In one of the ironies of my ebook adoption journey, the shelf space I used to occupy with books is being given over to a range of non-book items with markedly book-esque themes. There is the art print of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven; which was gifted to me by my Beloved; there were the vintage Winnie the Pooh books my Grandma left me that I had shadowboxes built for so I could display them as a memento. Now, the book bling has invaded my kitchen too! Our latest novelty find was this stunning mug, adorned with insults; pulled from the works of Shakespeare.
Comedy gold! The Beloved and I struggled to choose a favourite amongst the offerings. He settled on 'I do desire we may be better strangers' and I waffled between; the verist varlet that ever chewed with a tooth; and ;infinite and endless liar, an hour promise breaker; And that was just the tip of the insult iceberg—the mug was festooned with more than two dozen of them.
Now, I need to find a book-themed fleece blanket. Then I would have the holy trinity—blanket, hot beverage, book reader—for cuddling up on a cold winter's day. There’s still time to find one before the snow hits!
The “Shakespeare Insult Mug” is just a carry over from days whe English Tobby Mugs were cast in the shape of the person famous or popular at the time or they were meant to mock political figures. I can only recall two mugs of Shakespeare’s characters — Falstaff and Jane Seymour. There may have been others but I don’t remember them.
Alan