let lemons be angry

(nice dream)

Today turned around marvellously. I dreamt that Elvis and his baby daughter had never met, and I was trying to bring her to his press conference but the security guard told me Elvis was too busy to see her. "This should be a movie!", I said when I dreamt that I woke up. But after that it was one of those werewolf days, a hungry morning spent being annoyed and frustrated about rude drivers and parents who look too familiar all of a sudden. I was singing along to debbie gibson tearfully in a bad traffic jam and feeling full of woe for myself. All due to the mysterious depressant that infects the air every now and then.

So thank God for cookie dough and potato chips. The simplicity of watching my girls bake cookies calmed me. There is something eternal about seeing "JULS" being baked just for me. The drive home was all good. Then I went to the street 51 market to get Valentine's Sunday flowers for my girls and a present for my mother. My mother was born on Valentine's Day, and I've been getting her a succession of pretty but impersonal gifts: jewelry, candles, sissy stuff. Today, however, I got her a fish set, with a pump and tank, three cool un-fishy fishes, food flakes, and even some serene rocks and plants. It gave her a pleasant shock. She's always wanted an aquarium to stare at because her grandfather used to have tanks of fish.

Buying wildlife is much more fulfilling than buying things to wear. I understand my Eligible Bachelor cousin's addiction to his aquarium now. He has neon corals and shrimp and an abalone, among his individually bought rarities. And a stick pointer for us to point at his fish with, as opposed to touching the glass and leaving our grubby prints all over it. I forsee my occasional trip to the fish store to pick up a new fish, which will be undoubtedly more interesting than a trip to orchard anyhow. I know I've grown up because I didn't even think of giving the fish names. They're rather cute, despite being fish. And even though they don't have perceivable personalities or warm cuddly bodies.

I've said it before, and I'm more convinced than ever: money can indeed buy happiness.