My philosophy of tea drinking

[Randy]

___I used to do everything in sixes, because six is the perfect number, as any mathematician will tell you, and because everything in the universe is determined by the number three (thesis, synthesis, antithesis), and three is half of six. I might revert back to the habit of consciously determining all my doings by the number six in the future, which was my habit for many years, but now I do everything in fours, since the number four has become more natural to me. For, in spite of what I have actually done, I always think in fours, not in twos, not in sixes, not in threes, or any other number. I think as such without even thinking about thinking of it. It comes so naturally to me.

___I. TEA DRINKING SCHEDULE


___I drink tea four times a day. Each cup lasts me precisely 16 minutes.

___1. I drink one cup at 4:00 AM.
___2. Then I drink another cup at 8:00[ AM.
___3. Then I drink another cup at 12:00 PM.
___4. Then I drink a final cup at 4:00 PM.

___II. WHAT I DO WHILE DRINKING TEA


___1. On the first cup of tea, I eat a snack, since it is early in the morning, and in the early morning, the only physical activity of which I am capable is eating; whilst in my mind I reflect, and try to solve philosophical and ideological questions, as has been my habit in early mornings ever since I can remember, even as a young child; but my eyes, they are never capable of reading in early mornings - my brain is, my brain is strong and my thoughts are quick in the morning, but never my eyes.
___2. On the second cup of tea, I read a FICTIONAL book.
___3. On the third cup of tea, I do things on my computer.
___4. On the final cup of tea, I read a NON-FICTIONAL book.

___III. WHAT I DO NOT DO WHILE DRINKING TEA


___1. I never drink tea whilst eating breakfast.
___2. I never drink tea whilst eating lunch.
___3. I never drink tea whilst eating supper.
___4. I never drink tea whilst studying.

___IV. WHERE I DRINK MY TEA


___1. On the first cup of tea, I drink at the table in my dining room.
___2. On the second cup of tea, I drink in my reading chair.
___3. On the third cup of tea, I drink in my chair by my desk.
___4. On the fourth cup of tea, I drink on my reading chair.

___V. ON THE EQUIPMENT I USE


___I use four main equipments with which to make my tea.


___1. Tea kettle - plastic and impersonal (plastic is a symbol of Mass Society, and is therefore always impersonal, in whatsoever shape and form it occurs as).
___2. Tea cup - ceramic and personal (the use of ceramic is one of man's first and most personal achievements).
___3. Tea spoon - metal and personal (metal is appealing to the senses, and the use of it a great achievement of man, one of his greatest achievements, and is therefore highly personal).
___4. Tea leaves - organic and personal (I consume them; therefore they take within my person: they are at that moment peronal; also, the fact that they are organic makes it personal).


___I use a very small teaspoon which looks something like this, except without the pretentious design on the handle:




___The sugar container I use looks something like this:



___The type of cup I use looks a bit like this, but not as pretentious:




___VI. THE SIZE OF THE EQUIPMENT

___The teaspoons (16 in total, because four four times is sixteen) I use are about the size of my index finger in length.

___VII. THE TASTE OF MY TEA


___1. The type of water I use: Filtered water from the tap.
___2. The type of tea I generally drin: Earl Grey Tea.
___3. The type of sugar I use: white.
___4. The type of fruit I add: Lemon


___All of these are personal, because I consume them and they become a part of me, part of my perso. I eat the lemon when I am done with it. When it has floated in hot water for some time, it actually tastes quite good.

___VIII. THE FOUR PRELIMINARY MEASURES I TAKE IN THE MAKING OF TEA

___1. I boil water.
___2. I pour the boiled water into the tea cup, put the tea leaves in it, together with two teaspoons of sugar, one lemon slice; then I cover the top of the cup, and put the cup on a coaster.
___3. I remove the Lemon and the tea leaves from the cup. I stir the sugar, etc., four times clockwise, and four times counter-clockwise, and bring sugar up from the bottom four times, and hit the spoon against the brim four times, and put the spoon on the right hand side of the dish.
___4. I begin to drink -- drink the first half (two quarters) by taking out small quantities with the teaspoon; drink the second half (the other two quarters, amounting to four quarters) directly from the cup.

__MORALITY OF TEA DRINKING

___I was thinking of writing a bit about the morality of tea drinking, and why it is wrong, though not wrong in itself, insomach as it is associated with the sensuous and parasitic lifestyle of the aristocracy, in nations as different to one another as China, England, Japan, and Korea; but I shall save this for an essay; so let us not change the topic. We are to discuss tea drinking itself, not the morality behind it.

i didnt read it all

but i assume you like tea?

[cvrk3]

randy,
you have knack of writing!! if you see the article, it speaks of your habits and personality camaflogued as an article of Tea!! ( i am aware you never intended- but an excellant piece of writing and of course you wrote it in the morning- i presume!)
incidentally were you born of Friday?

[tokkolo]

You must like tea very much

[Randy]

Originally Posted by cvrk3

randy,
you have knack of writing!! if you see the article, it speaks of your habits and personality camaflogued as an article of Tea!! ( i am aware you never intended- but an excellant piece of writing and of course you wrote it in the morning- i presume!)
incidentally were you born of Friday?

___Yes, I was born on a Friday.

[Eric]

Nice article, Randy, I read it all. I can see that you like tea very much.
Your article may be helpful to those who don't know how to make tea, as you have explained how to prepare tea in steps.
Ay...lemon has a bitter taste, I thought you just put lemon juice in it :S...I'll have to keep it in hot water for some time and then taste it.

I only drink tea/coffee occasionally, it has some bad effects, like it dilutes blood and our...well that is applicable to males only but...it dilutes semen...It causes weakness and restlessness sometimes. And since tea provides a constant source of energy, though to a much lesser extent than edible glucose, the rate of metabolism in the body starts to drop. But that happens rarely and only in such cases where the victim has been drinking a lot of tea over a long period of time. And for me, tea just builds laziness.

[tonymousa]

I like tea too.

In my view, I like green tea most. Green tea have a substance (anti-oxid..) to prevent certain type of cancer and speed of being older....

For more information about green tea, you can go to

World green tea association
http://www.o-cha.net/

Korean Tea culture
http://www.teaculture.co.kr/

Chinese Tea culture
http://www.chinavista.com/experience/tea/tea.html

[cvrk3]

hi
eric!
are you a dietician too?

[Eric]

No, I am not a dietician, cvrk, I'm just a non-pracitising doctor . I have always shunned drugs, alcohol, cigarettes(and other similar materials) and even tea since I was young. Although tea is less harmful than the other three, raw tea leaves contain caffeine, and when we boil the tea leaves and it reaches a temperature of over 100 degrees celsius it turns into nicotine which causes gastric ulcer(and maybe cancer as well, but that hasn't been proven yet). But ofcourse, it is possible to avoid that nicotine by preparing tea keeping tea leaves in a filter pan, and pouring hot water over it and mixing whatever you like in that gathered water. But sadly many people don't know how to prepare tea in the proper way ...

[cvrk3]

hello eric,
In the houses of southern India, even though not a preferred drink( coffee is preferred there) when ever tea is prepared, the method you advocate is practiced. However in commercial circles, the leaves are boiled along with water. however thanks for the info.
glad to observe your excellant habits!