Damn. Today it's 5:45pm and I'm just getting started. At least I'm not alone; Elizabeth is still here, worrying about page numbers and layouts so that JA can worry about other things.

"But you're on it," he says. "I don't have to worry, right?"

"That's right, sir," she says.

He sighs: "Okay."

It's nice to have some company.

It's also nice when the morning commute is gentle. This morning, leaving from the other side of the Hudson River, I walked the one colorful block down to the F train and found there was a seat waiting just for me, a seat reserved under my name. I sat down, happily, and read about coincidences and love and the meaning of life.

Life, it seems to me, is like Madonna said: a mystery. And the purpose of life is to see it as such. Make a mystery of life (not difficult to do, just let it be) and things become wonderful and fun.

Elizabeth just left, by the way.
"Bye!" she said, running off. "Late to yoga again."

One mystery which has been unfolded is that of speaker packaging. I've seen the light, and the light glows:

VANDERSTEEN

John and I packed up a Vandersteen speaker today. The packaging is like almost any other packaging: simple cardboard marked with fat arrows and bold lettering. But it's smart. There is a large outer box with caps at the top and bottom which hold everything in place. There are braces that live within the outer box and beneath the top and bottom caps. The top brace is marked, "TOP." The bottom brace is marked, "BOTTOM." You cut the tape at the bottom cap and unfold the joints to pull the outer box up and away from the bottom brace. You stand the speaker onto that brace. It fits perfectly. This is important and surprisingly unusual. Drop the plastic covering down around the speaker and rest the top brace on top of the speaker. It fits perfectly. Again: important, again: unusual. Hoist the outer box up and over the speaker and let it sit on the top brace. Reunite the bottom of the box with its base. Tape the corner joints back into place. Done.

"Done?"

"Yup."

"That's brilliant."

"Yes, it is."

"I'm going to blog about it."

"You should! It's the coolest speaker packaging ever."

"That'll be the title of the entry!"

"Richard Vandersteen is a smart man. If he can design packaging as brilliant and easy-to-use as this, well, just what does that say about his speaker designs?"

I smile and nod.