I had a great weekend at the Carmel International Arts festival, but it feels like it's taking me the entire week to recover! Maybe it's the onset of the fall-like weather, but I just want to crawl under the covers, drink a cup of tea, and read a book.

Speaking of tea, I got some new things to try: currently drinking a Bao Jun oolong; it's very good, but I'm not sure it's better than my usual Spring Dragon.

I also got a new horizontal tripod, which should let me take pictures of my larger necklaces from directly overhead. Now they're in better focus than they were when I was trying to photograph them holding the camera in hand and trying to stay veerrry still, but I'm still figuring out the trick to getting the lighting right. So no fabulous pictures quite yet, I'm afraid.

This week's Project Panglossia installment is South Efate, an Malayo-Polynesian language of Vanuatu. So I kinda got the tropical colors goin' on for these. The tilde over the 'p' means that the sound is not your usual [p], but a labio-velar; in other words, it's a sort of simultaneous [k] and [p]-- the tongue closes off at the back of the mouth where you'd make a [k] at the same time as the lips are closed to make the [p]. I've always been a fan of labio-velars-- I first encountered them when I took Yoruba lo those many years ago. But that's another story. Meanwhile, here are the South Efate pendants:

'tell me'

'listen'

I don't know how I developed this tea obsession I have. It started when I was a teenager. I think it stared with my tendency to want to exhaustively explore variations on things, especially culinary things -- the same urge that led me to plant 11 varities of mint this year-- combined with a standard-issue sense of Anglophilia and a dollop of naive romanticism. Later, I stumbled upon an early version of the Upton Tea newsletter (in Factsheet 5, of all places), complete with their then-modest offering of quality tea, and my imagination was captured. I went to Europe when I was 21, and returned home with fond memories of the breakfast Assam I had taken to drinking in Ireland. Tracked down a decent ctc Assam at a local Indian grocery, then remembered the Upton Tea newsletter and finally placed an order. It was all downhill from there. My first apartment was lined with National Geographic maps, and I would sit and stare at them and think about the faraway places and the tea they grew and drank there. I wanted to taste it all.

I still drink Assam in the morning-- I'm pretty picky about this, I don't want Keemuns or Ceylons in the morning-- I like bold single-estate Assams, the maltier, the better. Right now it's Zaloni Estate, but my all-time favorite is Nahorhabi (followed closely by Boisahabi). In the afternoon I go for a Yunnan, when I can get it, or Spring Dragon jade oolong, or a good quality sencha. A second-flush darjeeling if I'm having a snack, first flush if I'm not. Or in the summer, iced tea (sweet, please, and this is one time I'm not too picky as long as it hasn't gone off). At night, white tea or a light jasmine or After the Snow Sprouting or Moroccan mint, or a champagne oolong. In the fall, Lapsang Souchong or a Pu-erh, or sweet, milky chai. I don't much care for Earl Grey anymore.

Right now I'm drinking some white tea to which I added a liberal pinch of my homegrown spearmint (actually, apple mint and spearmint both-- I have an abundance). Pretty tasty. Hits the spot.

I want to make a new necklace but am stymied by color. Tried for midnight and rust; we'll see how it comes out. May have to have another go of it tomorrow.

Tonight I am drinking some new Darjeeling I got recently. Thurbo Estate FTGFOP1 Second Flush, to be precise. It's absolutely delicious. I'm a huge fan of the long, sweet finish, and this one has it in spades. Unfortunately, I only ordered the sample size, so I only have a few cups' worth.

Also, reading the poetry of Edgar Lee Masters. I hadn't heard of him before stumbling across him in Project Gutenberg, but I think I'm a fan.