My claim to fame:

My father-in-law met Johnny Depp's father for some dept. of transportation business years ago. He was developing a greenbelt around Owensboro, KY.

Johnny Depp has come into Joseph-Beth a couple times. One time, the magazine guy offered to buy him dinner because he thought Johnny Depp was homeless, based on the way he was dressed.

I'm going to see Lady in the Water, if only because the new movie poster looks so cool.
For some reason I can't upload the image onto blogger, but here's the link if you're curious.

I faced down fear and lived to tell the tale.

I'm getting a bike! I felt like a kid again, powering down the road with nothing between me and the asphalt but the bike and my good balance. I let my fear of the bike get in the way (I refused to rent a bike in Acadia National Park in Maine in 2004 and still kick myself over it) for too long.

Basically, I'm afraid that I'll look over my shoulder, see a big blur of metal, feel a strangely numbing blow, wake up in a cast and wonder how I ever got there.. Being hard of hearing has wiped me of any sense of distance between myself and the source of sound. When that source of sound is cars, and when the wind masks their roar, well, that just makes me nervous.

But I won't let that get in the way (besides, I don't plan on riding down Nicholasville Road--even the hardiest road racers won't ride that road). Jon has a system of signals to communicate to me what's coming, and I'll work on my balance and gear-shifting so that I'm as comfortable on the bike as I am in my own skin.

The things you can read about on cnn.com...

Lewis the cat is spared

Here are some pictures from our trip to Mt. Rogers (near Damascus, VA) months ago. Jon's camera is getting old, so the pictures aren't the greatest. There are wild ponies that roam the area, and I always look forward to seeing them.

I helped a guy from the Waste Management branch today. I never fully understood J.K. Rowling's description of a character with a lion's mane of hair (descriptive, not literal) until I saw him. He had thick wavy brown hair spilling down his shoulders, and a long silver-streaked goatee.
Seems like a lot of people in environmental sciences are old hippies, or rugged outdoorsy types. Lots of silvery ponytails and Carhardt boots. The main exception are those who are in administrative positions--they tend to be clean-shaven (to the point of being pink) and wear weirdly colored polos.

I never thought this would happen, but I don't think I can ever eat an elephant ear again. There goes another relic of my childhood. It's the same with frosting. When we were little, my brother and I would argue over who got the largest buttercream flower on the birthday cake. Nowadays, I scrape the excess off--it just makes my tongue revolt.
Also--theme park rides. Jenny, Rosie, and I could ride the Zipper 13 times in a row, and it didn't faze us. Now, the mere thought of riding it makes me cringe. I think what makes me nervous is the equipment, not the motion of the ride. I'm turning into my Grandma. Next thing I know, I'll be going around the block so I won't have to make a left turn across oncoming traffic.

Pitt & Jolie to donate proceeds from baby photos to charity

I thought so.

"The Bovine Growth Hormones designed to fatten cows quickly also cause painful udder infections. Monsanto, the multinational chemical corporation, makes a widely used Bovine Growth Hormone called Posilac, which comes with the warning that it may cause a number of side effects, including swelling and infected udders. These infections transmit pus, or dead bacteria, and white blood cells into milk, causing a disagreeable taste and unpleasant color. Factory dairies sometimes mix the milk from infected udders with normal milk, so the infected milk with its offensive flavor and color is diluted. U.S. regulations allow milk to contain more pus cell concentrations that any other country in the world--almost twice the international standard of allowable pus." --p.85, "Harvest for Hope" by Jane Goodall.

I didn't know there was such a thing as "allowable pus."