Lord of the Mugs
Friday, May. 09, 2003

I really need to go to bed. It's 10:30, but at least I get to sleep later tomorrow morning.

Aisai is taking out another $100,000 of life insurance out on me. It's because we refinanced the house and this is to pay the house off if I croak. I think if Aisai died I'd get around $30,000 and that would be enough to bury her and pay off some stuff to get me so I might still be able to afford living in the house.

With a baby on the way, in some woman in China's belly, it's very necessary that we don't get slack in any of the financial stuff.

I just had to say, in my soothing but loud enough to project voice, "Mouse, be good to Velvet." And she did, she walked past her. Mouse was ready to do her standard crouch-turn head-lunge-bite Velvet's bicep move.

We cleaned the front room up, it took a total of 20 minutes and it looks nice. Man, if we weren't so lazy it could be really restful around here.

One of the things I can see from here, sitting at the Patio Table we use as our dining room table, is the mug hooks in the kitchen. I just counted the mugs hanging on them and there are 31.

From top left to right, progressing down, as you would read:

1. 1968 Mug - Outlines the world events that happened the year I was born.

2. Stonehenge Mug - Aisai brought this back from Stonehenge, one of the most respected tourist traps in the world.

3. Mark Mug - Translates my name into lots of different languages.

4. Kell Mug - Aisai got it in Scottland. It's bone china and I've only used it once since I'm afraid I'd break it. It's got black kells on it.

5. Cafe Du Monde Mug - From that landmark in the French Quarter of New Orleans.

6. Sideways Glaze Dip Japanese Mug - I've never called it that before, but it's the only way that I could explain it. I got this at the Catholic's yard sale. Meaning the whole Madison Catholic Church has massive yard rummage sales and I got many of my better mugs from there a few years ago. I also foolishly bought a Commodore 64.

7. Browns Ferry Nuclear Reactor Offsite Emergency Responder Mug - Yes, I'm one of the sorters with the Geiger counters if Browns Ferry ever tries to tunnel to the earth's core like a big glowing gopher. I haven't been to the training in a few years, so hopefully they'd not call me. But I have the mug.

8. It's Pretty, But Is It Art? Mug - Great mug with an outline of the devil on it. Ooh, I could really freak out the director with this one.

9. Wanted Chicken Penguin Wallace & Grommet Mug - Also from England, from Aisai, when she visited without me one year.

10. Badger Mug - Saw it at TJMaxx and had to have it. It too is bone china and is really too tall and thin for coffee. The "Brock" in my last name means Badger, as in meles meles, the European badger.

11. Belzon Glass Mug With Frosted Belzon Letters - Aisai brought it home from a schmooze fest that the Underground Lair threw.

12. Cheap Slightly Blue Tinted Glass Mug - Dollar Store Fare, probably from the Dollar Store.

13. White Fire King Mug - A favorite of mine. I bought this from an antique dealer for $2 in Guntersville.

14. Japanese Texture Mug - Never has there been a mug that seemed so funky but was so cool once you got used to it. Bands of texture with thick black glaze to make the drinking part smooth.

15. Snowman Mug - How'd that get up there? Cheap Dollar Store Holiday Fare.

16. Breland Home Mug - If houses hand brand names, then that's the brand name of our house. We bought a Breland. Not bad, in fact great floorplan, but a little cheaply made.

17. Funky Blue Boxed Japanese Mug - All these mugs that are from Japan are really from the Catholic Yard Sale. This one I am not fond of as it's too funky.

18. Dark Brown with light brown frosty glaze at the top "Teacher" Mug - If you know what I'm talking about, good. I always associated these mugs with teachers. I have one...maybe from the Catholics again.

19. Fire King Knock-off Sunrise "Supergraphic" Mug - It's just a cheap 70's mug with bands of yellow to red making tghe illusion of a sunrise.

20. Dinky Brown n' Darker Brown Japanese Mug - Not a favorite.

21. leaves and Gardening Utensils Pfalsgraff Mug - Aisai got me this for either my birthday of Christmas. Great mug.

22. Cheap PVC Allosaurus Mug - Aisai's mug from our poor days. We got it at the grocery store we called Space Station Brunos. I think mine is at my work. Mine's not an Allosaurus though.

23. Square Sage Green Mug - A newer addition. I think this is dollar store fare, or some Mall store or something.

24. Frosted Petals Glass Mug - It's from our dishes set. I bought 4 sets of dishes one year and we've used these ever since. I'm not fond of the mug though, but the plates rock.

25. Dark Amber Cheapo Glass Mug - Like the earlier dollar store fare, but much cooler since it's dark amber. I don't think I've ever used this one.

26. Jadite Fire King Mug - I asked for this thing for several Christmases in a row before someone broke down and bought me one. I think Aisai did. One of my favorites. I used it for months at work after receiving it.

27. Troll Water Jug Travel Mug - If you know what I mean, you know what I mean. Freaky wide based mug, allegedly to prevent spills, but it has such a small top that it's like some mini-orc bottle of hooch.

[Note: It's after work on Thursday now. I'm officially stalling on the rewrite of our Formal Petition for Adoption now.]

28. Big Glass Coca-Cola Mug - I think this was a Wal-Mart buy. I think I've only drank out of it once, and that was a protein drink since our cobalt blue "working" glasses were all dirty.

29. Fragile seeming Pier 1 Leafy Mug - I would have said I didn't know where I got this, but I can see the Pier 1 tag on the bottom from here. It's the size of a normal tumbler with hand-painted-ness on the outside in very drab browns (compared to all those colorful browns?). I've used in on occasion, but generally fear that hot coffee will make it crack.

30. Fugly Blue Proto-Fiestaware Monstrosity - It's gone one of those thin bottoms and it's primary blue. It's outside is a pimply texture and you can see everywhere else it's made of while Fire King. It's Fugly, but I like it.

31. Big Glass Mug - I think this is one that Aisai got me when we lived in the dorms. Back then, I would only drink out of glass cups since we, both the time I lived there with guys and when I lived there with Aisai, had cockroach problems.

I must note, at this time, that since moving into a house I have not seen one roach in the almost 7 years we've been here.

Dang, that didn't take long. I guess it's time to edit that petition for adoption. I hear our homestudy will be sent off tomorrow.

Now, it's notarizin' time [ and commissionarizing, authenicating, and consulurizing, and heck, why not zaframbulurizing time].

I saw a SARS headline that read "SARS Lives Long, Prospers in Poop." It was about how the low pH situation in human guano is a great place for SARS to stay alive. Thus, sanitary sewers become very dangerous. But why the Vulcan reference?

Nano-nano.

Edited to Add: "In response to the most recent stuffo, you'd get $182,000 if I die." - Aisai