I fail to see the off-topic-ness. In a comic "...by, for and about therianthropes and otherkin", a PSA regarding the most favoured beverage of some of them still seems rather pertinent. };-:}~
That said, the second panel brought a bit of a smile...
The ornaments in the fourth panel are gorgeous. I'd be pleased with myself, too, if I'd drawn them. :D I really like the way the comic was drawn this week - it's wonderful. :)
Yeah, and another advice: never make your green tea with boiling water! Wait a little until water slightly cools. Otherwise you will lose many good substances and flavours in your tea. Talk to you as a chemist! ;)
Hehe, I was about to say that! Overheating is what makes tea bitter instead of delicate, like it should be. And go figure, the person I learned this from considered tea and cooking like chemistry.
I was also going to say that, according to my boyfriend, the proper way to make a cup "dirties" several dishes. Use one pot to boil, another pot with hot water in it to warm it first. You pour the water out of the pot you were warming, use it to brew in, and pour the water you were boiling (after it's at the temperature your particular tea demands) into the brewing pot. And then serve it from that one.
Incidentally, I just got a cast iron teapot today, imported from Japan, that came with specific care instructions. ^^
Tea is not off-topic at all. In fact, drinking a good cup of tea, depending on the kind, can open up your mind and be good for the body.
On a related note: Everybody at work drinks coffee, and I decided to start making myself tea in the morning. Jealousy looms when the smell reaches their noses. hehe
At the risk of being chewed, mawled, clawed, and any other action verbs that you can think of that can do bodily damage, I've tried tea four times, and haven't liked any of it.
Tea matters to everyone. I like your comics so much because they are all about animal people being themselves in ordinary situations. :) "Don't die!" I liked that the best.
A lovely episode, beautifully drawn - I love the tiger's expressions, and your ornaments, very intricate. I did learn something! I knew about ceramics cracking with heat - I did chemistry to A level - but I'd never linked that with the life of one's china. Suppose because I always use mugs, which are much more resistant. But now I think this must have something in part to do with the length of tea ceremonies, particularly since they use very fine china.
Hehehe lapping from the cup and not the saucer? How refined!
"Suppose because I always use mugs, which are much more resistant." It probably does effect the heavy coffee mugs to some small extent, but it wouldn't be as obvious as it is on a delicate eggshell-thin teacup.
"But now I think this must have something in part to do with the length of tea ceremonies, particularly since they use very fine china." When I first heard of this, I wondered the same thing. It would certainly make sense if tea ceremonies included this gesture... especially since they already include everything else you could possibly imagine needing to do with a cup of tea.
The Japanese tea ceremony even says that you should turn the one decorated side of the cup away from you, so that it faces the person who you're drinking with, so they can see it and you can't. The book told the name of that part of the ritual, as well as its symbolism. I can't remember much else about the ceremonies from when I read about them a few years ago. I do remember thinking: "Wow, this is way more elaborate than I can imagine trying to add to my lifestyle." The tea ceremony is said to be a relaxing escape from a fast-paced day, but if you're approaching it as a foreigner with a lot to learn, it's overwhelming.
I'm partial to green, and can usually be suckered into trying some chai (though I've never had it properly, just brewed in a bag, or as a latte or cold at a coffee shop or home).
I'm not a fan of black tea, however. I do very much enjoy a good fruit tea, like lemon.
And the most delicious tea I've ever tasted was something that I *think* was a variety of mint, available at breakfast on the greek cruise ship. It was tasty enough to make me want to chew on the tea bag after my cup was gone.
As for myself, most of my collection of teas are from the Celestial Seasonings brand of herbal teas; they've got so many varieties of flavors that I can choose one according to my whimsy each morning.
In the past, I've tried the really expensive, high-quality kinds of green and jasmine, and after that the affordable kinds are a bit of a letdown. (Real green tea is literally green, a brilliant deep emerald color, and smells/tastes somewhat like alfalfa. The best kind of jasmine tea has an entirely different, delicate sweetness compared to any other kind I've tried.) I have five pounds of restaraunt-quality jasmine that I bought at a place that sells bulk supplies to Asian restaraunts; you've got to brew it just right or the flavor becomes harsh, but it does include the tiny white flowers that enchantingly unfurl as they rehydrate and float on the tea's surface.
I've actually never tried chai or bubble tea. It's on my to-do list.
I've never been able to appreciate English teas, oddly enough, but I suspect the bitter flavor is something that you grow to like more as you're older, like coffee. (No offense meant to those who are fond of English tea and coffee, but it may have something to do with the number of taste buds you lose as you enter adulthood.)
I've also got three varieties of mint (peppermint, spearmint, and lemonmint) that I grew and harvested from my own garden last year; they make wonderful tea, better than I anticipated. (Except for the spearmint, which doesn't release its flavor very well. The other two are as strong as you could want, though.) Anyone with some gardening space or planters should try it.
This year I'm hoping to try to get some "chocolate mint" and see if it'll grow; last time it didn't survive, but now I'm really curious about what kind of tea it'd make. (I wonder if it'll really taste like that, or if it just smells that way?) Maybe I'll try some of the other really bizarre varieties of mints, too, since these other kinds were such a success.
I find it rather amusing how the tiger's holding the cup in the first frame, and lapping from it in the final frame. Love the cynical/sad expression in the second frame too; that makes me giggle
Firstly, I always enjoy Theri There - I showed it to my friend imperial_wolf, and he was delighted.
Secondly, tea trivia time!!
In England, the pottery was not so good. Pouring hot tea into a cup would often, in fact make htebase fall off as thermal expansion cracked the bottom of hte clay mug off. To get around this, a little milk was added first to act as a buffer. This is partly why the English always drink tea with milk.
We also brew the tea bitter because we add milk and sugar, traditionally, though sugar is mostly out of favour.
It wasn't until the secret of porcelain made from China Clay was stolen wholesale from the chinese discovered that cups could be made that didn't fall apart from thermal shock. They sometimes still do but modern ceramic mug are usually quite able to withstand it. Cups, being finer, need a little TLC ;)
Had me feeling sorry for the poor tea cup, kind of reminds me of that sad commercial with the broken cow creamer, sometime I feel like inanimate ojects have a soul, especially my car. Though my car is hardly inanimate, computers seem to have a mind and life of there own as well, wonder how many otherkin identify themselves as posibly being one of these inanimate objects in spirit.
It's common for people to think of inanimate objects as being alive, though not many are bold enough to talk about it, afraid they might be thought of as odd... but the fact is that everyone's done this, and it's always been that way. It's one of the peculiarities of the human worldview. Most people wince at the pitiful wings of broken umbrellas, and there are works of art that rely upon the surge of sympathy a person will feel when they see a ragdoll slouched in what would be a painful position. Maybe it serves some behavioral purpose in our species; as it is, it's an innocent quirk.
There's an old Buddhist story I wanted to mention when I made this comic, since it was part of the inspiration for the tiger's "don't die!" interjection, but I can't remember where I read it, or any keywords for finding it again. If anyone recognizes it, I'd like to know. A boy was playing and accidentally broke an older monk's teacup, and he felt terrible because he knew that it was very special to the monk. So the boy approached the monk, and sadly talked to him about the ephemerality of this world and how eventually all things die, and then silently showed him the broken teacup.
The reverse of seeing inanimate objects as alive is when people start thinking of living creatures (and other people) as being sensationless, soulless, inanimate objects. That's the worldview that causes horrible things to happen, because the person is convinced that there is no cruelty in acts bestowed upon something that cannot feel. That's the worldview that people should be ashamed to have, the one that people should instantly recognize as being crazy, and so more readily avoid it, and be reluctant to act upon it. Sadly, it's been all too abundant in our culture to think of life as mere machinery, to such an extent that sometimes it's a struggle to convince anyone otherwise.
"...sometime I feel like inanimate ojects have a soul, especially my car." A Pagan book, "Urban Primitive," has a chapter talking about how people feel that their car is alive, has a spirit, or has a guardian spirit of its own. It has anecdotes about rather supernatural things that happened with their cars, so it's perhaps more than just a vague feeling that one's car has a personality.
"...wonder how many otherkin identify themselves as posibly being one of these inanimate objects in spirit." I've met/heard of a few people who were cyborgs in other lives, but that's the closest I've heard of. Not quite the same thing as being an ensouled inanimate object.
...That's odd, it does. You're right. That shouldn't happen. I don't know how to fix it, since I don't write the code: it's automatically generated by ComicGenesis.
While I do appreciate that ComicGenesis (formerly known as KeenSpace) offers a free comic updating service and has a lot of bandwidth, experience is showing that its automatic features leave something to be desired...
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That said, the second panel brought a bit of a smile...
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I was also going to say that, according to my boyfriend, the proper way to make a cup "dirties" several dishes. Use one pot to boil, another pot with hot water in it to warm it first. You pour the water out of the pot you were warming, use it to brew in, and pour the water you were boiling (after it's at the temperature your particular tea demands) into the brewing pot. And then serve it from that one.
Incidentally, I just got a cast iron teapot today, imported from Japan, that came with specific care instructions. ^^
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gah!
Must've been that rarebit
*wants tea now*
Indeed, Tea relates to EVERYTHING.
I also love the way you draw humanish hands. Lovely. ^^
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On a related note: Everybody at work drinks coffee, and I decided to start making myself tea in the morning. Jealousy looms when the smell reaches their noses. hehe
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Nice work. *grin*
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I do like the comic, though.
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*pats carefully*
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Hehehe lapping from the cup and not the saucer? How refined!
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"Suppose because I always use mugs, which are much more resistant."
It probably does effect the heavy coffee mugs to some small extent, but it wouldn't be as obvious as it is on a delicate eggshell-thin teacup.
"But now I think this must have something in part to do with the length of tea ceremonies, particularly since they use very fine china."
When I first heard of this, I wondered the same thing. It would certainly make sense if tea ceremonies included this gesture... especially since they already include everything else you could possibly imagine needing to do with a cup of tea.
The Japanese tea ceremony even says that you should turn the one decorated side of the cup away from you, so that it faces the person who you're drinking with, so they can see it and you can't. The book told the name of that part of the ritual, as well as its symbolism. I can't remember much else about the ceremonies from when I read about them a few years ago. I do remember thinking: "Wow, this is way more elaborate than I can imagine trying to add to my lifestyle." The tea ceremony is said to be a relaxing escape from a fast-paced day, but if you're approaching it as a foreigner with a lot to learn, it's overwhelming.
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What kind of tea do you enjoy?
I'm partial to green, and can usually be suckered into trying some chai (though I've never had it properly, just brewed in a bag, or as a latte or cold at a coffee shop or home).
I'm not a fan of black tea, however. I do very much enjoy a good fruit tea, like lemon.
And the most delicious tea I've ever tasted was something that I *think* was a variety of mint, available at breakfast on the greek cruise ship. It was tasty enough to make me want to chew on the tea bag after my cup was gone.
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As for myself, most of my collection of teas are from the Celestial Seasonings brand of herbal teas; they've got so many varieties of flavors that I can choose one according to my whimsy each morning.
In the past, I've tried the really expensive, high-quality kinds of green and jasmine, and after that the affordable kinds are a bit of a letdown. (Real green tea is literally green, a brilliant deep emerald color, and smells/tastes somewhat like alfalfa. The best kind of jasmine tea has an entirely different, delicate sweetness compared to any other kind I've tried.) I have five pounds of restaraunt-quality jasmine that I bought at a place that sells bulk supplies to Asian restaraunts; you've got to brew it just right or the flavor becomes harsh, but it does include the tiny white flowers that enchantingly unfurl as they rehydrate and float on the tea's surface.
I've actually never tried chai or bubble tea. It's on my to-do list.
I've never been able to appreciate English teas, oddly enough, but I suspect the bitter flavor is something that you grow to like more as you're older, like coffee. (No offense meant to those who are fond of English tea and coffee, but it may have something to do with the number of taste buds you lose as you enter adulthood.)
I've also got three varieties of mint (peppermint, spearmint, and lemonmint) that I grew and harvested from my own garden last year; they make wonderful tea, better than I anticipated. (Except for the spearmint, which doesn't release its flavor very well. The other two are as strong as you could want, though.) Anyone with some gardening space or planters should try it.
This year I'm hoping to try to get some "chocolate mint" and see if it'll grow; last time it didn't survive, but now I'm really curious about what kind of tea it'd make. (I wonder if it'll really taste like that, or if it just smells that way?) Maybe I'll try some of the other really bizarre varieties of mints, too, since these other kinds were such a success.
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Love the cynical/sad expression in the second frame too; that makes me giggle
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Secondly, tea trivia time!!
stolen wholesale from the chinesediscovered that cups could be made that didn't fall apart from thermal shock. They sometimes still do but modern ceramic mug are usually quite able to withstand it. Cups, being finer, need a little TLC ;)no subject
Does that mean I don't need to warm my cup before pouring tea into it?
tea cup
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There's an old Buddhist story I wanted to mention when I made this comic, since it was part of the inspiration for the tiger's "don't die!" interjection, but I can't remember where I read it, or any keywords for finding it again. If anyone recognizes it, I'd like to know. A boy was playing and accidentally broke an older monk's teacup, and he felt terrible because he knew that it was very special to the monk. So the boy approached the monk, and sadly talked to him about the ephemerality of this world and how eventually all things die, and then silently showed him the broken teacup.
The reverse of seeing inanimate objects as alive is when people start thinking of living creatures (and other people) as being sensationless, soulless, inanimate objects. That's the worldview that causes horrible things to happen, because the person is convinced that there is no cruelty in acts bestowed upon something that cannot feel. That's the worldview that people should be ashamed to have, the one that people should instantly recognize as being crazy, and so more readily avoid it, and be reluctant to act upon it. Sadly, it's been all too abundant in our culture to think of life as mere machinery, to such an extent that sometimes it's a struggle to convince anyone otherwise.
"...sometime I feel like inanimate ojects have a soul, especially my car."
A Pagan book, "Urban Primitive," has a chapter talking about how people feel that their car is alive, has a spirit, or has a guardian spirit of its own. It has anecdotes about rather supernatural things that happened with their cars, so it's perhaps more than just a vague feeling that one's car has a personality.
"...wonder how many otherkin identify themselves as posibly being one of these inanimate objects in spirit."
I've met/heard of a few people who were cyborgs in other lives, but that's the closest I've heard of. Not quite the same thing as being an ensouled inanimate object.
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*nods* I like it. Cheers!
Nava
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While I do appreciate that ComicGenesis (formerly known as KeenSpace) offers a free comic updating service and has a lot of bandwidth, experience is showing that its automatic features leave something to be desired...