To compensate for the miseries of being an adult, and to encourage us to procreate, even though procreation tends to lead to less sex in the long term, and more responsibilities, and hence more of the miseries of adulthood.

It depends on what we mean by cavemen. I'm not sure if you mean the cavemen in my story or the actual, prehistoric cavemen of yore. I'm going to go with the latter and say yes, they were smart, at least compared to all other animals (except maybe whales). The people who made the cave paintings of 20,000 years ago were intellectually identical to us, or at least biologically identical. Their culture was different though, and most artifacts haven't survived the 20,000 years of intervening time. Therefore, what they knew and made and how they did these things is information that is not really available to us. But they did make remarkable cave paintings that are unmatched in presence and power, in my opinion, by most art of our historical epoch, maybe with the exception of medieval cathedrals. So they knew something.

Is this a traditional dress-up day? I did not know that! I guess I'll be a giant carrot.

In the early nineties, I made a movie with a friend and a 16mm camera. It was sort of long. It played in a lot of film festivals, which was nice, I guess. It's sort of long and stupid and cute. It has a lot of great shots of Tucson in it, including some now-lost Tucson locations, and I think it's mainly notable for that. If I showed it to you, you would think it was kind of cute but mostly boring.

Because we suck.

Not most people, but they are capable of forgetting, which is sometimes just as good, if not better.

A lot of things, Wag, a lot of freaky things. Mostly we think about the past and the future while inhabiting the present, where we walk around and do things, or else sit and interact with electronics. Other things that happen are eating and pooping and secreting. When sleeping, an unusual thing that often occurs is dreaming. Another really weird thing that happens to girls is that they occasionally have babies, which come out of their vaginas, which had previously been used for other purposes. Some of us live in small rooms with animals such as cats or dogs or parrots. Others drive cars. It's all really very strange.

We go to France.

Hi Arielle. Sorry to lag with my answer to your question but I got confused because I don't think Tina is in The Doll Awakens. Only Miss Pretty is. (I know that sounds like a drag queen but it's a doll). But if you're wondering what happens to Tina after the chapter that appears in Fairy Tale Review, she's okay, sort of. She's physically okay anyway. The story resumes when she's an adult.

Oh Izi, I hope your back feels better. Thanks for the great note. Really, all I've ever wanted in life is to be admired by art students. Now go start a band.