have the wisdom nor knowledge to lend real impact to their words.
However, as the world becomes more connected I see chain smoking digerati (how I loathe that word, but it's the best word that springs to mind right now) sitting, chatting, conversing with others in meatspace and on their phones, connecting with others chainsmoking across the country.
Coffeeshops and other drug infused gatherings of young people have always been a place where culture has been formed. Often it is framed as counter-culture, but all that is is a word for culture that seeks to overthrow or evolve the culture that it springs from. Whether the drug be caffeine, alchohol, hashish or opium, the result is the same.