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Living in the age of convenience

taiwanese grass jelly herb (3.1/5) (cooling, bitter mint sensation that feels light but has an intense climate. apparently, when steeped with agar agar or gelatin, it can thicken into a jelly. however, i would prefer to drink the herb as is.) "And surely you have seen, in the darkness of the most innermost rooms of these huge buildings, to which sunlight never penetrates, how the gold lead of a sliding door or screen will pick up a distant glimmer from the garden, then suddenly send forth an ethereal glow, a faint golden light cast into the enveloping darkness. How in such a dark place, gold draws so much light to itself is a mystery to me. Modern man, in his well-lit house, knows nothing of the beauty of gold, but those who lived in the dark houses of the past were not merely captivated by its beauty, they also knew its practical value, for gold in these dim rooms, must have served the function of a reflector. Were it not for shadows, there would be no beauty." Tanizaki'...
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Today my heart wears you like curtains

 




    On my run this morning, I found a stack of discarded colorful bowls and two of the loveliest tea cups. They are quite tiny and undoubtedly of an Eastern Asian ceramic style; compared to Western norms of pouring tea into grandiose mugs, Eastern Asian tea ceramics are usually delicately proportioned so that the tea can cool much faster. Today I felt so grateful for these previously loved pieces of tableware that found me, the mist that made my roommate's red scarf look like a hóngbāo red gift envelope on our morning bike ride to class, and the warmth of being able to ask loved ones to share a pot of tea and mushroom stroganoff with me. My heart was hung with a curtain of love when I brewed today's evening tea with Song Tea's meadow blend, a detox herbal brew, two thin slices of lemon, three frozen cherries, two frozen blackberries, and 1/16 of an orange. I'm not sure if it was the extra blend of fresh fruit or the blessed kiss of gratitude that embraced me this morning, but the balance of elements tasted beautiful today. It was radiant and it tasted like a fresh sense of optimism that you can only feel at the beginning of a journey or on New Year's Day. 

rating: 4.5/5

________________


I read a Korean poem

with the line “Today you are the youngest

you will ever be.” Today I am the oldest

I have been. Today we drink

buckwheat tea. Today I have heat

in my apartment. Today I think

about the word chada in Korean.

It means cold. It means to be filled with.

It means to kick. To wear. Today we’re worn.

Today you wear the cold. Your chilled skin.

My heart kicks on my skin. Someone said

winter has broken his windows. The heat inside

and the cold outside sent lightning across glass.

Today my heart wears you like curtains. Today

it fills with you. The window in my room

is full of leaves ready to fall. Chada, you say. It’s tea.

We drink. It is cold outside.


-Between Autumn Equinox and Winter Solstice, Today by Emily Jungmin Yoon

(one of my favorite poems... was reminded of it yesterday and felt like posting it)

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