I don't know how recently you read "Crime and Punishment" (though I'm assuming you have, for some reason), but there is a passage in there where Svidrigaylov (the evil man in love with Dounia) explains how women fall easiest for men they want to rescue. I'm afraid that with your sweet tales of isolation and despair you awaken this need in many people. So, yes, Mark, we all love you.

well put.

Word! But I don't really dream of 'rescuing' him -- he's got a lot more on the ball than I have/in a lot of ways. It's more abt wanting to show him how to live in the world in a different way...

I think we've irritated him.

Nah.......I doubt it....just doesn't seem to be the irritable sort. I feel a kinship with him rather than a need to 'care for' or 'mother'......

Yes! That's it! Kinship! The first time I stumbled onto this site, I read the piece he had written about the different personalities of each of the scales on the piano, and I thought, "Ooh! I know just what he's talking about! I've thought the same thing (and b minor and f minor are my favorites)." Then, the more of his pieces I read, the more I thought, "He's just like me! I'm just like him! This is amazing!" But really...don't you wish sometimes you could give him a bear-hug and ruffle his hair?

i don't think he'd like that very much.

I agree, Agatha, but tell me why YOU don't think so, please.

he's a close personal friend of mine. heehee.

and lets be honest here...who the hell likes having their hair ruffled?

*PJ Raises his Hand* I do. :-D

it depends on the spirit in which the ruffling happens. If it's somebody trying to treat you like a kid when you're not their kid, it could be pretty annoying. Not as annoying as someone putting their hand on the back of your neck, though. I always used to hate that. Guys putting their hand on the back of your neck, because they were taller, not walking arm and arm but kind of steering you around, like they were walking an animal or something, to show that you were with them, i.e. you were theirs, at least for that date... sort of like dogs showing dominance... well at least they weren't sniffing my behind........ If your hair's looking really good, and you can tell they mussed it just to touch it, well, that could be different..........

i have short hair, and i really like to have my head rubbed. almost as much as a back massage. nobody ever does it for me, though.

That's a damn shame.

Actually, my context was in the throws of carnal, animal, jungle passion. That's a great time for hair mussin'!

I was thinking in more of a "you are so cute I could just eat you alive" hair-ruffling, cheek-pinching, nose-kissing, rolling-around-on-the-floor context. You know, stemming from an odd, passionate burst of affection that I often feel for small children and big dogs. Not to say that Mark Thomas is like a small child or big dog -- sometimes I feel this way for grown humans, too, but they seem less receptive to such displays of warmth and fondness. Which is a damned shame, because it's awfully hard to control myself when these moods hit.

Woa there, tiger. ;) Sounds like you're about to burst thru your computer screen and attack Mark. I LOVE ruffling people's hair. Well, wait I guess ruffling isn't the right word. I like sitting there and running my hands thru it and giving scalp massages. It's relaxing for both me and the receiver. I also love going to get my hair cut because when they're washing it and then cutting/styling, it almost puts me to sleep, it's so relaxing. Speaking of which, I think it's almost time for another visit. I haven't gotten a cut since June, after I got back from Canada. I've been trying to grow out this dye job (that my boyfriend convinced me to do, "OH, dye your hair black. It'll look so good!" I'm fair skinned/blue eye'd & have naturally auburn hair!) and my hair is at mid back (when it's straight, if I don't blow dry it, my damn spiral curls; natural & oh so annoying, make my hair about shoulder length). Maybe I'll give it another month or two before I let them chopchop.

I honestly don't see how anyone could come to this site and not feel love for Mark if only that second-most gaggy pure kind of philos (which I of course infinitely respect, but most guys I know think it's some sort of shitty runner up for eros instead of the form of worship it is, the form which says: this is too good, i dare not sully it with the world...which can be used as an excuse, and sometimes is, but sometimes it's really just the hallowed space of peace and affinity one needs) for giving us all what is basically SANCTUARY? I mean, has Mark not like a loving god superseded the laws of man to declare that here, within these walls of imagination, we may have refuge? And though unlike "O" I'm sadly immune to that piano key personality thing, there're other parallels which somehow seem significant to me in an extraordinary way. Mark is fab. Happy belated Valentine's day, Mark.

Mark, i care very deeply about you. thank you for this website; while it means more to me than it probably should, i am very grateful. i hope you are having a wonderful time on your road trip. i wish you were coming to austin. watch out for the tumbleweed.

I wonder where Mark is?