Love Bears All

Dear Ms Nixie,

I write to you for advice with barely a minute to spare for though the clock ticks, hungry and forever going back for seconds, there never does seem to be enough time for me, or more to the point, for us, for my relationship. I’m a very busy woman. I’m a doctor you see. I’m a very busy doctor in a very busy practice. It so happens my lover, my beloved, my boo, my boobear, my bookworm, my cuddlebunch and cute widdle cuddlecakes, my fluffer nutter and most darling chequito is in the medical profession too. He’s a surgeon. We’re very much in love. It’s by no means a matter of inconsonance for Gilbert and I are very committed. We’re just so very busy. That’s the trouble. I wondered if you might have some strategies at the ready on energy efficient relationship maintenance At your earliest convenience I would appreciate support and guidance.

Yours Truly

Ms N. Gables

Dear Ms Gables,

How wonderful, love lives! May I first suggest that establishing a healthy boundary round your union isn’t always easy. The Japanese have a concept called amae which in translation refers of course to the delicious experience of interdependence. You must find this state. Before launching into a meaty set of pointers on that very subject, may I ask what specialization the pair of you practice, professionally that is? You never know it might be relevant.

Yours Ms Nixie

Dear Ms Nixie,

Well I’m a fountain pen surgeon and Gilbert works for Build A Bear. He’s a bear surgeon. He fixes teddy bears. In my profession we receive broken pens from everywhere - Argentina, Japan, South Africa, Australia, USA and even the Galapogas Islands and that’s merely the tip of the iceberg. I can have as many as 800 pens ready to be fixed at any one time. Most of my work is in nibs, the heart of all stationary. My god, there is nothing more sexy than a perfectly aligned nib and this well of free flowing passion shall never run dry for me. It’s not stationary, it’s history Ms Nixie. Many great men and women made history with the fountain pen. And even now, there’s plenty of talent afoot in the traditional way of wordsmithery.

I was of course not long on the phone to Mr Tony Kushner. He writes

everything with fountain pens ever since he was bar mitzvahed. He was given a fountain pen, a Parker fountain pen, and he loved it, and he’s never liked writing anything with pencils or ball-points.

Gilbert’s job is terribly stressful. His clients are demanding to say the least and he has witnessed all manner of atrocity. Why last week a four year old girl presented with her beloved bear Lord Pooh the Second (who is apparently quite a devil and a little too big for his boots and always bossing the others about) Apparently he lost a couple of ears along the way for not being a good listener. Well it was difficult case but Gilbert and his needle and thread and heart and beautiful soulful healing touch worked miracles. You can barely see the scars at all now. He even went to the trouble of making a little applique jumper for the bear featuring a cosmic dreaming motif. Pricked his fingers a million times he did and never cried once. My god he’s a miracle that man. Alas, it’s all work and no play for Gilbert and well I need some help. How can we make it work Nixie?

Yours Ms. N. Gables

Dear Ms Gables,

How wonderful, Teddy Bears…takes me way back and well, even now there’s a few kicking round. Ah, teddy bears. Here’s a little snap of a few clients of mine. They wrote in asking for advice. A mere little chaffing issue that’s all. You might like to show your bow too. It’s serendipity of course that you should write me, I have documented an increasing number of bears seeking solace of late.

.

Well this little lady often puts pen to paper too quite often…

Her name is Sabine. She’s a French feminist who never can quite get taken seriously as a strong woman with pride and central governance agendas around gender equality while being a soft kind of teddy bear. The shades and tattoo were my idea. The jeans were once worn by Barrack Obama before the press canned them. It’s a statement about wearing what you choose and owning it all without fear or regret.

As for you and Gilbert, it seems I had a brainwave my dear Ms Gables, perhaps you might join forces, spend time together on the job. Perhaps you might think of building your own business together…. “The Bear Pen” It could have bears and pens and bears with pens and pens drawing bears and bears in pens waiting to be healed.

Let me know how it all goes darling.

Best of luck and love,

Yours Truly

Ms Nixe Nicla xx