Things That Make Me Happy: Morning Coffee Edition
I have a thing about coffee mugs. I collect them, and can almost never bring myself to part with any. I even sometimes hang on to broken coffee mugs, and use them for pen holders and whatnot. The main reason for this is that I tend to associate a particular coffee mug with some person who mattered in my life, or some peak experience that coincided with the mug's acquisition. When I moved to Council Bluffs in the summer of 2014, my Starbucks mugs alone required two large plastic tubs to transport. Here are some of my favorites from that collection:
Issued in 2007, this so-called "Abbey" mug turned out to be quite popular, in no small part because of its somewhat larger capacity (16 oz.). I'm fond of mine (I have two) because red is my favorite color, and more capacity means fewer trips to the coffee maker for refills...
I own quite a few argyle sweaters, and several pairs of argyle socks as well, so when Starbucks issued this mug in 2006 it was an easy sale. I bought a pair of them while visiting my late best friend Matt in Lawrence, Kansas that summer. I left one with him when I returned home, and kept one for myself. I rarely drink from it these days, but I do have fond memories of that visit every time I glimpse this mug in the cupboard...
Over Memorial Day weekend in 2011, I had the pleasure of taking a group of students to Washington, D.C. for a national speech competition. It was truly one of my peak life experiences, so of course I commemorated it with a Starbucks mug!
When Someone Plays the "Studies Show" Card On You...
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| "Studies show that ants are delicious." |
Right. Like you needed any convincing...
Things That Make Me Sad: Weather Edition
Yesterday's scheduled game between my beloved Kansas City Royals and the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field got rained out. That put a damper on my evening (pun intended, always), as I had planned to watch the game. Now they'll have to play the game on the last Monday of the regular season, September 28. It's not quite as bad as it sounds, as the team has to travel to Chicago anyway for a three-game series with the White Sox that begins on September 29, but they lose what was scheduled to be a day off. You worry about fatigue that late in the season, and losing days off is definitely sub-optimal.
The Royals will still start Yordano Ventura (yesterday's scheduled starter) in this afternoon's game. Here's hoping the young Royals hurler brings his "A" game...
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| "No me gustan los pequeños osos." |
Speaking of Chicago...
The Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League won the Western Conference Championship last night, defeating the Anaheim Mighty Ducks 5-3 in Anaheim. They'll now face the Eastern Conference champion Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup Finals. I'll be the first to admit I am not an avid hockey fan, but I do enjoy seeing the Blackhawks do well, because they were my favorite team when I was a boy just becoming interested in the sports page of the newspaper (back when there were only the Original Six teams). Because of a story I read about him in Sports Illustrated, my favorite player was eventual Hall of Famer Stan Mikita...
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| "You pretended you were me when you played that table-top game, eh?" |
Yes, sir, I absolutely did!
Say "Hello" To Paula
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| Merry Christmas to ME! |
When I took up guitar playing as a hobby again in 2010, I began to read the popular guitar-focused magazines (Guitar Player, Premier Guitar, Guitar World, etc.) for the first time in decades. As I did, I noticed one name kept popping up in one way or another in almost every issue of every magazine I was reading: Joe Bonamassa. For whatever reason, though, I never got around to listening to his music until early December. One Saturday evening, I got home very late from a speech competition with my students, and needed to unwind a bit before bed. I began channel-surfing, and as luck would have it I happened to tune in just as Iowa Public Television was getting ready to show Joe's Royal Albert Hall concert film. I was completely blown away by his performance, and have been a devoted fan since that night...
No, I certainly am not. Anyway, just a couple of days later I discovered that Epiphone had come out with a version of Joe's signature Gibson Les Paul goldtop, at a price point I could actually afford. I ordered one immediately, and on the day after Christmas "Paula" became the second member of my guitar "harem." (joining "Karla," whom I wrote about here).
I haven't gotten around to taking newer pictures with these installed, but when I got a chance to meet Joe before his show in Des Moines in April 2014, I got him to sign the pickguards for both girls...
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