Yesterday morning I gave in--to the subversive cuteness of those Beanie Babies stuffed animals. You can hold one of their soft, floppy bodies in the palm of your hand, but the animals scream, "Buy, buy, buy!" in a cacophonous chorus from the shelves of stores. So, I bought; I bought a tiger. I named him Stuart David, in honour of, um, Stuart David. My Stuart D. sits on my shoulder and is being trained to speak. (The cats do keep me company in the castle, but do not hold conversations well). His first words were said in the spirit of his namesake: "Stuffed animals are for poofs." I was so delighted to hear him speak I ignored his sentiment. In a week or two I will give him a pen, for him to write me my own Ink Polaroids; my Stuart is not allowed to have a "special box". Stuart D. is now sitting on the computer monitor, waiting to pounce upon me if I type anything without the proper amount of irony, sarcasm, and general ill humour. "Unmitigated adoration is for poofs," my Stuart D. told me. (I am able to write this now because he is taking a wee nap.) Saturday morning. I opened the window blinds to see the heavens falling from the sky, in the guise of snowflakes, covering the ugliness and despair of the working week I have just left behind me. I laid in bed, sipping tea, watching the snow descend so delicately. I thought of living moments. Myself observing the snow. The quickly pulsing beat at the end of "You Made Me Forget My Dreams". The mighty yelp before the instruments race towards the ending of the radio session of "Lazy Line Painter Jane". The boom of the drums during the chorus of "Photo Jenny". Oh, and so much more. Life is not necessarily meant to be epic, in the grand sense of the word, but perhaps epic, in the beauty of every day. My Stuart D. once said, "Beauty is for poofs". Ah, Stuart D., you have a lot to learn. Living and loving Matthew ----------------------------------------------------------------------- . This message was brought to you by the Sinister mailing list. . To send to the list please mail "sinister@majordomo.net". . For subscribing, unsubscribing and other list information please see . http://www.majordomo.net/sinister . For questions about how the list works mail owner-sinister@majordomo.net . We're all happy bunnies humming happy bunny tunes. Aren't we? -----------------------------------------------------------------------