... Baffled, you turn to the waiter. ... The waiter smiles. ... Some prefer small stars while others insist that the larger they are the better they are. ... Of course," he adds, sensing your concern, "you are the guest of Chez Stella. ... Immediately you hear the "tock... tock... tock" of the stopwatch, and you gaze deep into the distant star. ... You hadn't noticed before, but it is giving off vast symmetric clouds of what looks like smoke or dust hanging in the space around the beautiful star. ...