Imagine

Okay, I have to put my speed skates on and get an avatar.

But first I have to figure out what that is.

http://www.avatara.org/essay.html

It appears to be a concept borrowed from the Sanskrit word for “the incarnation of a Hindu deity (as Vishnu)” and watered down to mean an “embodiment” of some sort – in web context, the little image you choose to be associated with your forum or blog posts or instant messaging, so people have a visual to go with your text. It’s another little layer on your web identity. Some people take them seriously, using actual photographs of themselves; others play it for fun, using favorite characters, or photographs that amount to visual jokes; others use a symbol or icon of some sort. The possibilities are endless.

http://www.avatarity.com/

Haley introduced me to this picture, which comes up when you google for images with the word “imagination.” I’m not sure if I’m allowed to use it this way and will conveniently avoid an aggressive investigation into that point . . . for the moment I am using it because I just really, really like it. It embodies how I feel about books. It could also illustrate Zora Neale Hurston’s description of her first taste of moonshine: “I took a sip and the back of my head blew off.”

It loses most if not all of its impact when reduced to avatar dimensions but being in love, I don’t care. Maybe one of these days I’ll change it for a cute dachsund or a sunflower, but in the meantime I'll keep imagining.