Barnstorming on an Invisible Segway

Virtual gift: I just finally got around to buying and reading the Shimmer pirate issue, and your story was my favorite by far.

My friend Emma has a motto which I have heard often enough to give verbatim:

"When things are bad, wash your face and brush your teeth. It won't fix anything, but you'll feel better and your coping skills will improve."

Ooh, what stones? (As you undoubtedly have realized by now, I have a shiny stone fetish these days.)

We take our small victories and our small comforts where we can.

I know I haven't been commenting much, not because I don't care, but mostly because I don't know what to say. Somehow virtual hugs and the random virtual cheer doesn't seem like enough or useful. Being there to cook you dinner or walk the dog; that would be useful.

You don't need unsolicited advice on how to cope. You have coping down to an art form. You are doing all you can to make this go away as quickly as possible. You are one of the strongest people I know.

But maybe one random 'I adore you and thought you should know' is called for tonight.

Just a feeling I have, being a slightly stubborn and independent woman myself.

They sound like awfully nice things to me.

And your necklace mention has given me the first faint stirring of wanting to make shiny things I've had in a couple weeks, for which I thank you.

On the other hand, I can't think too much about the well-fitting brassier, or I will turn arsenic-green and die of bad-tempered envy, and that would benefit no one at all.

I'm glad you have small pleasures. They're important. They don't mean that the bad things are less important, because happiness is not linear, nor does it sum. They're just important in their own right.