Yes I know it's a chicken
"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"
"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."
"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."
from The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams
"I've brought you a new playfellow," the Fairy said. "You must be very kind to him and teach him all he needs to know in Rabbit-land, for he is going to live with you for ever and ever!"
And she kissed the little Rabbit again and put him down on the grass.
"Run and play, little Rabbit!" she said.
My favourite book as a child..... that, and Noisy Nora
I remember this being my sisters favorite book but for whatever reason never mine. I think she had ownership of it in having read it first. Older sisters don't always share.
"Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby." Huh, so I AM real, and so is Lucy. Photo by the J's, remember?
http://blog.queensberry.com/?attachment_id=1393
I hope the link works
"Once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."
Unfortunately, the reality is one big ugly thing that we deal with ona daily basis and try to make it look good through the prizm of camera.
On a separate note: Ian, loved your site, very nicely done.