mugs

The quest for the perfect mug wasn't something I thought about before I came to England, but then a very neurotic Englishman, an acquired habit of tea-consumption, and time enough to start collecting objects again conspired to make me think about what I like in a mug.

I like a mug to hold enough tea, but not too much. No oversized IKEA fancies for me, please. I like thin china, but nothing precious. I like mugs that feel good in my hands and I like mugs that fit in, roughly, with my other things. (I don't have any matching dishes, but I like it all to hang out together happily.)

My longtime favorite mugs have been a blue Tams Ware one I, er, borrowed from the back of the staffroom cupboard a while back and a Marimekko one with a bright green pear on it that I bought in a Scandinavian design shop in Oxford. But then I went to John Lewis (one reason not to leave England) the other day and saw this:

...of course, it had to be mine.

John Lewis also has a lot of really lovely Orla Kiely mugs (you can see them here), all of which are bone china, so they're really nice and light. The handles are a good shape, too.

When I was at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park about 18 months ago, I found an Orla Kiely mug with cars printed all over it--ohhh nice. But this one, from Fiona Howard, is even nicer:

You can see more of their stuff here. Although perhaps it's better not to look, even. The collection of a thousand mugs begins with a single set. Or something like that.

grain

The grain guarantees the mediation and points me beyond the representation (the photograph) and to the Real (which, despite all postmodern tendencies, I find I do believe in, in my fashion). This is the moon at 5:15 p.m. today. Still a little light in the western sky; I can't believe how fast winter is going this year. I love this flickr group: The Archival Moon and Waiting.

Tomorrow I go back to the library, where I'm writing about textual ontology and reading books about art history. On Friday I start teaching again, as a lecturer in Leicester. Birds, rabbits, some Dutch, some French, some cakes, and probably lots of photographs in the interim. How are you?

very pleasing

To see all my friends' shoes and coats in my hallway on Thanksgiving. I made turkey, stuffing, and pies. They brought everything else: beans, corn, carrots, squash, whipped cream, pickles of all varieties, rolls, butter, cranberry sauce, truffles, salad, wine, juice, etc., etc. It was a really happy night. Near the end of it I took this, sitting on the stairs next to Fran.

* * *

Today's the last day! If you're in Nottingham, stop by and see my kiosk. It's on Pelham Street, across from Homemade Café, just up from Zara. You can see some things I've made here. We're open Tues-Weds-Thurs this week (1-2-3 December) from 10-6 T/W and 10-5 Th.

re-arrange

Friday after Thanksgiving I came downstairs to find water running down the wall with the shelves that all my books were on. After a big panic and a lot of running back and forth shoving books against radiators, I got everything moved and now I have a new place for my books, in the living room. I can't work on the buffet that I'd been using as a desk anymore, so I got a table from freecycle and work in the living room now, too. We'll see how it goes.

Here are my dishes in their new home, and jars of art supplies above. I didn't like it plain, so I made an easy garland of some old Christmas ornaments I found in Leicester on Thursday morning. Just tie a pretty string through the tops, and voilà.

And my books. I like them much better in this bookcase than I liked the dishes in it. It used to stand in the dining room and always looked cluttered. I'm not much for the style, either (kind of shabby-chic). But with the books in it, it's nice. Not too tall, so it doesn't lean away from the wall. And because it's openwork, it feels airy. Rachel brought me the plant and it is a really pleasing addition to the room.

* * *

If you're in Nottingham, stop by and see my kiosk. It's on Pelham Street, across from Homemade Café, just up from Zara. You can see some things I've made here. We're open Tues-Weds-Thurs this week (1-2-3 December) from 10-6 T/W and 10-5 Th.