GIFT OF STARBUCKS

Not that this comes as any shock to anyone but, I am a coffee-lover. You can call this whole coffee thing a revolution of sorts. It is taking over the world and it has already over-taken me.

I have officially decided that the best "simple gift" to get someone is a Starbucks gift card. It just keeps on giving (well, until it runs out of money). Even if you don't like coffee, you can get a cup of tea or even hot chocolate. Plus the cookies and other desserts are great uses of any gift card.

Coffee, and more specifically Starbucks coffee, is as American as baseball. You know in the same way that Notre Dame has to have the Golden Dome is the same way a coffee-lover should be served a cup of Starbucks. They just must go together!

And while this mega-giant business that is Starbucks runs rampid, any reader should check the story behind the business. "Pour Your Heart Into It" by Howard Schultz is a pretty good read on how to run a company and even how to build community.

So during 2006, please give the gift of Starbucks!