Go Ask Alice

Absolutely Cuckoo

I love this cuckoo clock. It's soothing to hear the metronomic pendulum ticking along with the music in the store (karen dalton and buffy sainte-marie); twice an hour the cuckoo gives a reedy whistle and tiny baroque couples dance around. It took me a while to figure out how a cuckoo clock works. What I've figured out so far is that it has to be level for the pendulum to tick evenly, and the weighted pinecone guys have to be pulled up to the top every morning and evening for it to keep time. Can you imagine someone making these from scratch? It would be fun to decorate your own, paint it however you want and add all manner of mushroomy swiss/german adornments. Possible alternate themes:
*Alice in Wonderland cuckoo clock (with the cheshire cat as the cuckoo. Or the rabbit!)
*Haight-Ashbury cuckoo clock (Fritz the cat! Drug dealers in platforms chasinging around Hell's Angels!)
*Lewis and Clark commemorative cuckoo clock
*Extinct Species cuckoo clock (What did the dodo sound like, anyway? He MIGHT have said "cuckoo")
*Global Warming cuckoo clock
*War budget cuckoo clock
*The "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" cuckoo clock!! With evil Nurse Ratched shouting "cuckoo!" at you hourly.
Hmm, these are really terrible ideas. I promise, the clocks at Flutter are not such downers.

Warming Spell

Wow. What a weird stretch of warm weather. I thought for sure that wind storm was ushering in some wicked rain, but instead it seems to have swept winter from the sky. I'm seeing buds on all the plants I thought had frozen to death, it's wonderful, except I'm a little nervous about them freezing again before spring comes in earnest. Flutter anticipates the warmer, longer days with a carninal of color in the store. It's rosier and cozier than normal in here, lots of golds and reds. My favorite new addition is a deep purply-brown leather psychiatrist couch. I guess it could be called a fainting couch, or a lounge, but whatever you call it it's awesome. Maybe I'll set out my little "Psychoanalysis 5 cents" sign, and channel Lucy's special brand of Freudian delving.

The King! (no, not that one..)

WHEW! December really ended with a bang here at Flutter. I hope everyone had fun getting and giving during the holidays, I know I did. My favortite present was one I gave Lola, an old-school nintendo with all my favorite games. I can't tell which of us is more pleased. No, I take it back! The best presents were the ones Flutter got: A shop vac, a Brita filter and....a new kitty! He's skulking around the (very organized) back of the store right now, giving his new home the old sniff test. His name is King, and he came from the humane society this morning. He got his name from his tough-cat lip curl, actually a wound from a battle with a car (you should see the other guy). I look forward to getting to know him better. After the holidays we did some major spring cleaning, which means that a few big items have been re-priced. All the furniture in the pictures below is now reduced!