"One's life takes long strides between Olympics"

One year last decade I reread Lord of the Rings. I remember a cold blue and white spring evening at the much-lamented Tasty's, eating souvlaki and starting RotK while the Friday night Koreans moved in off the patio because it was so *cold*. Couldn't remember when it was, which is the sort of thing that bugs me now.

Realized I saw FotR in 2002. Could it have been then? that hot, hideous, everything-wrong, moon-blasted and salt-sown spring? Surely not. Consulted diary. Yes indeed. Eight years ago when unseasonable snow was falling on the newly opened plum and cherry trees. 2002 was an armpit of a year whose name is never to be mentioned in my presence; but parts of it were excellent.

(Also discover that it was K-chan who sent me Marginal, in 2002, and not Seishinja a year later. Well well well.)

It has indeed been far too long

rasetsunyo draws a classical Chinese beauty of the dragon persuasion. Who is this? Is it Pipang?

My first thought was 'Oh! That's the young man Kaiei starts getting interested in at the Southern Ocean' (that no one here has met.) However, on second thought I'm not sure said young man (son of Goushou's chief steward IIRC) is quite so peerless a beauty as that. But then I'd never thought Pipang was a peerless beauty either. joasakura drew me a picture of him long ago, which has to be here on one of these HDs somewhere, and she made him, mhh, I think 'lovesome' is the word I'd use. It's a gestalt, not just a physical attractiveness. I'd vaguely conceived Pipang as being good-looking enough, but of course no one looks at his *features* ever. It's that rare colour of his that focusses attention and inspires passion.
( But what if... )