First Thing

I added this photo at 7:30am this morning without annotation. I had to invigilate two exams today, which explains my brisk departure shortly after this was taken. It represents a morning ritual that I cannot live without. Or, rather, if I live without it, I am grumpy or sustain a slight headache, so in that sense you can substitute the word 'ritual' in the previous sentence with the word 'addiction.' The dopamine levels in my brain dramatically increase once the smell of freshly brewed coffee permetates my flat. The sound of coffee as it pours into the cup is one of the most reassuring and then, of course, the first sip and my brain ignites; I can feel the engine purrrr. I am currently drinking a soft and rich brew with caramel hints, which is actually a continuation of Christmas, because it is a festive special that I purchased at Whittards! French pressed coffee prepares me for the day ahead whether I plan to study from home; go to my office; teach a class on Victorian literature, or go out for an early morning run(!). I *have* to drink coffee before anything else. In the early hours, everything is secondary to that one ritualistic pleasure. And until any solid research strongly advising me against this is impressed upon me, I am not looking to give this up.

The practice of photo blogging is usually fuelled by my french pressed coffee, and this one (recorded at 3:30pm) is of no exception. My french press is, perhaps, the preserve of a bourgeois lifestyle, but as an impoverished academic serf, I can vouch for the fact that this device is, for me, an affordable investment and as such, this image provides a glimpse into what I consider to be 'ordinary'. (I am aware that I may sound like a champagne socialist here in the sense that I risk rereading this last comment in horror at the blindness I have shown towards the economic conditions of our class-bound society).