An organized (sort of) collection
Classification.
Am I a collector of curiosities? I lack the breadth of a real collector, the ability to weed through dozens of objects and explain exactly why that particular one is worth that much more. Well, now I am about to figure out what exactly these things are worth.
There are the plain brown ones, no decoration, just cardboard. What kind of cardboard? Should I provide cross-sections of the material in addition to the cover pictures? They are cool because of their IKEA-esque simplicity, and the fact that they can be bought in bulk and used by different coffee houses without hurting the individual charm of the place.
I can give a special nod of approval (perhaps, with a shudder of disapproval from the Green party) to the plain white covers. Who would’ve thought that coffee can taste good if you do not hold on to the textured brown insulating cardboard?
Then, there is Starbucks. I am not sure theirs is a designed coffee holder as I treasure it, something accidentally cool. (here it comes! am I about to find out what i am looking for? ) Somehow I just feel guilty admiring and collecting design pieces that will be the same in Texas and Baltimore, millions of copies of the “organic” feel of the mermaid design. Sorry, Starbucks, but fashion currently favors the unique, the slightly imperfect and the handmade.
I have two coffee sleeves so far (and that’s what they’re called, just found it out…) that are mercilessly covered in glossy junk advertisement. Very sad. but wait — were it not the childish, imperfect, non-art collages of cheap materials that made it to the new art markets? I should take care of these advertisement-plagued babies, too.
Now, what’s left? Small coffee houses with sleeves of the above mentioned plain recycled cardboard, but with a stamped or printed logo of their own. How small is small? I don’t know. Since “unique” and [obsharpannyi] — Russian for “frayed at the edges, old-ish, scratched and used” have become legitimate trends, I a afraid to praise those places. What if the many stickers on the counter are just there for the design of it? Old lamps for the atmosphere? The walls — who knows if they are intentionally covered with peeling paint. The european-like aging cafes have gained a large audience, and a mass-produced “oldish” look is soon to come.
If I do crave for the old, however, the Library of Congress has a vast collection of the real stuff that was made in the past centuries in America.
"Now" is november the sixth, two thousand six.
Coffee cup holders have a soul.
Hold on to it. Warm it in your hand. Smell the heated up paper. This must be why we prefer the paper cup to carrying a plastic one, even though the coffee shop wants us to get the mug with the season's pattern on it. Some shops even go as far as paying attention to the little cardboard sleeves. They get a color print or, even better, a rubber stamp with the emblem of the place they come from. Do not leave the cup holder when you're done with the cup... The cardboard makes for excellent autograph surface, and takes mmarker, pen, pencil, whiteout and coffee stain with equal ease. This is the end of my ode to the coffee cup holder for now, Oct. 9. 2006
