Today is Friday the 13th for those who care about such things. Personally, I’m not taking any chances and will be behind locked doors all day. I actually do have a good excuse as a wicked late-winter/early-spring cold has taken hold filling my lungs with an odd substance, the consistency of which varies between ‘watery doufu’ and ‘rubber cement.’ Ah well, such is.
It’s also the birthday of Charles Grey, the 2nd Earl Grey (1764-1845), Prime Minister of the UK from 1830-1834, and whose early life was depicted in a positively dreadful film The Duchess, one of only a handful of options available for viewing in United Economy class on my most recent trans-pacific flight. It was one of those movies that made me wish for hijackers, if only because being tortured to death at 35,000 feet seemed at the time less painful than the prospect of watching Keira Kneightly act. The other movie selection was the apocalyptic sci-fi smash-up Death Race, and seriously folks, when Jason Statham shows more range and character development as a futuristic demolition derby driver than you do in a period piece, it’s time to start thinking ‘career choices.’ Oh yeah, Did I mention that Statham’s character wore a bag over his head for half the freaking movie?
Anyway…
What’s important about this date (if you’re even still reading) is that the 2nd Earl Grey is the one who gave his name to my favorite variety of black tea. I’m a big believer in the cultural and health properties of Chinese tea, I drink a lot of it, love every drop, and try to get down to Maliandao in Beijing every so often to restock. Six days a week, I generally go with the Chinese varieties of tea but Earl Grey is a bit of a Sunday morning ritual here at the Granite Studio. There’s something very soothing and homey about a big mug of the black stuff with a couple of cubes of sugar and a touch of milk. Given the need for hot beverages to soothe the savage virus, but still to honor of the day, perhaps I’ll make a Friday the 13th exception and go with the Earl this morning.
Ah, hear the kettle going just now…
speaking of tea, i hope you picked up some of that yunnan hong cha in kunming. best. black. tea. ever, IMO.
Yes, I bought several varieties of tea in Yunnan including one called 滇红茶 which is brewed with roses and, I am told, is delicious both hot or iced. I also bought a fair amount of Pu’er and other tea as well, though some of these might end up being gifts. I’m not the biggest fan of Pu’er cha, or rather I should say, there are other varieties I enjoy more, but this particular batch was quite good.
Earl grey with lemon is pretty nice and because there is no milk the invalid suffers from less, err… snotiness.
Get better soon!