So, Totoro -- A Japanese anime for kids. As Wendy, my housemate said, "They really have a different sort of pacing than American movies." True. It's slow, and nothing blows up, and there are no fart or poop jokes. It takes a while to get started, but it just charms you.

Two kids and their father move out to the country while their mother is in the hospital. They settle into the house, which may be haunted, and meet the friendly forest spirit, Totoro. The name in Chinese (I first saw the movie -- and the many, many Totoro tchotckes -- in Hong Kong) translates as "Dragon Cat," but Totoros themselves look more like rabbits, I think. It's just a delight. The umbrella scene, the cat bus, the top.... charming, in a non-condescending way. Check it out.

Time to stop fiddling with the Blog -- I've got pizza and My Neighbor Totoro on tap. If you've never seen it, rent it immediately -- it's completely charming.

Thank God for the "handset locator" on my cordless phone. The gremlins keep moving it.

Hmm. The blues look a little too soothing to be fiendish. Maybe that's what they want you to think.

I'm still working on my template -- still haven't figured out exactly how I want this puppy to look. I now know, however, that if you type "Fiendish Plot" over and over again, it starts to look all wrong. I had to look up both "Fiendish" and "plot" -- plot, ferchrissakes! -- in the dictionary to confirm that they did actually exist.