The collection grows.

Today K stopped over after work to drop off a gift her mother got me for passing my master's thesis defense. It was remarkably sweet of both of them, as the response from mine own family was "Good for you. Do you want a cookie or something?"

So K's Mommy got me a Hello Kitty pillow which sort of looks like a miniature ottoman.

The little girl wasn't included.

I love this pillow. 1) It's the perfect size for the snoozing. Such a big fan of the snoozing. 2) My friend's mom bought me a present for no reason at all except to say congratulations and thank for being friends with my daughter.

Sometimes it feels like, in addition to being blessed with some very good friends (who put up with my bullshit and that's some considerable bullshit) I've also got some good friends' mothers looking out for me. L's mother would regularly hug me for no reason because she thought I needed more hugs because I was The Girl Who Was Not Hugged By Her Parents. Such is having undemonstrative parents from a reserved culture who think praising their children will turn them into monsters, let alone spontaneous affection. In high school, B's mother cross-stitched a sweatshirt for me with my initial surrounded by lovely little flowers. But that was actually kind of weird. Incredibly nice, but weird. L's parents would take me along on trips, but that may have been because I could deal with L when other people couldn't. Still.

So my Hello Kitty collection grows and is it pathological that I'm this old and I have a Hello Kitty collection? Is it kitsch? Or is it pathetic? Is it adorable and disarming? Or creepy and disconcerting?

It doesn't so much matter as most of my collection are gifts as people have decided that Hello Kitty is my thing and let's buy her that stuff. I would be more of a cliche if I were Japanese, but I'm not (I have that fan, but mine doesn't have the kicky hat. Now I really want the kicky hat. It's a little disturbing that one of the controls is on the tail and therefore you have to twist the tail to turn it on and what kind of lesson to small children is that?).

So I look at the pillow and the fan and the Build-a-Bear and the beach towel and the iPod car transmitter and the cup holder and the assorted purses and the jewelry and pyjamas and I think of the people who love me and there's nothing creepy about that to me.

And thank GOD I talked my sister out of buying me the Hello Kitty sheet set and comforter. Because I am so not sleeping with any man that is comfortable having sex on that.