I'm Arun Venkatesan, and this is the arun.is newsletter, where I share my current obsessions, inspiration from around the web, behind-the-scenes content, and more. 

In this week's issue:

• Everyday objects: Tea
• Housekeeping and an update on the book

Everyday objects: Tea equipment

This is the second issue in my series called Everyday objects — examples of good design in the fullest sense. This week's focus is on tea.

I've mentioned this one way back in issue 4 of this newsletter. After a rubber seal in a highly rated hot water jug from Amazon started to deteriorate, I looked around for a replacement. I found the Stelton EM77 while touring Heath Ceramics. The EM77 was designed in 1977 and has stood the test of time. It's beautiful, simple, and functional. The lid stays firmly sealed in the upright position, but gravity works to open it when you tilt it to pour, making for effortless one-handed operation. Of course, it does a great job of keeping our water hot for much longer than the one we had before. 

Rubber parts are not long-lasting. Hence, we must periodically replace them. Fortunately, the Stelton EM77 is designed to be completely disassembled and its parts replaced. We recently replaced the rubber seal, and the jug has continued to perform perfectly.

After meeting my wife, I adopted her practice of starting a pot of tea in the morning and topping it up with hot water throughout the day. We generally rotate through her collection of teapots, but my favorite is one that she picked up at one of T2's boutiques in London.

The Daisy teapot isn't expensive or made of precious material, but it has everything I look for in a teapot. It's drawn from simple shapes and solidly constructed. Inside, it has a sturdy removable metal strainer.

Our round little yellow teapot is one of those objects that brings a smile to my face when I pass by it on the countertop.

Aside from hot water and a teapot to keep it in, we, of course, need tea leaves. My current favorites are the Hojicha Classic from Hojicha Co. and the Genmaicha from Ippodo Tea.

Housekeeping and an update on the book

This newsletter has been an experiment from day one, as I explained in my original announcement. I've played around with different formats and styles. I went from sending it out once a month, which felt too long between issues, to weekly, which feels too short. Therefore, I'm settling with every two weeks. 

I've also got an update on the book. For those of you that are new, I've been writing a book titled Crafting Personal Websites for the last few months. It's motivated by my inner desire to help more creators put up unique personal websites in an increasingly homogeneous world. I selfishly want to see more blogs like the ones that inspired me to start mine.

What I didn't realize at the beginning is that books take a long time to write! My blog, this newsletter, and now the book all compete for time. That time is limited, existing in the margins between my duties as a husband, father, and co-founder / designer at Carrot. 

I've decided to start publishing parts of the book as essays on my blog while I continue to write it. Three goals drive this decision:

1. Make the project more manageable by breaking it into logical chunks.
2. Get feedback on what resonates and what is useful earlier and more regularly.
3. Deliver on my mission earlier, instead of waiting for the whole finished book. 

That's it for this issue. As always, this is my personal email, so feel free to respond directly to this newsletter.

Stay curious,
Arun Venkatesan