Swept away.

Coffee: I seem to be alternating between Colombian Supremo and Guatemalan Antigua at the moment. Today, it's the Colombian. Just a darn near perfect cup of coffee, but so is the Guatemalan.

Mug: Another Chinese made "diner" mug, although slightly smaller than my normal mugs. I haven't measured it, but I suspect it only holds 8 to 9 oz. of coffee. But it's a wonderful example of the style. Thick walls, with a flattened rim along the top, it has excellent tactile qualities to the hands and lips. It is very well balanced with superior ergonomics, and the two-fingered handle feels just right. It's a molded mug (you can faintly see the seam along the handle side), but it seems to have irregularities to it, which gives the mug a subtle "hand-crafted" look.

Note: This mug comes from the Cafe du Monde coffee stand in New Orleans. I've never paid too much attention to CDM (as my New Orleans-native friends call Cafe du Monde), as I've never been to New Orleans, and while I've been served their canned coffee (yellow can), I can't say it did anything for me. I got interested in CDM because my good friend and Christian sister Noreene Hurst loves the stuff. She was lamenting not being able to find "CDM Yellow" in Dallas. I knew where to look, and I've been getting some for her on occasion as a token of my appreciation.

Further note: Two years ago today, Hurricane Katrina inundated New Orleans. Noreene was one of the evacuees. Over one thousand people died. Hundreds of thousands of people were displaced, and still haven't returned (many never will). Some (like Noreene) have found a better life, while some have found no life at all. The tourist spots are back, the sin merchants of the French Quarter are thriving, but 65% of the city still lies in ruins, abandoned to roving gangs and other vermin. George Bush will be in New Orleans to talk about what wonderful work that has been done along the Gulf Coast to help his constituency, while the poor remain neglected (and worse). Some suspect that the ultimate plan is to turn NOLA into a sort of Zuider Deesnyland... a place for wealthy tourist to come and dip their toes into the exciting lifestyle of open sin, and then return to Idaho or Des Moines or Highland Park to their self-righteous lives. Once the middle class and the poor have been eradicated from New Orleans, more New Urbanist condos can be built, with more shops, more Cafe du Mondes, more Brennans... and more topless clubs, more beads, more gay bars, more of every guilty pleasure America wants to enjoy away from the prying eyes of the very neighbors they themselves judge.

Good-bye, New Orleans. I hardly knew you.