To Boldly Go . . .

 . . . and I had a sudden need for tea, but wait! I remembered we had bought some Earl Grey tea a few weeks ago and I hadn't yet tried it.  As I pulled out the box of tea bags I thought of Captain Picard and how strange and interesting he would think my preparing methods were.  The only thing that's similar to a replicator is my mug of water heating up in the microwave.

For those who do not know who Captain Picard is, or what in the heck a replicator does, I'm referring to one of my most favorite shows: Star Trek: The Next Generation.  It's my favorite among all of them.  I haven't ever watched Voyager and I've only seen movies from the originals, although I vow to watch every single original Star Trek episode, even if I have to laugh at William Shatner's dramatic pauses.

I have wanted to drink Earl Grey tea for some time as it is Captain Picard's signature drink.  In almost every episodes he commands "Earl Grey, hot." from the replicator.  I'd been told before that it tasted like laundry soap.  As I smelled the tea pouch I found that the smell did indeed remind me of soap, but it had more of an herbal, organic smell.  On drinking it with my nose pinched closed it only tasted like ordinary tea.  (I've seen something somewhere {Globe Trekker, History Channel, Pinterest, etc.} that smell has a lot to do with how we associate taste.  If you pinch your nose closed while eating a hamburger, they said, it might not really taste that good after all.)  So I think the smell is what is so unique about it.  Personally, I liked the herbal smell.  I didn't think too much of laundry soap when I drank it, and I will continue to drink Earl Grey tea, so as to become as Picard-like as I can.