Tea and Toast — 25 of 31
Maria del Pangolin
Release 1
Section - Specific Memories and Their Associations
To say pb: say paragraph break.
Coveredness is a kind of value. The coverednesses are covered, uncovered, and used up.
A memory is a kind of object. Some memories are defined by the Table of Reminiscence.
Table of Reminiscence
| memory | memory-text | coveredness [this is a bit of a misnomer, as it records not only whether a memory is uncovered but whether it's used up] |
| Bus 1 | "It was at the bus stop you first saw her. The first week, you stole glances as you walked past. The second week, you tried to figure out if she was stealing glances back. The third week, you decided to start taking the bus to work... even though it'd be a bit of a walk back." | uncovered |
| Bus 2 | "A week in and she was definitely eyeing you across the bus aisle. Talking to you, she wasn't. You took a deep breath to say... 'Some weather, huh?' God no. You puffed the breath into your cheeks, crossed your eyes, and held it till she looked up again. She burst out laughing. 'Maria,' she'd say to you later, 'I never even knew being ladylike was a thing until I met someone who was so not it." | covered |
| Bus 3 | "You thought you'd been talking five minutes and you were halfway to Whitefish Bay. You yanked the rope for the next stop and walked off, trying to look purposeful till the bus was out of sight. Then you dashed across the street for the next bus back. Lily was on it. 'You rode past your stop too?' she said." | covered |
| Sliced Bread | "'Why does everyone say [']The best thing since sliced bread?[']' she says. 'Bread you slice yourself is so much nicer.'[pb]'Maybe they got tired of the crumbs?'" | uncovered |
| Semiotics of the Toaster | "'The toaster,' she intones. 'Perfect rectangular slots presuppose perfect rectangular bread, uniformly thick. The bread itself is made by the toaster as much as by the ovens it's baked in.'[pb]'It's not the only thing that's uniformly thick around here, hey.'" | uncovered |
| Toaster Oven | "You've never quite understood why you don't have a toaster oven. 'The toaster's so sleek and shiny,' she says. 'There's something about a thing that's designed for one thing and does it well,' she says. 'It'd be a disambiguation nightmare,' she says. Sometimes you can't understand her at all." | uncovered |
| Toast Conflict | "She loves lumpy hand-cut bread in thick slices and the smooth clean toaster they don't fit into. But when you pointed that out she seemed genuinely disturbed, like she'd just uncovered a hard truth about the world." | covered |
| O Breath | "She read to you from the Elizabeth Bishop book once. Beneath that loved / and celebrated breast. 'Don't know why what's beneath is so interesting,' she said, 'it's....' She moved her hand up to cup you. You never did find out how the poem ended." | uncovered |
| O Snap | "She likes the tea ball strainer because it makes the tea just right. You like the tea ball strainer because you can squeeze it open and get her nose." | uncovered |
| Chopping Onions | "It had been an awful day and you were chopping onions and the tears became real tears. Then she was there, murmuring, 'These old tears in the chopping-bowl.'[pb]'Will you stop quoting shit and just hold me?'[pb]'I'm sorry. I'm sorry.' She put her arms around you and laid her head on your shoulder. The tears ran into her hair." | uncovered |
| Varieties of Tea | "Tea was always just tea to you -- hot, strong, a little swampy. But Lily luxuriates in tea. 'Darjeeling, Constant Comment, Lapsang Souchong,' she says, her eyes closed.[pb]'Aren't you Orientalizing?'[pb]'Laaaap-sannng Soouuu-chong. I'm in a place your cruel words can't reach.[pb]She's learned to make sure the one she wants for breakfast is out where you'll use it." | uncovered |
| The Tea Bag | "Lily is quite understanding about tea bags, really. Sometimes you're just too tired for more than a quick boil and steep. And you've learned that the other kind of tea really can be nicer." | uncovered |
| Twenty Questions | "'Is it bigger than a breadbox?' she asks.[pb]'I'd never have known how big that was till you brought that breadbox here.'[pb]'It's a little bigger than a loaf of bread, you silly.'" | uncovered |
| Fortune | "You suddenly freeze, staring intently into her teacup. 'Outlook hazy,' you say at last. 'I'll need to read your palm.'[pb]'It'd be a little more convincing if you didn't quote the Magic 8 Ball,' she says. But she holds your hand out.'[pb]'I see that you aaaaarrreee... very ticklish!' and you skitter her fingers in her palm. She shrieks and tries to twist away, but you've got her hip, and her ribs, and she collapses to the floor." | uncovered |
| Grading | "She's sitting at the table, drifts of papers around her. 'Oh no oh no oh no oh fuck you,' she mumbles to them. 'You think you're connecting to the students,' she says. 'That there's some spark behind those stares. And then you find out that you've been wasting your sweetness on the desert air, because they don't seem to have understood the simplest thing I've said. What am I doing with my life?'" | uncovered |
| Night | "Her absence awakens you. Diamond-shaped slices of moonlight on the floor. She's standing in the kitchen, eyes closed. She murmurs, 'I can't stop thinking about it.' Her back is unyielding as you rub it. 'Can't stop turning it over in my mind. Why did she let that asshole abuse me like that?' You rub gently then firmly, but she stays hunched and rigid." | uncovered |
| Form and Function | "'The red double-decker teapot. Why?'[pb]'I had an Italian teapot once,' she says. 'Chic as anything, but the spout dribbled. Say what you will about the English, they know how to drink tea.' She scoots it across the table like a kid with a truck. 'Anyway it's cute.'" | uncovered |
| Kooshie Koo | "She's absently rolling the koosh in her palm as she reads. Its rubber tendrils slip through her fingers like hair. Like your hair. You can't stop watching." | uncovered |
| Chopstering | "'This is called a Chopster?' you say. 'That's the greatest name ever.'[pb]'It's great for little chop-up jobs. Dressings and tiny batches of pesto.'[pb]'Couldn't hear you, I'm too busy saying Chopster Chopster Chopster. Oh listen to that cute little whirr! I'm in love.'[pb]And it turns out it's just right for the little batches you bring home from the supermarket." | uncovered |
Table of Associations [which memories are associated with which other memories; doing each association as a separate row of the table because lists are hogs]
| prompt | associated memory | associated thing |
| a memory | a memory | a thing |
| Bus 1 | Bus 2 | -- |
| Bus 1 | -- | tea tin |
| Bus 1 | -- | teapot |
| Bus 2 | Bus 3 | -- |
| Bus 2 | -- | tea tin |
| Bus 2 | -- | teapot |
| Bus 2 | -- | kettle [because making faces] |
| Bus 2 | -- | reflection [even more so] |
| Bus 3 | -- | tea tin |
| Bus 3 | -- | teapot |
| Sliced Bread | -- | bread knife |
| Sliced Bread | -- | loaf of bread |
| Sliced Bread | -- | bread slice [this may not even work, because bread slices are a kind of thing and I don't know how to get an anonymous instance] |
| Sliced Bread | Semiotics of the Toaster | -- |
| Sliced Bread | Toast Conflict | -- |
| Semiotics of the Toaster | Sliced Bread | -- |
| Semiotics of the Toaster | Toast Conflict | -- |
| Semiotics of the Toaster | Toaster Oven | -- |
| Semiotics of the Toaster | -- | Bread Slice |
| Semiotics of the Toaster | -- | Toaster |
| Toaster Oven | Semiotics of the Toaster | -- |
| Toaster Oven | Toast Conflict | -- |
| Toaster Oven | -- | Toaster |
| Toast Conflict | Sliced Bread | -- |
| Toast Conflict | Semiotics of the Toaster | -- |
| Toast Conflict | Toaster Oven | -- |
| Toast Conflict | -- | loaf of bread |
| Toast Conflict | -- | bread slice |
| Toast Conflict | -- | toaster |
| O Breath | -- | Complete Poems of Elizabeth Bishop |
| O Breath | Varieties of Tea | -- [Varities of Tea was a bit sexy before I thought better of it] |
| O Snap | -- | tea strainer |
| O Snap | Bus 2 | -- [because goofiness? eh] |
| O Snap | Fortune | -- |
| Chopping Onions | -- | Complete Poems of Elizabeth Bishop [it's an Adrienne Rich poem, actually] |
| Chopping Onions | -- | countertop |
| Chopping Onions | Night | -- |
| Chopping Onions | -- | bread knife [knives is knives] |
| Varieties of Tea | -- | tea tin |
| Varieties of Tea | -- | tea leaves |
| Varieties of Tea | -- | loose tea |
| Varieties of Tea | -- | tea strainer |
| Varieties of Tea | -- | teapot |
| Varieties of Tea | -- | hot tea |
| Varieties of Tea | The Tea Bag | -- |
| Varieties of Tea | O Breath | -- |
| The Tea Bag | -- | tea tin |
| The Tea Bag | -- | tea leaves |
| The Tea Bag | -- | loose tea |
| The Tea Bag | -- | tea strainer |
| The Tea Bag | -- | teapot |
| The Tea Bag | -- | hot tea |
| The Tea Bag | -- | countertop [tea bag stain in description] |
| The Tea Bag | Varieties of Tea | -- |
| Twenty Questions | -- | breadbox |
| Twenty Questions | -- | loaf of bread |
| Fortune | -- | tea leaves |
| Fortune | -- | teacup |
| Fortune | -- | hot tea |
| Fortune | O Snap | -- [goofiness, definitely] |
| Grading | -- | table |
| Grading | Night | -- |
| Night | -- | floor |
| Night | Chopping Onions | -- |
| Night | Grading | -- |
| Form and Function | Toaster Oven | -- |
| Form and Function | Toast Conflict | -- |
| Form and Function | The Tea Bag | -- |
| Toaster Oven | Form and Function | -- |
| Toast Conflict | Form and Function | -- |
| The Tea Bag | Form and Function | -- |
| Form and Function | -- | teapot |
| Bus 1 | -- | Lily's wallet |
| Bus 2 | -- | Lily's wallet |
| Bus 3 | -- | Lily's wallet |
| Grading | -- | Lily's wallet [university stuff] |
| Night | -- | Lily's wallet |
| Kooshie Koo | -- | koosh |
| Kooshie Koo | Grading | -- [that's what she's reading] |
| Kooshie Koo | O Breath | -- [sexiness AND reading; this should be extra-strength if I implement strength] [no reverse connection in case the koosh is undiscovered] |
| Chopstering | -- | chopster |
| Chopstering | Toaster Oven | -- [again, no reverse connection] |
Table of Uncovering [which memories uncover which memories]
| trigger | unlockable |
| Bus 1 | Bus 2 |
| Sliced Bread | Toast Conflict |
| Semiotics of the Toaster | Toast Conflict |
| Bus 2 | Bus 3 |