“I suspect there will be no more apparently superficial delight than this one, given as I am swirling in a volley of birdsong, given the pine tree just beyond me has a branch like an arm bent into a greeting, given the near-glowing green of these trees against the soft blue of a misty morning. But it is true, I adore bobblehead toys, one of which passed by me on a dashboard maniacally agreeing to everything. As a kid I might also have loved the Weeble Wobble, or at least I loved the commercial, which is probably the closest I got to that toy, for which I commend my parents given, as I recall, the purpose of that toy was to encourage a child to strike it as hard as possible to see if it would stay down. Bad toy idea… The dumb plasticness of the toys, which are often in the likeness of famous athletes, makes me wonder if it’s the toy itself that delights me or if it is the fact that the toy alerts me regularly to the fact that people are delighted by such goofy, ridiculous things, which reminds me of a fairly common childlike-ness, which encourages softheartedness, I think. (Apr. 25)”
–Ross Gay, “68. Bobblehead”, A Book of Delights, p. 178, 180
Weebles wobble but they don’t fall down! Would that I could say the same!