Pippilotta Victualia ...

whenever travelling, she is likely to carry her horse, monkey and carpet-bag. she sleeps with her feet on her pillow, and her head under the covers, more often than not with her shoes on, the silver high-heeled ones. she wears her face freckled and her hair braided, and pokes wire into the braids to ensure they stick out at the appropriate 90 degrees angle. she has taken to standing wide-legged, her little fists on her hips. one of the bedrooms has been re-decorated, complete with kitchenette, doll-bed for Mr. Nilsson the monkey and the proverbial mess.

mostly, though, it is the attitude she cultivates: fearless, independent, knowing her own mind. she now cooks her own oatmeal and spends part of each morning in front of the fridge, large spoon in hand, handing out a variety of prophylactics, as she sees fit. whenever a statement is made in her hearing that appears just a touch too categorical, she is likely to pounce: 'how do you know? did you go around the world and see all the people in it? did you travel back and forth in time and visit the people there? how do you know then that ...??? "

and now, just a few weeks into the game, it is already starting to dawn on her that a) despite appearances, Pippi takes extremely good care of herself; not perhaps by the slightly rigid and narrow standards of the small-town society she lives in, but certainly by the lights of her inner instinctual wisdom (this has resulted in much tooth-brushing and the afore-mentioned prophylactics) and b) that the spirit of Pippi demands not so much slavish imitation as a commited and profound faith in one's very own excentricities. and if those are not wise life lessons, my friends, then i'll eat my hat!