A stitch in time

[davidlevine]

This is Bunky. Bunky is one of my most treasured stuffed animals, a relic of a time (late 70s or early 80s) when wearing a stuffed lizard on one's shoulder was the done thing in Midwest fandom. It was right after firelizards had been introduced in the Anne McCaffrey books.

Bunky here was one of the first lizards made by a dealer who went on to be very popular, but I feel the later, plumper ones are too self-consciously cute and lack Bunky's personality. His name came from some commercial that included the line "is that what's troubling you, Bunky?" because of his mournful expression.

I brought Bunky along in my pocket when I interviewed at Jim Henson Studios in 1983. Jim Henson himself set him up on his desk, and for a moment in those hands he came alive.

I found Bunky just now on the mantelpiece, where he had fallen behind some books-to-be-read. He was very dusty and, upon inspection, moth-eaten; in some spots the split peas were threatening to come out. I found some purple thread and stitched up the holes. There were a lot of them, and the fabric around them wasn't in very good shape either, and the repairs look a bit unsightly. But they're better than the holes.

Bunky goes on the shelf with the other stuffed animals now. He's one object that is not going to be decluttered away, ever.

Comments

[holyoutlaw.livejournal.com]

Hidden in your comments to others is that you've decluttered some to-be-read books to go to Powell's. For some reason, decluttered my double and triple stacked to-be-read shelves has been a bigger emotional challenge than anything else, decluttering or load lightening wise.

Congratulations!

[davidlevine]

I also found it a great emotional burden. Decluttering is supposed to make you feel better, but after sorting through a huge stack of to-be-read books and admitting to myself that I was never going to read most of them I was feeling down for the rest of the afternoon.

I felt the same way about the family silver, which we have never ever used. I was just about to call an antique dealer for a quote on how much it might be worth when I realized I really didn't want to let it go. Fortunately, unlike the books, it doesn't take up as much space, either physically or psychically, so I think we can just keep it.

[sdn.livejournal.com]

oh, i can relate to both of these comments, believe me. one has to make some command decisions. i can always buy another book, but certain pieces of family history are unthrowoutable. (which is not a word.)