The Da of Pan

Obsession, thy name is Su Lin.

Su Lin. Translation from the Chinese: "a little bit of something very cute." It just rolls off the tongue, doesn't it? I think so. (Although the name does--every time--remind me of Sue Ellen from Dallas, who, as we all know, is quite the opposite of "a little bit of something very cute." More like "a lot of something very drunk and full of shoulderpads." Anyway.)

For the last few weeks, a few friends and I have been combating boredom at work by watching a sleeping panda cub via the San Diego Zoo's Panda Cam (see link at right). The recently named, 104-day old Su Lin sometimes crawls around the birthing den, or plays with Mom, or eats--but she mostly sleeps. It's weirdly mesmerizing to watch her curled in a ball, one paw twitching in reverie as she reaches for dream bamboo shoots. I once got an email from my sister imploring me to "Look at the baby immediately! It's an upclose shot of her sleeping in a ball!" I love the internet almost as much as I love my sister.

For whatever reason, the floppy and deep sleep of the young and innocent is pretty damn compelling. Sometimes I think it's a kind of sleep I'll never have again. Although right now, in this overheated office, after a starch-heavy lunch of butternut squash risotto with pancetta, it seems somehow within my grasp. Night.