I don't want to harp on this overlymuch, as I've communicated this little anecdote/personality insight to several of my most prominent readers, but I just wanted to say a few things about my tea drinking habit.
First of all, I have a really nifty stainless steel mug, with a peeling turquoise/robin's egg colored enamel. I got it after a series of plastic mugs cups broke unceremoniously. It's once shiny interior has stained wonderful deep brown color that is really amazing. I've discovered that this style of mug is called a Malibu Tumbler, and really I couldn't be happier. I've decided that I need to start looking for a replacement because it's showing some serious ware. Actually it makes a bubbling noise on the bottom sometimes when I poor new water into it. Having said that there aren't any real leaks, so Its a bit disconcerting. Anyway. Moving on.
My cup is, at this point, a character object. A professor that I have in a lot of class this year, made reference to it in her lecture, (an example concerning color perception). I even cary it around sometimes when it's empty, because I feel naked without it. So I kind of need to find the perfect replacement, so I'm on the look out. If you have something that you think might be good run it by me. That would be awesome.
Thus far we have only discussed the cup. There is the considerable topic of the consumption of the tea. You see I've come to think that my consumption of tea functions like an addiction. Not compleatly, and I'll argue against this in a moment, so you're not left with the idea that I'm a raving loon, but hear me out. I have a particular kind of tea that I drink, almost to the exclusion of all others. I orchestrate my daily running about, to classes, meetings and errands around making sure my tea cup is as close to full as it can be. I know where all of the convenient hot water taps are. I have a tea kettle on my desk, and by the chairs that I most frequently sit in. The ritual of having tea and being able to thoughtfully sip it every now and then is calming, and the feeling of discovering an empty tea cup at the bottom of the second hour (or earlier) of a two hour class is soul crushing. I'm happier and function better when I have tea; though this, is likely due to a Ritilin like effect, and is perhaps the main reason for all this madness, because I don't really need it to get going in the morning.)
So tea is wonderful, basically. The reassurance that I'm not a loon: I tend to (intentionally or not) wean myself from tea when I'm not in school, because the ritual is gone, and I don't suffer that greatly. Though I am less productive, I think the ritual, not the chemistry has something to do with that. I don't really need it to wake up, as I mentioned above. As a side effect of the last point, because I don't need the tea to wake up, I tend to consume more tea later in the day, which means, I can mostly avoid headaches, because even if I get a late start at 1 or 2 with my first cup, I'm usually only 16-18 hours from my last cup.
Is this much thought on the subject itself a sign of trouble. Ah well. At least it tastes good.
Cheers, sam
ps. more content coming soon I promise. I even have a plan!