Blackmoor Vituperative

I am going to post a photo of a coffee mug every day in August, and talk a little bit about where we got it and why I like it.

We got this mug while on a road trip to Niagra Falls. We stopped in DC to visit our friend Nathan (who has since moved to San Diego) and go to Six Flags. The next day we continued on to Hershey, PA, where we went to a cave and then to Hershey Park. The following day, we went to Hershey Park again, all day long. The day after that, we traveled to Niagra Falls (the Canadian side, which is nicer than the American side). We stayed at Niagra Falls for a few days before driving back home again.

Hershey Park was nice. Not as nice as Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, but still, pretty nice. Susan got this mug because she thought it looked “retro” and because it was filled with Hershey Kisses. It might not be obvious in the photograph, but the mug is an antique white color, almost cafe au lait. It’s one of the handful that we consider “her” mugs.

I am going to post a photo of a coffee mug every day in August, and talk a little bit about where we got it and why I like it.

In between working at Circuit City and my current job at OneBookShelf, I did a lot of freelancing and a lot of contracting. Most of these were, by their nature, short term gigs. Come in, take a seat, get the job done, go home and don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

One of the few contracting gigs which I left of my own accord was with ManTech. It was a great job: I was a Solaris system administrator for the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA). The only problem was that it was nearly an hour drive away, and closer to 90 minutes away from our dream property (on which we still, at that time, planned to build a house and ultimately retire). However, system administration can be and nearly always is done remotely. There is no technical or security reason why I couldn’t do the job from the other side of the world, much less from 90 minutes away. And as it happens, the US Government, and DeCA in particular, has a policy not just permitting, but actively encouraging telework.

This directive implements the requirements of Section 359 of Public Law No. 106-346 which requires each Agency to establish a policy under which eligible employees of an agency may participate in telework to the maximum extent possible without diminished employee performance.

(DeCA Telework Directive and Guidance)

So I took the position, secure in the knowledge that I would be able to transition to telework.

You should have seen the face of my supervisor the first time I asked when I might be able to transition over to teleworking a few days a week. You’d think I had asked to use the agency’s servers to torrent porn. Suffice to say, the answer was no way, no how, despite the fact that I never actually physically interacted with the agency’s servers (I wasn’t even on the same floor), and that DeCA policy demanded the availability of telework.

I was barely able to stand the drive to work as it was: there was no way I would be able to tolerate a three-hour round-trip commute. So I found another gig, and left ManTech and DeCA behind. This coffee cup is my only souvenir of that experience.

It’s rather a nice mug, though: large, sturdy, with a rubber base and a comfy handle. I use it often.

I am going to post a photo of a coffee mug every day in August, and talk a little bit about where we got it and why I like it.

I used to work for a company called SAIC. Unlike most of my former employers, SAIC is still around, although it’s no longer an employee-owned company, which I think is too bad. My projects supported something called the Partnership for Peace, which is sort of like NATO Junior. I have been fortunate to have been involved with some truly worthwhile projects during my career, but I think the Partnership for Peace was one of the most worthwhile.

I visited ETH Zurich twice for the PfP project. On the first trip, Susan went with me, and that’s when we got this coffee mug. Zurich is an old city with some interesting history, but it’s not really a tourist destination. I am really glad we were able to go, though. We went to a few museums, and we ate fondue at a small restaurant. We also took a bus trip up into the Alps, which was spectacular.

I am watching a movie on demand on cable, called Little Darlings. This is a movie from 1980 about 15-year-old girls at summer camp in a competition to lose their virginity.

This movie reminds me of Meatballs, which came out the previous year. Funny thing is, I think this film has aged much better than Meatballs. Yet Little Darlings has been all but forgotten.

Such a strange mix of memories, watching this. My parents went to drive-in movies during the 1970s, and I remember seeing trailers for this and Foxes, but until now, I’d never seen either of them. Little Darlings stars Tatum O’Neal, Kristy McNichol, Matt Dillon, and Armand Assante. I thought Kristy McNichol was super cute, at the time, although I don’t think I was quite “aware” of girls yet (although I thought I was). I wonder what happened to to her and Tatum O’Neal. I feel for them both in this film. When Kristy McNichol’s eyes tear up during the scene with Matt Dillon in the … some kind of shack, I guess… my heart really breaks for her.

And then I wonder if I’m a perv for even watching this. And then I wonder what sort of person would make a movie about 15 year old girls in a competition to lose their virginity. It’s kind of messed up, isn’t it?

But mainly, it reminds me of what it was like to be a something-less-than-15-year-old boy, entranced by girls who seemed like they’d be forever beyond my reach.

I am going to post a photo of a coffee mug every day in August, and talk a little bit about where we got it and why I like it.

This is a very large Star Wars mug, given to me by my mother for Christmas last year. I am and always have been a huge Star Wars nerd. I saw Star Wars (not “Episode 4”, not “A New Hope” — that crap came much later) when it opened, and over a dozen times more before I was 11.

As it happened, Susan and I watched the Phantom Menace this afternoon. First we watched the Red Letter Media review, which is both hilarious and insightful. Then we watched Hitler’s reaction to the Phantom Menace, which is, surprisingly, also hilarious and insightful.

In a strange bit of synchronicity, we had Black Swan (another Natalie Portman movie) on Netflix sitting here, so we watched that afterward. Strange film. It reminded me of American Psycho — what is real, and what is in the main character’s imagination? I won’t give anything away, but I will say that Black Swan is slightly less surreal than American Psycho.

I am going to post a photo of a coffee mug every day in August, and talk a little bit about where we got it and why I like it.

I bought this mug at a thrift store in Portsmouth, VA, which is where we used to live. I don’t have a fun story or any special memories associated with this mug. Despite that, it’s one of my favorite coffee mugs. It’s solid, reliable, and attractive, and I don’t have to worry too much about accidentally breaking it.

I am drinking coffee out of it right now.

I am going to post a photo of a coffee mug every day in August, and talk a little bit about where we got it and why I like it.

We bought this mug at Disneyland in 2009. We were in California visiting my mother, who no longer lives there. (My mother has always been a restless soul.) As luck would have it, it was the 40th anniversary of the Haunted Mansion, so we were able to get some cool coffee mugs commemorating the event. This is one of them.

The Haunted Mansion itself was rather disappointing. It had been re-dressed in the style of A Nightmare Before Christmas, basically ruining the ride. The fantastic “dancing ghosts” scene was completely ruined. Ah, well. We still have our memories of the first time we went, which was when I lived out there in the late 1980s, and Susan came out to visit me. She had dyed-black hair back then. I was so thoroughly smitten.

Sadly, the printing on this mug is water-soluble: what you see in the photo is the result after the cup was washed by hand, once. I was standing at the sink, washing it gently, and the ink was wiping right off. Very disappointing. I stopped washing it, dried it carefully, and we’ve not used it since.

Still, it was a very nice trip, and I’m glad we went. This was before the TSA introduced their “sexual assault” screening procedures: back then, the TSA screening was merely pointless (which it still is, of course). It will probably be the last trip by airplane we take unless the TSA eliminates their sexual assaults on airplane passengers. Frankly, I think the TSA should simply be eliminated. It accomplishes nothing.

Not that I’m bitter or anything.

I am going to post a photo of a coffee mug every day in August, and talk a little bit about where we got it and why I like it.

I bought this genuine imported German beer stein at the 2006 Richmond Oktoberfest. I was working at Circuit City at the time, which was my first on-site job in Richmond. However, the writing was on the wall at Circuit City (they went out of business not long after I left), and I left after six months for a “dream job” with a much smaller company (which also went out of business).

I was invited to the Richmond Oktoberfest by a fellow named Quinn Ramsey. Sharp guy, very cheerful. I’ve no idea where he is now, but I am sure he’s doing well, wherever he is.

I am going to post a photo of a coffee mug every day in August, and talk a little bit about where we got it and why I like it.

This mug has a photo of Joel and the bots. That’s Crow T. Robot on the left, and Tom Servo on the right. I bought this mug back in the mid-1990s. This is actually the second mug I bought with Joel on it: I dropped the first one, and broke it. You can’t buy these anymore.

Joel, Crow, and Tom are characters from a show that ran in the 1990s called Mystery Science Theater 3000. Susan introduced me to the show, after reading about it in a magazine. I fell in love with it instantly. I have every episode (commercial versions where they are available; Digital Archive Project versions where commercial versions do not yet exist), and I watch them regularly, typically in bed as I am going to sleep. It’s gotten so that I find it more difficult to go to sleep without it playing.

This cup has faded over time. I wash it by hand, and rarely use it, but time is unkind of photo-printed ceramic cups. But as long as this cup lasts, Joel and the bots are immortal.

We have a lot of coffee cups. I generally get one as a souvenir from any trip we take. Not every trip (I didn’t get one in Mexico, but I did get a very nice wooden mask), but most trips.

I am going to post a photo of a coffee mug every day in August, and talk a little bit about where we got it and why I like it.

This mug is Goofy. It came from Disneyworld in 1995. That was the first major vacation Susan and I took together. I was working for DOD at the time, and we got discount tickets for amusement park tickets through the Morale, Welfare, and Recreation program. Three days at the Disney parks, and two at Universal Studios. We drove from Virginia to Florida (and back). That was before the TSA made airplane travel an exercise in sexual assault. We could have flown. We drove because it was cheaper than flying (back then — not sure if it still is), and so that we would have a car once we got there. That was the first trip that we listened to books on CD along the way. I remember James Spader reading a Dean Koontz book about a town with a coal fire underneath it.

Our cat Healthcliff had just died of renal failure, and we decided to put off getting another cat until we came back. That cat was Nikita, who is still with us (knock on wood).

I used this cup at work when I was at Joint Forces Command as a civilian contractor. I thought it helped to soften my image a bit and make me seem more approachable, which was the persona I wanted to project. I wanted people to know that I was friendly and willing to help them. And who’s friendlier or more helpful than Goofy?