Wednesday, April 21, 2004

Stim

Ruby stares incessantly at the fan above our bed. Even when we had just brought her home, and she was only supposed to be able to focus 11 inches in front of her face, she saw that shape on the ceiling. At first, I thought it was just that we lay her down on the bed, and she automatically looked up. We proved that the fan was the actual object of her affection by moving her to different positions on the bed and tracking her gaze. What started as an innocent observation on Ruby’s part has developed into a zealous obsession. This fan is the hideous twin of the one that I replaced in Ruby’s room. It has black blades and horrible fake brass light fixtures that protrude like alien eyes. We call it the ceiling spider. She fixes on it and looks in awe. It is no mere object in the sky, but something more important, something that lacks intellectual explanation. It is as if she is fulfilling the anthropological holy grail of human evolution, the instinctual need for a God or supernatural figure. If I hold her in my hands and raise her towards the ceiling, she goes from amazement to rapture, finally falling limp as I get within touching distance, as if she is ready to be sacrificed to the giant arachnogod in the sky or preparing to take a shamanistic voyage to find the will of the great Spider and share its will with her tribe.

Actually, Ruby loves high contrast visuals of any kind. She will fixate on the black pants next to white shirts on my shelves near her changing pad, and she loves what are called infant stim graphics. I put some up next to her spot on my desk. These are cheesy rip-offs of 60s and 70s op art that are available all over the web. The abbreviated word “stim” makes me think of the stim-packs in Starcraft that help space marines do more damage (at the cost of health) by injecting stimulants into the nervous system and sending them into a Norse-Berserker like state. I don’t think that these black and white visions have the same effect, but I am monitoring Ruby’s hit points and armor levels just to be sure.

Archive
Solids Axes and Pie
Nekkid Dad
We're Still Here
My Monkey House
Nine Fingered Girl
Rock on Little Lady
You and Me Kiddo
A Great Day
Baby Lugosi
Big Papa
A Call To Arms
Ruby in the Wilderness
Pyramid
I Broke It
River Rat
Beaker
ZZZZZ
Shitty Day
Oh No, Bono
Big Pointy
Blow it Dry
Baby Burn
Long Story
Spring Rose
Bennetts and Monkeys
Why Can't I?
Smarty Pants
Primavera
Bjorn
Stim
Yum
*Yawns*
Mulling It Over
Arrgh
Ms. Clean
Easter Cometh
Lucky Number Seven
Fooled
As Jobs Go...
March 23-28
She's Here
March 1-18, 2004
February 2004