In order to feel at home here and to understand what this Tea House is all about, please see my very first post at http://teatimereflections.blogspot.com/2009/09/heya-tea-mates.html

Saturday, July 17, 2010

plant a tree with your blog/website


 TEA TIME!!!

Tea for the day: warm green tea from a Korean/Japanese restaurant by my workplace. What **tea** would you like to have today?

As the title of the post points out to (and speaking of "green" tea LOL), there is a program out there called "Make it Green" that claims to plant a tree for your blog. The idea started in Germany and it aims to "neutralize" the carbon footprint produced by each blog by planting a tree for that blog. Click here for more information about how it works.

It is indeed a small contribution but if we each do it, it could hopefully turn to something bigger; we won't get anywhere with that sort of logic which is unfortunately quite prevalent these days.

To make your blog "green", you need to write a short blog post about the initiative (please see the link I had just shared above), choose a button for your blog (that looks like the image posted here except that there are other buttons and colors as well), and email the link to your post to: CO2-neutral@kaufda.de, and a tree will be planted for you!

From your Tea Mate,
Reema B. :-) 

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

short story: when "the stranger" barged in...



 TEA TIME!!!

Tea for the day Lipton Orange Jaipur. Not too bad; I still like Trader Joe's mango black tea better! What **tea** would you like to be served?

Among the many promises I made in my previous post, I present to you below a short story I've written when I was either fifteen or sixteen. Although I always loved writing short stories (or at least fantasizing about them! XD) since I was either seven or nine, this is the only one which I've actually completed without discarding it and that I'm actually proud of!! :-D Anyhow, the idea for the story was a response to a writing exercise in Jerry Cleaver's Immediate Fiction (which I never actually finished reading...otherwise, I would've been writing much more often by now!!) which involved making  a short story in thirty minutes related to the following most random words: strawberries, albino, and pistol.

Haha, but you know, I, being the slacker that you all know me as, didn't write this in thirty minutes...I didn't actually finish the story until the next year!!! But I think that that period of time was worthwhile and I kinda regret completing it...I mean...the very process of even typing up any story is SO exciting! (Don't make fun of me now...I'm already hearing some chuckles...grrr...)

Before I stop my blabbering and actually have you read the story, I'd like you to first consider the following question once you're done reading: who do you think "The Stranger" is? Be creative. ;-) I will reveal who "The Stranger" was to me in a future entry as well.

I'm also open to any critiques...after all, I am still an amateur lol.

Oh and one more thing--and I'll shut up after this, I swear!--expect me to post more about my terms and conditions regarding whether any of you **Tea Mates** are willing to share any written or visual art to decorate the **Tea House**...I just still haven't thought up of those "terms and conditions" yet!

Ok...now here's the story...

Enjoy!
From your Tea Mate,
Reema B. :-)


 When "The Stranger" Barged In...

She was out collecting strawberries as part of her daily routine when before her stood a mysterious young man wearing a mask. From his pale hands and snow-white hair, she could tell that he was an albino.

She ignored his presence and tried to concentrate on her work, but the man still stood there gazing at her. Finally making some movement, the albino shamelessly walked into her house.

Furiously, she ran into her home, but he wasn’t there. She searched each room yet found no one.
   
“First you disregard my existence,” a strange voice said, “now you do not welcome me into your humble home?”
     
She turned to the direction of where the voice seemed to have originated and found the albino sitting on the only couch in her small living room with his legs stretched. “Humans—even the humblest among them—were and still are rude to me.” He continued.
     
“Rude?” she sarcastically questioned with an angry tone, “I don’t think barging in people’s homes without their permission is polite, especially when they’re strangers!”
     
“I believe we know each other very well…” he answered calmly, “You knew my name ever since you first learned how to speak. Although you’ve never met me, you knew people who had done so...” He stood and walked toward her saying, “I know both your parents.”     
     
“My parents died ages ago!” she retorted, “Now get out of here or else!” she brought her deceased father’s pistol from a drawer and pointed it at him. The albino didn’t seem to display any fear of her threat. He simply looked at the pistol with eyes expressing disgust.
     
“I held you before you were born,” he said as he grabbed her arm.
     
“Don’t touch me!!” She interrupted and pulled the trigger—BANG!!—but…the man still held her arm and continued speaking as if nothing happened!
     
“Now I’ll hold you again…in the long run, nothing can stop me…” He said and then took off his mask.
     
She let out a scream and everything—her home, her farm, her fears, her hopes, her joys, her sorrows, and her breath—vanished, as if it were all but a dream…

Written by **The Hostess** herself.

Monday, July 12, 2010

no worries, **the hostess** is still alive!+introducing the new **tea mates**




TEA TIME!!!

Tea for the day: mango black tea from Trader Joe's Speciality Teas--very very refreshing and I just LOVE the scent! Besides the black tea leaves and the natural mango flavor which contributes to most of the scent, each tea bag also contains blackberry leaves and hibiscus and calendula petals...**deeply sniffs her tea and sips it and says: "....ahhh...!!"** What **tea** would you like to be served this time??

My God...once again, it has been a while since I've last posted. Honestly, my schedule wasn't as busy as last time, but I wasn't feeling too emotionally well during the summer and thus had a complete block of ideas and inspiration for posts and tea time with you, my lovely **tea mates** and **tea guests**...hopefully your **tea times** with me have been missed lol.

*Sighs* but no worries my brothers and sisters...I'm now slowly feeling better and hopefully you'll see me post more often (especially since I just started my 6 month internship and hence no more distractions from homework, quizzes, papers, or exams...except that I may feel too exhausted after I return to my apartment each day during the weekdays!).

It seems that I've gained more readers during my absence and only recently seemed to have lost one. Aside from the latter (and I don't blame her for leaving the **tea house**...she must've felt too lonely without me sipping **tea** with her! As mentioned...I am quite a slacker as a **hostess** lol...hopefully, as I become into a better blogger, that will change), I think that is a great sign! That is why, among the many rituals of the **Tea House**, they must be welcomed and introduced, in fact, this is actually the main reason why I decided to post this particular entry! Thus, I'd like to introduce you to the following new **Tea Mates** (only those who have blogs or websites of their own or Blogger profiles have links to them. Also, I haven't sent a personal message to those of you who are following me through the NetworkedBlogs app on Facebook as I didn't want to seem too intrusive):

Now before I leave, I'd like to give you a heads-up about what the upcoming posts may look like. Expect me to share a short story and a bit of poetry written by me (and I'd love you to share your own writing or any piece of art or photography as well, please let me know if you'd like to do so! And no...it doesn't really have to have anything to do with **tea**!! Will post more on terms & conditions of that soon...), an update on my knitting, and a compensation for the missed "inspiration of the month" posts with some additional ones as well lol! (In case you don't have the slightest idea of what those "inspirations" may be, please do take a look at here, here, here, and here. In general though, each inspiration consists of one of my favorite quotations and my thoughts on it). 

P.S. to Carnations: expect me to reply to all your wonderful comments on my blog entries soon lol!
P.S. to Hassan Ismail: expect me to reply to your awesome message!

From your **Tea Mate**,
Reema B. :-)