I tend to write as I see; I tend to see big pictures, composed entirely of minute details—I dissect as I write. I focus on small things and give only hints of a larger picture. It’s not something I think of regularly. I simply do it. Instinctively. There are times, however, when I step back from life as I perceive it, and actually attempt to dissect what I do, how I see, and how all of it fits together in some way. I tend to drink copious amounts of tea, both iced and hot. As a result of that, tea is a part of my daily life. There are no rituals involving the drink. I know how to perform a Japanese Tea Ceremony. I’ve participated in a few, and I do find myself—on occasion—holding a teacup, or a mug of the stuff, in polite, Japanese manner (with both hands, always turning the cup so that I never drink from the same part of it twice in a row.) That’s the extent of any ritual, however, and it’s more of a little game I play with myself: usually when I’m attempting to get into the head-space of a particular character. Tea informs so much of what I perceive, feel, and think, and it is only natural that it would find its way into my photographic files. It was hot on a day that Corey and I stopped for tea in big plastic tumblers. There was a promotion for 99 cent buckets of the stuff at a local donut place: the one with that garish mauve and orange color-scheme, sometimes touched with hints of metallic green (lent by intrepid houseflies with an appetite for pastries.) We’d ordered tea. It came to us in transparent plastic cups, emblazoned with advertisements for Captain America…a movie neither of us plans to watch. I don’t mind the occasional superhero, but I tend to avoid the jingoistic propaganda machines running around in patriotic colors. I tend to rankle at the idea that US-American propaganda from a bygone era has made a return, rather like acid reflux, bubbling up someone’s esophagus. Odd how such a resurgence takes place during a time of mild political upheaval. I tend to avoid politics; it’s a headache at best and an annoyance at worst, but I do find it ironic that an incendiary (racist, sexists,) group of bigots (in every sense of the word) has decided to “Take America Back.” America is a big place…lots of big places if you consider “America” is a trans-continental region and not a single country. So, my questions : who took it and how many of them were there. America is a huge place, after all…you can’t just walk in and put it in your pocket. Odd that a movie like Captain America would find its way into theaters while references to it find their ways onto plastic drinking cups. There’s nothing new about Captain America the movie; similar movies have come about at similar times. Captain America simply uses the most garish colors. 300, an admittedly a visually intriguing film found its release during the height of our nation’s search for Weapons of Mass Distraction. The bad guys just so happened to be Persians…led by…well…a metallic drag queen. Other movies, farther back in time, have come from similar nationalistic inclinations… This has nothing to do with tea, I suppose, and yet, there are connections: because of a clear plastic tumbler with all sorts of quasi-jingoistic slogans growing all over it little patches of mold. I was only interested in the tea, however, and not what American runs on and how it all relates to a movie not actually intended for foreigners. I was interested, however, in the condensation forming on the big, plastic tumbler, as I sipped tea through a rather fat, orange straw, and so I took a picture. This is the end result. As always, thank you for viewing, reading, and commenting, and I hope you’re all having a great weekend.