Greecey spoon.

Mug: Chinese-made commercial ware for Chubby's Family Restaurant. What can I say? It's a family restaurant mug. Chubby's is a family-owned chain of local restaurants owned by George, a big Greek guy with an accent so thick you can barely understand him. He hires a lot of Greeks (and a scary looking Macedonian dishwasher who wears combat camo).

Coffee: "Colombian" beans, fairly thin. Free refills.

Note: A story I was told from Chicago: A Greek and a Russian both immigrate to the US, and get jobs in a restaurant washing dishes. After a year, the Greek is the cook, and the Russian is washing dishes. After two years, the Greek manages the restaurant's new location. He takes the Russian with him as a dishwasher. After three years, the Greek owns the restaurants... and his old friend the Russian is working for him... washing dishes.

Wrap your mind around this mug.

Mug: Large stoneware mug from China. Basic thick, heavy mug, with a handle suitable for ham-fisted handling. Digitally imprinted (not sure how this works, but it's cool). From the CafePress website: Super-size your favorite beverage or just size-up to avoid spills with our hefty, 15 oz. ceramic Large Mug. Large easy-grip handle. When you need more, mug it up. Measures 4.5" tall, 3.25" diameter, Dishwasher and microwave safe.

Coffee: The comfortable choice. 100% Colombian Supremo beans, full city roast, double the strength (coffee to water ratio) of the usual "American" coffee.

Notes: Features the graphic from the bumper sticker, "Thank You For Sharing The Road With Bicycles" reflecting what I feel is an example of SMART bicycle advocacy. This mug, and its companion, are available here.

Get a grip

Mug: An interesting new acquisition: An 8 oz. Bodum double-walled ceramic coffee "cup" (well, Starbucks by Aida is what it says on the bottom, but it's identicle to the Bodum mugs that Starbucks was selling a few months ago... Aida is probably a Bodum subsidiary). I put the word cup in parenthesis because it has no handles.

Coffee: Organic arabica beans from Guatemala. Sourced from Newflower Farmers Market. Inexpensive, relatively ($7 lb.), but seems a little less fresh (rolled-off flavors) compared to my normal sources. Tried their Colombian, and had a similar reaction. Not bad, just not quite as fresh tasting. But at $7 a pound, as compared to my preferred neighborhood roaster's $12 a pound, I may get use to this during the deepening recession and my imminent part-time employment (in 18 months). Shiner Blonde instead of Weihenstephaner Original, too. ;-)

Notes: The cup is designed to keep the coffee warmer with it''s double-walled construction, while the exterior remains cool to the touch, and therefore has no need of a handle. Good tactile experience (you can't beat ceramics to the lips). The ergonomic design is good, with the cup's "waist" providing a good grip.

Mug: Hybrid mug. Contigo™ desktop ceramic mug with travel lid (not shown), rubber base and handle. Stainless steel jacket adds insulation.

Coffee: Colombian Supremo, as always (almost).

Notes: An OK mug. The base is too big to fit into my car's cup-holder (maybe it would fit the Toyota Prius' cup-holders at work). The idea is to combine the classic drinking qualities of ceramic (no flavor impartation, good heat retention, and a great tactile experience for the lips) with the superior heat retention qualities of a double-walled stainless steel mug.

I don't think they were very successful in the design, as the steel appears to be single-wall, and therefore lacks the "vacuum bottle" effect and efficiency of a true double-walled thermal mug. But it's a pleasant, hefty mug.

Mug: Fiesta Ware soup/cappuccino mug. Not much to say, it is what it is. I do like the reinforced lip, and of course, the colors.

Coffee: Italian Espresso roast from What's Brewing. Cocoa/chili powder sprinkle.

Note: First use of the cappuccino/espresso machine this winter.

I've had an epiphany.

Mug: Post-War Japanese design. Thin walls, uncomfortable handle, that allows the heat to burn fingers. Over-painted polychrome colors are flaking off. The under-glaze is crazed, but holding up. The ceramic piece dates back to a time when people made fun of Japanese products.

Coffee: The Colombian of habit.

Note: I realized this morning that today is the last day of Christmas, and I hadn't featured this mug yet (or used it). Tomorrow is The Epiphany, the day the Church commemorates the Magi coming to Jesus. He might have been as old as three when they arrived. Their journey was not about bringing gifts, but about the gentiles being called into the Kingdom of God. Jesus came to you. Return the favor.

Boy Scout Syndrome.

Mug: Chinese made gift coffee cup. Gold trim along the rim, with a Cub Scouts emblem. Nice and thick. Good feel to the hand and mouth, especially for this type of mug.

Coffee: Colombian from What's Brewing. Slightly bitter, although my lingering "systemic viral respiratory event" may be impacting my taste buds.

Note: I was a Cub Scout. I loved it. My mother was our Den Mother one year (a year she didn't have to work). I was a Boy Scout, too, but I didn't enjoy it as much, and after an assistant Scout master invited some of the other boys into his tent to watch "his snake dance", I decided Scouting wasn't for me.

But I left with the Scout Principals firmly rooted in my being. Through all my wanderings (button-down hippie, artist, state employee, graphic designer/art director, small business owner, bureaucrat), I have always returned unconsciously to the Scout Oath and Scout Law. As somebody, somewhere said, "the Law is written on our hearts."

Only in the Land of Bureaucrats has that consistently gotten me in trouble.

The Legal Grounds

Mug: Chinese generic. Very glossy clearcoat.

Coffee: The Colombian, the usual. But the taste is off today, and that I believe is a fault with my system due to sleeping under an open window.

Note: This is a mug from the CycleDallas gift shop. Highly recommended.

When in roam, do as the roamin'.

Mug(s): A Starbuck's stainless steel travel mug and a Starbuck's paper Tall cup with sleeve.

Coffee: Pike's Place Blend. Pretty mediocre.

Notes: Spent the weekend in Kyle. To avoid waking everyone, I drove into town to get my morning coffee at the Starbuck's (and coffee for Mrs. Summer). Crappy cellphone picture courtesy of my Palm Treo 680.

Body bag.

Mug: Not. Plastic bag.

Coffee: The usual suspects. 100% Colombian Supremo beans, medium roast.

Note: While getting coffee recently from Central Market, I had an idea. The new bean dispensers they have are more difficult to control than the old "scoop in a bin" way. I couldn't tell how much coffee was going into the bag (vertical drop hopper style), and so I've been overfilling the normal coffee bag.

The coffee is in the "bulk" area, with the spices and teas and candies. They have zip-lock plastic bags of various sizes for these. Why not use the zip-lock bags for coffee, instead of the opaque paper "coffee" bags? They'd have the bonus of sealing better than the fold-over paper bags, and the beans would stay fresher longer, holding their flavor, and the brewed coffee would have better "body".

So I did.

P.S. They weigh less than the paper bags, too, so they save a penny or two.

Old Faithful.

Mug: Waechtersbach "mud colored" mug. Purchased at the Container Store in 1977, made in Western-Germany.

Coffee: Colombian Supremo. Locally roasted, ground a few minutes ago.

Note: There are "standards" for a reason. These are some good ones.

A reformulation of coffee?

Mug: OXO double-walled stainless steel mug. Rubber handle with a nice thumb notch on the top. Smooth, "no-taste" steel. Happy lips (no metal taste, no metal burn). Cooler mornings allow for warmer mugs.

Coffee: Colombian Supremo "pea" beans from What's Brewing in San Antonio (via Central Market in Dallas). Some concern here that the coffee's not quite as good as before. The beans have gotten smaller (not as good a "pick"?), and slightly more acidic. Autumnal allergies may play a part in flavor shortcomings.

Notes: Today is Reformation Sunday in my church. Oh that they would.

Lighter than air?

Mug: An Indonesia-made mug with a delightful woodcut of lighter-than-air-craft: blimps, hot-air balloons, and dirigibles.

Coffee: Columbia Supremo... brewed strong enough to walk on its own.

Note: One of a series from 222 Fifth. Eleven ounces (making it a mug and not a cup), with a tall cylindrical body and a very pleasing handle. The usually dainty tear-drop shape has been made more masculine by its extra width. A nice touch, a good mug.

The bottom of the mug has some good info on lighter than air ships, including the little known fact that the top of the Empire State Building was designed as a dirigible/airship terminal.

I got it for 99¢ from Amazon.com (on sale from $9.99). The rest of the series were not on sale, but this just happened to show up when I was buying some other mugs as a housewarming gift. The 99¢ price allowed me to qualify for Free Shipping. So, the mug didn't cost 99¢, Amazon paid me $6.95 to take it.

Further Note: The "lighter than air" concept is of interest to me right now due to the 4000 lbs of leafy tree that responded to gravity's call by landing on our house, delivering the den a crushing blow, and rending the roof asunder. And the rains came.

It's too damn hot.

Mug: Not. Bodum of Denmark's hand-blown, double walled, insulted glass tumbler.

Coffee: Not. 2 ounces of Gordon's gin, 6 ounces of Canada Dry tonic water, two lime quarters, and ice.

Note: The official temperature today was 107° at DFW Airport, 105°at Love Field (more relevant to me). The Heat Index was 107-109°. Hell on Earth. A gin & tonic is one of the only known remedies.

Coffee by the Book.

Coffee: Super H.E.B. Colombian Supremo (whole bean).

Mug: Bistro-style mug from Crate & Barrel or Target (I forget which, but I think C&B).

Note: Another morning on the porch on Atlantis Street in Kyle, Texas. The book is my combination Book of Common Prayer/New Revised Standard Bible. I use it to pray the Morning Office everyday. It belonged to my dad, and he gave it to me (because the print was too small) on Father's Day in 1994. In 1998, I had it recovered in goat skin by Henry Nuss Book Binders in Deep Ellum. Henry Nuss dates back to the late 19th century and the Swiss-French-German La Reunion Utopian colony survivors who moved to east Dallas after the colony's collapse (giving Swiss Avenue it's name, and opening a brewery that is long gone, Rudolph's meat market that remains, and countless other professions and trade shops that gave early Dallas a character that still lingers).

Like my dad, Henry Nuss' is now gone. But neither is forgotten.

All things are new again.

Coffee: French Roast from the Super H.E.B. in Kyle.

Mug: Starbucks' city commemorative mug for Austin.

Note: Sitting on the front porch of my daughter Anna's new (and first) house in Kyle (on the farmland side on I-35). She and David closed on the house Friday the 13th, moved in over the weekend, and then she delivered her second son on Monday. They've been very busy.

Coffee Service.

Coffee: Fair Trade, certified organic Colombian Supremo from Brazil's Marquez de Paiva (marketers) via Colombia's Colcafe (growers/gatherers). It's a medium-dark (fuller city) roast, with plumper beans than what I have been purchasing. I can not comment on the flavor, as I am still not possessed of functioning taste and olfactory senses.

Mug: Made in the U.S.A. china coffee cup from the Veterans Administration, manufactured by TEPCO in California (Technical Porcelain and China Ware Company). One of the most crudely made cups I have, it is reminiscent of the ceramic objects I created in my short-lived study of ceramics in college. This cup probably dates from the 1930s or 1940s. It's thick and heavy and does it's job.

Note: Today is Memorial Day, a day we remember those who died in the wars America has fought, and originally established to remember those who died during the American Civil War, regardless of which side they fought on. Veteran's Day is to remember those who didn't die, and came about after The Great War... World War I, and was originally known as Armistice Day, as it was celebrated on November 11th (the armistice that ended WWI was signed on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month).

Pass the popcorn.

Mug: Crate & Barrel bistro mug. This mug holds about 11 ounces of coffee. It's made in China (what isn't), but it has a very pleasing design. It feels good in the hand, although the handle is actually too large. The reinforced lip band provides a good feel to the mouth. The color is a bright red, clearly meant to imitate Waechtersbach's red glaze. Quite handsome.

Coffee: Unknown. An oily, dark roast from the H.E.B. in Kyle, possibly French Roast, and ground fresh just prior to brewing. I've got good kids. Flavor reminiscent of burned popcorn. Not the fault of the good kids.

Note: I am seated on the deck at Catherine and Riley's house in Kyle, overlooking the water retention basin/wildlife conservation area behind their house. I am in Kyle for a baby shower for my daughter Anna and her husband David (soon to be of Kyle as well).

I have a cold. Coffee tastes like burned popcorn. Satan is real.

Sipping in tongues

Mug: Waechtersbach cup and saucer set, made in Germany. A new find, from St. Vincent de Paul's Thrift Shop, it is obviously more of a tea-cup than a coffee mug, but I couldn't resist the manufacturer nor the vibrant red color. 8 ounces is enough coffee to at least START the day.

Coffee: The Colombian Supremo of easy habit.

Note: Red is the color of Pentecost.

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Me no Alamo! Me no Goliad!

Coffee: 100% Columbian Supremo beans roasted in San Antonio to a Full City roast and ground fresh this morning.

Mug: The last in the series of four Texas History Movies Sesquicentennial mugs. Chinese promo-mug of a non-offensive design. Two-finger handle design.

Note: The Battle of San Jacinto was one of history's (and especially American history's) most decisive battles. The entire political shape of the North American continent was changed in less than an hour by this conflict between roughly 2,000 armed men. The battle started one hundred and seventy two years ago this hour, as a small ensemble better suited for a tavern than a battlefield began to play the Irish melody, "Will Ye Come To The Bower". The opening volley of the Texian army's "Twin Sisters" cannons were fired soon after, and the fight was on. It was a battle with mythic elements that are true nonetheless:

Extreme bravery and courage (Texian general Sam Houston was shot off his horse while leading the attack, one of only 30 Texians hit by enemy fire),

Brutality (as Mexican soldier's begged for their lives by pleading "Me no Alamo! Me no Goliad", they were ruthlessly slaughtered by men who were drunk with vengeance... over 600 Mexican soldiers died in the battle, many of who were executed as they tried to surrender while standing in the waters of Buffalo Bayou),

Cowardice (General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna put on a private's tunic and hid in the weeds until captured), and...

Chivalry (Houston received the captured the General and spared his life from those who would have shown Santa Anna the same mercy he showed to Col. Fannin and his men at La Bahia... execution).

These are the things of myth, but being mythical does not always mean it is untrue.