A cup of nostalgia

By chance, I found myself at an overpriced, over-branded coffee shop located in a big box store. You know the shop, undoubtedly--it rhymes with... well, um, a word I don't use much for fear of the soap my mama used to wash my mouth out with. That shop.

I don't much fancy their coffee--once you get used to buying it locally roasted, the watered-down stuff that coffee shop likes to pass off as coffee doesn't taste like much. Besides that, my morning cuppa aside, I've not been much for the coffee lately. That left tea as an option.

What I ended up ordering was what they grandly dubbed a "black tea latte." Whatever. It was basically tea with a bit of sugar to cut the bitterness and some milk. It was wonderful. It was sheer nostalgia.

Tea has always been a key fixture in our house. My mom would make us all tea on the weekends; mine was generally more milk than tea when I was younger, with a lot of sugar and some hot water to dilute it further still. Sometimes Mom would add a bit of cardamon to the pot, other times fresh mint. The tea was the constant, though. As I got older, the water decreased, but I still drank it with milk. And a lot of sugar.

Finally, when I decided I was Grown Up and wanted it without milk, I wheedled for plain black tea, and I got it. In time, the three teaspoons of sugar winnowed down to one spoon, still black. I still prefer it black.

But today, with that bit of milk in it? Pleasant memories made the tea all that much richer.

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Now playing: Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Another Day Full Of Dread
via FoxyTunes

Multimedia Friday: Artsy fartsy

So I was messing around with pictures of my crocheted projects, trying to salvage some overexposed shots to get my things up for sale on etsy. I saved some with some tinkering. Others...? We-ellll...

Know how they say that if is ain't broke, don't fix it? What about when it's broke? What do you do? Isn't that license to screw it up further? Please tell me yes, 'cause that's what I did.

I present a crochet project turned abstract art.

The splashes of blue convinced me that this had potential. Is it frameworthy? Eh. Probably not. It sure was fun, though.

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Now playing: Rocky Votolato - Makers
via FoxyTunes

People are disgusting.

The last few times I went for a walk, I had it in mind to take a trash bag--and forgot. Littering's been on my mind lately, though, so when I went out today, I actually remembered a bag.

Right along the walking trail was not so bad. Bits of candy wrappers and old tattered plastic bags, mostly. A couple of tennis balls, three golf balls. Just off the trail, however, was another story--plastic bottles, beer cans, more plastic bags, more candy wrappers, Styrofoam cups, bits of Styrofoam cups, broken bits of kids' toys. Few of the items were very big, but when they were all put together, they filled most of my bag.

I guess I'm just an idealistic tree-hugger, but how much would it take for each person to do just a little bit? Start with the matter of not littering. Honestly, a small candy wrapper could certainly be shoved in a pocket until the next trash can (which, by the way, there were at intervals along the trail). Likewise, a plastic bag could be crumpled up and stashed in a pocket or backpack or knapsack or whatever. And for those who are not necessarily litter bugs themselves, how about just picking up one piece of litter on a trip? Just. One. Candy wrappers are generally in bright, obnoxious colors and therefore easily spotted. It doesn't take a lot of exertion, and once you've done that, there's one less piece of litter on the ground. If each person picked up one piece of trash on each trip they're outside, it could make a significant dent.

I try not to get soapbox-y with my hippie-ish ways. I just think this is a matter of common decency. Honestly, the kids these days...

Today I love my job

After the first assignment, which centers around a reading from their textbook, my students will be choosing a topic to write the rest of their papers on, culminating in a researched position paper by semester's end. Today we talked about potential research topics. In one class, I pretty much had to pull teeth to get anyone to generate topics. My second class? Not so much a problem.

They covered a lot of ground, between current events and ongoing debates. Church-state issues, English as the official language, movie rating system effectiveness, and stem cell research--sound research topics.

Of course, some were also off the wall.

"Aliens!" (On the off-limits list, I told them, but space exploration funding went on the board.)

"Bestiality!" (Not on the off-topics list, but not recommended. I'd want a detailed outline well in advance, figuring that would deter 'em. Calling their bluffs usually works. Also, awkward moment: "What's bestiality?" from a different student)

"Pirates!"

"What kind of pirates?" I asked, "File sharing or high seas?"

"Both!" They mentioned a couple high-conflict areas where pirates really were problematic. I was writing topics on the board quickly, trying to keep up with the rapid fire of ideas.

"How about Jack Sparrow?" one clown asked.

"As much as I'd appreciate a cover sheet with Johnny Depp on it, no," I said.

"Celebrity obsession!" someone else called out.

I paused before writing that one down. "Well played," I had to say.

Haven't done one of these in a while...

It's Friday. I have multimedia. I am also tired and therefore lazy.

Here's a peaceful, beautiful tune to end the work week on:

Murphy may have a laugh, but...

I'm going to take the risk of "jinxing" good fortune, but I have reason to believe that my first set of papers will be promising. The drafts I'm beginning to see are rather decent, and I've spent more time on the set-up than I have previously.

I did get a chuckle at the student who submitted a draft that was nearly twice as long as the assignment called for. Ah, but the aspiring academics will out themselves...

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Now playing: Glossary - Hold Me Down
via FoxyTunes

Out to play

After some very brisk cold weather, we had a nice warm day today. I relished the opportunity to go out to the park and enjoy a walk. At the perimeter was a memorial to a local girl who'd been slain several years ago; near the memorial, someone had placed two ornaments in an evergreen tree. If you look closely, very closely, the dark blob reflected in the silver is me.

As I wandered further down the path, I heard rustling under some leaves and dried grass. Rodent-like rustling, I fancied, though I never found out because the critter didn't show itself even after a good five minutes of silent waiting. So be it. I moved on. Shortly down the trail, I found the first of two things I snagged and brought back with me--a stick, just the right size for walking with. It was a perfect fit in the palm of my hand, bearing just enough weight to keep my troublesome right knee from protesting too loudly at the inclines and declines of the trail.

One thing I love about the walking trail is the trees. I'm a self-proclaimed tree hugger, but even I'd give this one its space:

Wicked looking thing, innit?

I thought about snagging some spikes from the tree but decided against it ultimately. I wouldn't want to carry it around, see. No, I would be better served carrying back a piece of glass. Much safer. I presume it came from a decorative window pane; it's red, with some texturing in it. I think it will be beautiful once it's washed and I figure out something crafty to do with it.

All in all, I had my hands full--a walking stick in one hand (I've a blister to prove it) and a partial pane of glass in the other. The sun was just beginning to set as I finished the thirty-minute ramble, and the day's warm temperatures were beginning to chill, and not just in the random pockets of cold air I kept walking in and out of at the beginning of the hike. The only thing that would have made it more lovely would be if my camera's battery hadn't died before I could snag a shot of a gorgeous molten sunset. Ah well. There will be other times, other walks, other sunsets.