by Laura DiSilverio
I recently participated in an interview on Hollywood in Toto.com in which I apparently said that "writing doesn't happen without caffeine." Raise your hand if virtually nothing in your life happens without caffeine. My buzz-delivery product of choice is tea. I prefer Irish Breakfast, but will drink other types as long as they don't have frou-frou flavorings in them. (Pet peeve: servers at restaurants who don't understand that Earl Grey is NOT unflavored black tea.) But I digress.
Not only am I picky about my tea, but I am also picky about the vessel I drink it from. Don't get me wrong--I will slurp tea from a Styrofoam cup or discarded soup can if it is the only receptacle around. However, I prefer a mug. We have enough mugs in this house to stock a coffee shop, but among them I have clear favorites.
The Perfect Mug
The perfect mug has to have a certain heft to it--not too heavy, not unbalanced. It has to have a pleasing shape, fit comfortably in my hand, and hold a lot of tea because I don't like to interrupt the writing process for refills more than once a morning. (I don't mind if my tea gets cold.) Here is a picture of my three faves.
I got the yellow one at a garage sale--the color cheers me. My daughter gave me the white one for Christmas, decorated with drawings of trees and birds which washed off almost immediately, despite manufacturer promises that they would remain forever once baked on. It doesn't matter--I find the clean lines and the shape very appealing. The blue one was a gift from a dear friend. I will wash one of these mugs to brew my morning cuppa, even though we might have twenty other clean mugs.
Sentimental Keepers
I also have mugs that I rarely drink from, but which I keep because they were gifts from people I love, or because I find them pretty in their own right, even though I don't want to drink from them. Here's a couple of those.
Slogan Mugs
Finally, I suspect most of us own mugs because they have some sort of catchy slogan or image on them, whether it's something about grandmas, a workplace logo, an inspiring quotation, or a humorous joke. Hubby and I have several from our time in the military and I've posted a photo of them, along with a couple of others . It's not everyone, after all, that has a mug with Kim Jong Un riding a nuke.
So, tell me . . . Am I the only one who is choosy about mugs? How many mugs do you own? What's your favorite? If you send me a photo of your favorite and a sentence about why you love it (ldisilverio at gmail dot com), I will try to post them here, on a date to be determined.
My favorite is an F-117A Stealth Fighter Mug that my husband received from the company he worked for. The plane is dark, but it fades out when you pour hot liquid in it.
After my husband retired from the Air Force, he worked another 20+ years on the EW Range at NAS Fallon, NV.
Posted by: Ellie Enos | February 21, 2017 at 12:37 AM
Oh, I never thought about that! But the proper mug is so important! Although mine is filled with coffee… Until my last drink at night, which is chamomile tea.
( so funny… When I am writing, I don't care if my coffee gets cold, either!)
I have a mug that I got at Nora Roberts Inn when I signed with her. I use that a lot, because I am thinking some of her magic will rub off on me if I use that mug. Still working on that…
Ellie! I love the disappearing and appearing plane!
Posted by: Hank Phillippi Ryan | February 21, 2017 at 04:59 AM
Ellie--The stealth plane that disappears--that is so clever. I have a friend who flew those when they were the deepest, darkest, best kept Defense secret.
Hank--I want a mug from Nora Roberts! Of course the magic wears off.
Posted by: Laura DiSilverio | February 21, 2017 at 05:29 AM
I don't drink coffee or tea. Yet I have quite a few mugs I love. I use them for water at work and juice here at home. Over half of my mugs are Disney related in some way, being the DisNerd I am. I've also got mugs from various vacations.
I've got some mugs that are on the small side, but I love the mugs that are large enough to hold enough water without being so large they look enormous.
Posted by: Mark | February 21, 2017 at 08:28 AM
Hi, Mark. Do you drink sodas or any other form of caffeine? If not, how do you get vertical in the morning? Enquiring minds want to know.
Disney mugs are great. My daughter's boyfriend gave her a Bambi one for Christmas and I use it when she's not looking.
Posted by: Laura DiSilverio | February 21, 2017 at 08:34 AM
My mug of choice now is a glass mug that lets the beautiful color of the tea shine through. My favorite mug of all time is a large hand thrown pottery mug in a cobalt blue glaze with a small dragon on the top of the handle. I don't use it every day, as my klutziness might be hazardous to its well being.
Posted by: Cathy M | February 21, 2017 at 01:55 PM
How many mugs do I own? Oh, good grief! I've lost track! Last year I began reorganizing my cabinets and somehow couldn't find room to put all of them back when I was done, so they take turns sitting out on the counter. I seem to use the same three or four all the time. Right now my favorite is one given to me by my youngest sister for my birthday years ago. (I'm the oldest in the family.) I There's an image of a beaver whose teeth didn't make it out of the tree he bit into, and the saying "Getting old is no damn fun!"
Posted by: Deb Romano | February 21, 2017 at 06:19 PM
I don't drink caffeine. Juice and water. I've never liked anything that has caffeine in it.
How do I get vertical in the morning? Some days, only knowing that if I don't get up, I will get fired. That's a pretty strong motivator.
Posted by: Mark | February 21, 2017 at 09:20 PM
Cathy--Those glass mugs are so pretty! It's like having a wine glass to admire the color of the wine, right?
Deb--We own way too many mugs, too. I had to weed some out because we just didn't have enough cabinet space.
Mark--Totally understand about fear of being fired being a motivator. Some days (not many, I admit), I could use a strong motivator like that to get me to my computer. As it is, I rely on tea and my love of writing.
Posted by: Laura DiSilverio | February 22, 2017 at 05:39 AM
I confess: I hate drinking from mugs. Because I loathe coffee and only drink hot tea when I'm sick. So if you see me raising a mug, I'm not a happy camper.
But I am glad to have a few mugs around for when I need them.
Posted by: Donna | February 27, 2017 at 06:46 PM
Donna--I will hope I never see you with a mug, then! Stay well.
Posted by: Laura DiSilverio | February 28, 2017 at 06:22 AM