Cup XXI: The Skin of the Earth is Moving, and the Continents are Adrift

Tea: Arctic Storm, ginger added, with honey

Music: Bruce Cockburn, "Lovers in a Dangerous Time"

Time: Afternoon

I'm still stuffed up, but the tea is helping. So are my Reed's Ginger Chews, a long-distance gift from a dear friend.

As I'm sure you've noticed by now, musical references in post titles don't always match the musical selections in the posts themselves. Such is the case today, as it was here and here and here. Here, too.

Today's lyric is borrowed, slightly adapted, from the Rainmakers' "A Million Miles Away" -- not to be confused with the (also excellent) Plimsouls song of the same name.

Tomorrow will mark one month since I left my old job. Today would have been my tenth anniversary there. The fact that I wrote "tenth" instead of "10th" is an indication that I'm already comfortable with shedding some of the old ways.

Freelancing is a challenge. The hunt for story ideas, and for people who will pay me to put them into words, is a daily effort. But I'm glad I am where I am now. I've met good people, some of whom already have become part of my life.

Today's story:

J. Sheridan Le Fanu, Carmilla

Just because.

Cup I: Sorting through a sort of former life

Tea: Oolong Darjeeling

Time: Late afternoon

Music: Allison Crowe, various selections: "Crayon and Ink," "Effortless," "Hallelujah," "How Long, "Immersed"

Seems a good day for solo voice and piano, this Sunday afternoon on the edge between summer and autumn, and Allison Crowe delivers the bittersweet goods. If you haven't heard her verson of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," you should. Just prepare to miss, achingly, anyone you ever loved and lost. Ever. It's available for download at her site, or watch the video here.

So, here I am in my kitchen, going through the things I hauled away from the office when I left to strike out (in the optimistic sense) on my own.

And good Lord, do I have a lot of tea. I could have started my own tea shop, I think, with the bags (large and tiny, loose and otherwise) and tins I had in my locker and my desk drawers.

Here, there's more of a storage crunch -- considering I also have a major cache in the kitchen.

And so, an idea was born: To get through the leaves, one cup per day. (Not that I'm forsaking coffee, or tea shops, or ... well, you get the idea. I'm a caffeine addict, and not inclined to 12-step that away.)

It's a discipline. But I could use a bit of that in my life. Freelance writing is going to take a lot more focus than I've known is possible, I think. And caffeine has always helped me focus.

So ... here goes.