With every move he makes, another chance he takes

First, please, all, send some warm thoughts to gafennec, an incredibly kind person who's been having a Job-like decade yet remains a joy to all who know him.

So the badly described, typo-prone fellow in FurryMuck's West Corner of the Park asked Austin if he'd like to become one of his warriors and battle a cruel tyrant. I declined, despite my effort to jump into more in-character activities. Why, he said? ``Well, I'm basically cowardly, I'm quadruped so can't use anthro weapons or vehicles, I don't trust anyone claiming to be authority, and I don't follow orders unless I'm convinced of their wisdom and I obey only what I would do anyway. I respond to every situation with comical barbs. Further, I'm eight meters long, my tail pokes up just as high; I smell and taste of peppermint, spearmint, and wintergreen; and I have bioluminescent fur which flashes without my conscious control.'' (In-character follies I've generally liked.)

``Luminescent fur? Like natural camouflage?'' Well, no, it flickers in green and blue and purple, sometimes getting quite bright, like deep-sea creatures will. ``Oh. Well, you could be a spy then.''

Again. Size of a subway car; tail three storeys high; minty fur; long rubbery nose no one could ever overlook; glows in the dark. Also (something Austin hasn't learned in-character) a magic spell made his tongue much longer and gave it its own somewhat rebellious personality. Austin could be the least successful secret agent since Harpo Marx, but Harpo Marx succeeded. I don't think the guy even read my description. Hope he has fun storming the castle.

Trivia: Edgar Bergen would hold long conversations on life, love, and virtue with Charlie McCarthy. Bergen explained Charlie was the wisest person he knew, but he had to ask out loud to hear Charlie's Socratic responses (Charlie knew ``so much more than I know''). Source: Imaginary Companions and the Children Who Create Them, Marjorie Taylor.

Currently Reading: The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester.