Certain Something Special Had Begun May 28, 1999, the day before diesel first opened its doors was my 23rd birthday. I spent it helping to tackle the endless to-do list Tucker had carefully written out on a massive sheet of butcher paper. As I tightened bolts on the small round tables and arranged cups in …
Stories With Data When I first walked into Diesel in 2006, y’all had already been going strong for years. When I moved to Somerville full-time in 2008, it became a refuge and has stayed one ever since, through life changes I couldn’t have even begun to imagine 12 or 13 years ago. I like telling …
A Life Richer Shortly after moving to Somerville and leaving an unsatisfying job, I found myself working at Diesel. I immediately felt uplifted by the vibrancy and high energy at my new job, surrounded by multitalented, hilarious, & hardworking coworkers, and by the devoted customers who made Diesel a part of their everyday. Moving to …
Self-Love self-love noun \ ˌself-ˈləv \ Definition of self-love : love of self: such as a : an appreciation of one’s own worth or virtue Everything typed above this line was copy and pasted from Merriam-Webster, the definition of self-love I mean. I would correctly cite it if I could. I think that’s a skill …
More Than Just One Story I don’t really know where to begin for my diesel love story. I guess it’s because it’s way more than just one story. There’s a Diesel love story for Diesel as an employer. I never imagined I would work there and start living one of those queer lives I used …
Royal Treatment These poems, as I see them, reflect conditions that prevail at the Diesel Cafe. The “Beautiful Sandwich” is a delight that calls forth how well Diesel patrons are treated day-by-day. Even the most ordinary order gets royal treatment. “When Grace at the Bliss Cafe Calls” is much more serious and describes a grief …
Really Big Important Things I started working at Diesel in the Spring of 2013. I had packed one suitcase and taken a train from Rochester to Boston, one way. I had recently broken up with my boyfriend in NY, and what had at first been amicable turned violent. I was left broken, scared, lost and …
Return to Oz I once had a Couchsurfer named Candy Royalle. We connected immediately over our partly shaved heads and over poetry. She was going to stay 3 days and she ended up staying a couple of weeks. On her way out of Boston, and back to Australia, she asked where she might stop for …
Sounds of Our Daily Life I was a 23 year-old queer kid moving from rural North Carolina to Boston when I first stepped foot in Diesel just 2 weeks after the café opened. Little did I know that Diesel would be providing more than a much needed break from a frustrating apartment search. Like for …
Love From A Distance My best friend and I grew up in Niagara Falls, NY. While I have stayed in the greater Buffalo area, just after college, John made the Boston area his home. He found his amazing soulmate there, they settled in Somerville near Davis Square. As we visited, we watched the transformation of …
Diesel Love Stories 