I watched a mildly interesting TED talk on blogging. It was by one of the inventors of typepad and was mostly about the unique opportunity that bloggers have to express themselves. She also mentioned that while some people blog well about politics, many more do not. That bloggers should write about personal things. I sort of have privacy issues about that but here goes.
I collect tea sets.
Alright, stop fucking laughing. First of all tea is by far the most consumed beverage after water. Most cultures have some for of che, chai, te, the, tea. In Mongolia it is cooked in a large pot and served with salt, not sugar. China is the origin for many types of tea. Hence the saying “All the tea in China”. Pakistan serves it English style with lots of cream and sugar. In Iran it is mint and served piping hot in small glasses. England, which grows no tea of it’s own is famous for being a country of tea drinkers. Hell, they even invented an entire meal around it – high tea. With so many cultures drinking it, it is no wonder why archeologists keep digging them up.
Secondly, I’m not talking about your grandma’s tea set. I am talking about fine China sort of stuff. My most recent aquisition was a gift from Zuimei. It is a beautiful gold inlay set that when held to the light is see through. I have a teapot for chai, one for green teas, a small one for special green teas and one more black teas.
One of my most prized teapots is a silver one that was a wedding gift to my parents. The teapot is from Birks and so it would have been an extravagent item. Now it is tarnished and a little dented. In fact I don’t think any amount of scrubbing would remove the tea patina form the inside (not that I ever would). I don’t use it very often but when I do it reminds me of drinking tea in the winters back in Osoyoos.
You can collect just about anything. But I don’t get warm fuzzies about coins or stamps. Stamps are too hard to keep organized and coins are just….dirty. But teapots, if ever there was a sign of civilization and culture, that is it.