a quote i find relevant to the hat discussion: 'mark lamarr used to include, in his stand-up routine, the story of a boy who could not stop sucking his thumb. eventually the boy was sent to a psychologist, where they found out that he "just had a really nice thumb."' ----- for godot: my encylcopaedia says: 'Zen Buddhism: (Japanese Zen, meditation) In China and Japan, a Buddhist school emphasising the transmission of enlightenment from master to disciple without reliance on the scriptures. It derives from the teaching of Bodhidharma, who came to China in 520 AD. The two major sects, Soto and Rinzai, stress meditaion and the use of logical paradoxes (koans) respectively, in order to confound the rational mind so that transcendental wisdom can arise and the disciple can realize his own Buddha-nature. Much of Japanese and Chinese art, music and literature, as well as calligraphy, the tea ceremony, martial arts, etc., express the spontaneous Zen attitude to life. Recently Zen has gained followers in the West, where its opposition to rationalism has popular appeal.' nothing you probably haven't looked up yourself, but i wanted to feel like i'm contributing something. interstingly (or so *i* thought, anyway) zen comes between franco zeffirelli and zenith. ----- one more thing. remember, not all of us have degrees in lit. when you'te talking about the difference between didactic and narrative styles, is it that a narrative simply tells a story, whereas didactic is 'preaching' and trying to make the *reader* learn something from the way the characters go about the their lives? (it's not in my encyclopaedia.) gracias :helena -- (((((((((((((hork productions))))))))))))) @ http://www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/4801/