Sunday, January 15, 2012

A Painting Of A Tea Cake

My first job in San Francisco was with a dot-com start-up, back in the summer of 2000, where my audio skills came in handy. In my quieter moments I would spend a bit of time on Napster, almost exclusively - and this was my justification - downloading music that I had on CDs and tapes left behind in England. I grew to appreciate the way it allowed you to browse through other people's collections of music, and would often, if I found something a little esoteric, message the person, and occasionally formed some online friendships. The example that sticks in my mind was when someone started downloading some tracks  that I had by the Fire Engines. Now, they were a very obscure Glasgow band from the classic days of Postcard Records in 1980-1, so I assumed I was dealing with someone of my generation from the UK. It turned out instead to be a young woman in Buenas Aires, and that was fun, because one of my regular Napster correspondents was a student in North or South Carolina with a taste for Scott Walker who had mentioned an imminent trip to Buenas Aires. I got the two of them in touch with each other, but never heard in the end if they indeed met up or what came of it.
On Friday, not having a spectacularly happy day, I got a card in the post, from someone in the UK who I have never met, but who follows the blog. I hope I won't embarrass the sender by quoting the opening lines: "I am, by nature, anonymous, a leaf on a tree indistinguishable from, and hidden amongst, billions of other leaves. But sometimes a chance remark from half-way round the world reminds me of my connectedness to the whole tree". The card was a lovely screen-print of a Tunnock's Tea Cake, a delicacy I have not enjoyed for some time. My sombre mood evaporated.
As an old Buddha said, "There is no remedy for satisfying hunger other than a painted rice cake".

5 comments:

Shonen said...

They may not be on a par with Tunnock's Tea cake but you can get crumpets at Trader Joes (in case you're willing to make a substitution)

Shundo said...

I would never turn down a well-buttered crumpet, as long as there was jam and tea available as well.

Shonen said...

there's used to be a crumpet shop on Judah near 5th Ave. One half of the space was used to make the crumpets and you could watch them being made through the window from the street. The other half had tables and chairs where you could partake of freshly made warm crumpets. Sadly it went out of business in the late 90s

Melanie said...

I live in Austin, Texas now and sometimes miss the rainy, cold weather of Seattle, Washington--my hometown. Near the Pike Place Market is a longtime business well worth a visit, especially on a gray, wet winter day: The Crumpet Shop.

Shundo said...

I'm not sure I would want to see a crumpet being made - it would take the mystery out of it. I have enjoyed the crumpets at Lovejoy's on Church, which I think is still going strong, and I remember the Crumpet shop in Seattle from a visit there five years ago...