Breaking the fourth wall

It's January 7th, no snow on the ground, puddles of rain water accumulating like memories of a lost love. Still, the sun shines through the patio doors, warming thoughts and thighs alike...or maybe the heat is merely the notebook computer resting in just the right place.

Tim Horton's coffee - black, no cream, no sugar - sipped from a cup almost too hot to handle. An iPod recharging and copying selections in preparation for the next venture in our 2004 black-as-night Toyota Camry. Lyrics from Irving Berlin's What'll I Do sitting adjacent to Microsoft's Live Writer where imprints magically appear as I dance across the keyboard. A Macromedia Dreamweaver 8 tutorial sitting, waiting patiently in the background, along with an Adobe Acrobat copy of Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace, like Dreamweaver, expecting attention from the man in front of the screen.

The flat-screen Panasonic Tau, too, sits idle, a DVD splash screen on the Yamaha DV-S5750 player waiting, anticipating: "Press play key to continue." A border terrier expectant, standing by the patio doors, looking attentively at the woman in red "testing" jig-saw puzzle sets for the Christmas season before determining whether to keep them or toss them out with the trash.

The sound of preparations for work in the bakery at the Real Canadian SuperStore in the upstairs bathroom as the tallest of the family showers, shaves, and sips his version of Timmy's - large, single cream.

A quick snippet of conversation about a P.D. James' novel come to the big screen - "Children of Men". Talk about Julianne Moore, Clive Owen, and Michael Caine.

Another few sips of piping hot coffee, another few phrases entered on screen - artifacts of life beyond the fourth wall.