A new flower blooming this weekend, an unknown epiphylium. It came from a cutting from Michal's mother a few years ago. A pretty pale pink with a deep floral scent.

The campaign to ban dihydrogen monoxide�laugh. http://www.dhmo.org/ I think my favorite quote is �Dihydrogen Monoxide has been found in our rivers, lakes, oceans and streams�even in Antarctic ice.� *gasp*

I guess some politicians actually got a bit worked up about it. From snopes.com: In March 2004 the California municipality of Aliso Viejo (a suburb in Orange County) came within a cat's whisker of falling for this hoax after a paralegal there convinced city officials of the danger posed by this chemical. The leg-pull got so far as a vote having been scheduled for the City Council on a proposed law that would have banned the use of foam containers at city-sponsored events because (among other things) they were made with DHMO, a substance that could "threaten human health and safety."

I�d have loved to be at that city council meeting�sigh.

Happy day, Just got notice that my order of ostrich feathers are slowly wending their way across the nation to my door via FedEx. They're for a hat...a bright, gaudy hat. ostrich.com carries a lot of ostrich-related things, including a wide assortment of colors and feathers. I bought four feathers at the Ren Faire last weekend, but I wanted more. Will post pictures when they arrive. Ostrich.com has a really darling photo of a cat in a box of feathers.

I see a niche market for a book�.the hero or heroine is a devout fundamentalist being oppressed by an unseen force�and runs smack into the middle of the global conspiracy to repress all religion, led by the UN, Planned Parenthood, university professors and the like. It will be the topic of courses at fundamentalist Bible colleges. Over the course of a long and best selling series, the heroes manage to unmask the conspirators, overthrow the conspiracy and install a global theocracy, which then promptly executes the heroes because they pose a threat to the new world order; unfortunately, all that research, thinking and traveling they did to fight the conspirators unintentionally educated the heroes to the point they will no longer be good drones. The last novel would end on that very Orwellian note, thus betraying and angering the core base of readers. Sales will plummet, although a small group of devout fans will remain steadfast, holding firm to the belief that the global conspiracy forced the author to write the last book. At that point, intelligent people will start to read the series because they realize it was actually a well-constructed satire all along. The series will make it back to the bestseller�s list after the initial precipitous plummet in sales. Courses will be taught on it at real institutions of higher learning. The reclusive author sheds the old pen name and starts on another series involving a devout fundamentalist being oppressed by an unseen force...

I�d be tempted to write that series just to make a point�and lots of money. Points and lots of money are good.

More stick insects today. One on the ceiling when I got home tonight. Not sure if s/he got there on his/her own power, or if he was brought in by one of the cats and escaped. I assume it came under its own power, as it seemed unharmed; the last stick insects the cats caught didn't fare so well. Caught it and put it back on the Cymbidium and noticed two teeny baby sticks nearby. Very cute. There is a Painted Lady butterfly migration heading through San Diego right now, but I haven't seen them yet. Cousin found a whole bunch in her yard, however, so here is a picture of one of them.


Two kids were over today, lots of interaction for the cats. Djali is pretty exhausted (plus bunny bit his tail after Djali kicked him in the face, making both of them a bit grumpy - they've some unresolved dominance issues, I suspect). Bunny's toe is less swollen, so hopefully the broken nail will heal without any permanent damage.