coffee cups
I recently put a bunch of coffee cups in the goodwill box.
When we moved in, five and a half years ago, there were two cups. Well, there were a bunch of 'em, because isn't there always? Cups left behind by the sellers who, due to an unfortunate incident involving the police and tasers, didn't fully complete the moving out process. But two of the left behind cups I kept, because they were perfect, and they soon became my primary coffee cups.
Here is a photo. I normally don't allow cups of liquid to co-surface with my computer hardware, but the cup is empty, I needed better light for photo purposes, and this is a special occasion, so.
I even found one more at goodwill, adopted it, and brought it home.
Why are they perfect? Well first of all, that most important of all qualities, texture. You would think all coffee cups would be more or less the same, especially with regard to texture, but trust me when I say, they aren't. I want them perfectly smooth. No texture!
Then there is size. They need to hold the exact right amount. Enough so that the contents cools, but not too fast.
Shape matters. It needs to fit both my hand and my ceramic coaster. (Ceramic coasters are non-chewupable, or at least my dogs are unwilling to chew them up.) In this photo the coaster is absent because I moved the cup. And the shape of this one I find aesthetically pleasing as well, the slightly roundedness of it, as opposed to many mugs that are plain cylinders.
And they are from the LIBRARY! Where I hardly ever go anymore. The last time I went there it was to look for photos to use as a reference for a class project. I remember the look of vague astonishment on one classmate's face when I whipped out my library books.
Getting back to the cups, I found a third one at goodwill and bought it, and if I find more, they are mine, mine, mine.
However, there is one teensy imperfection, namely that the light color is developing progressive staining.
Once upon a time people used to talk to each other about these things. "How do you get stains off your coffee cups?" "Oh, I use a denture tablet and a toothbrush."
I've always wanted to try that denture tablet trick, but I don't have dentures and it seems silly to buy some tablets just to clean three cups. So I'll probably try a magic eraser because they take super glue off eyeglass lenses, yo. A coffee stain should be no problem. But if for some bizarre reason that doesn't work, I guess I'll just google it.
Sigh. I miss when people went to the library and talked to each other--although not generally at the same time. But at least I have LJ and my (almost) perfect coffee cups to keep me company.
P.S., Just this past week I saw a woman and her little boy trudging across the school parking lot, their arms laden with library books. (It's right across the street.) Which made me happy until I realized I no longer live in a world where I could offer them a ride. Add that to the list of things I miss, sigh.
When we moved in, five and a half years ago, there were two cups. Well, there were a bunch of 'em, because isn't there always? Cups left behind by the sellers who, due to an unfortunate incident involving the police and tasers, didn't fully complete the moving out process. But two of the left behind cups I kept, because they were perfect, and they soon became my primary coffee cups.
Here is a photo. I normally don't allow cups of liquid to co-surface with my computer hardware, but the cup is empty, I needed better light for photo purposes, and this is a special occasion, so.
I even found one more at goodwill, adopted it, and brought it home.
Why are they perfect? Well first of all, that most important of all qualities, texture. You would think all coffee cups would be more or less the same, especially with regard to texture, but trust me when I say, they aren't. I want them perfectly smooth. No texture!
Then there is size. They need to hold the exact right amount. Enough so that the contents cools, but not too fast.
Shape matters. It needs to fit both my hand and my ceramic coaster. (Ceramic coasters are non-chewupable, or at least my dogs are unwilling to chew them up.) In this photo the coaster is absent because I moved the cup. And the shape of this one I find aesthetically pleasing as well, the slightly roundedness of it, as opposed to many mugs that are plain cylinders.
And they are from the LIBRARY! Where I hardly ever go anymore. The last time I went there it was to look for photos to use as a reference for a class project. I remember the look of vague astonishment on one classmate's face when I whipped out my library books.
Getting back to the cups, I found a third one at goodwill and bought it, and if I find more, they are mine, mine, mine.
However, there is one teensy imperfection, namely that the light color is developing progressive staining.
Once upon a time people used to talk to each other about these things. "How do you get stains off your coffee cups?" "Oh, I use a denture tablet and a toothbrush."
I've always wanted to try that denture tablet trick, but I don't have dentures and it seems silly to buy some tablets just to clean three cups. So I'll probably try a magic eraser because they take super glue off eyeglass lenses, yo. A coffee stain should be no problem. But if for some bizarre reason that doesn't work, I guess I'll just google it.
Sigh. I miss when people went to the library and talked to each other--although not generally at the same time. But at least I have LJ and my (almost) perfect coffee cups to keep me company.
P.S., Just this past week I saw a woman and her little boy trudging across the school parking lot, their arms laden with library books. (It's right across the street.) Which made me happy until I realized I no longer live in a world where I could offer them a ride. Add that to the list of things I miss, sigh.