Getting a bit more serious, as I have lost the ability to spell, in addition to having a 101° fever.

This time, I won’t go for the Harry Potter books, which made me have even worse visions at night the last time I was sick. No, this time, I only have a whole lot of movies, and Tim Friend’s Animal Talk, Breaking the Code of Animal Language (yes, I will have entertaining dreams) and Winter World, Bernd Heinrich.

A story from the Dreamtime that tells of the animals’ search for a solution to a punishing drought.

In West Africa, Central Asia, Pakistan, Cambodia, Iran, Afghanistan, Mexico, and southern California, they are drying up.

It’s either a mild case of food poisoning or a touch of flu. The symptoms can be remarkably similar. The night was filled with numbers, which should be no surprise, but of a particularly repetitive and frustrating sort.

Which means I am not sick enough to collapse, but well enough to look up the signs of various diseases, such as West Nile .

The question of where our ancestors originated just got more complicated.

A former FBI official, W. Mark Felt , admits to being the mysterious ‘Deep Throat’ of Watergate fame.

Only Carl Bernstein, Bob Woodward, Ben Bradlee, and of course, Deep Throat, know for certain. The other three have pledged not to reveal their source until he dies.

I really should think of names for the remaining two. Mr. Creosote died, so Miss Creosote is a possibility.

Using a rat poison as part of a treatment plan means very careful monitoring of your condition.

The new discovery is near Samoa, where hundreds of eels were earlier found clustering around hydrothermal vents. The volcano is estimated to be less than four years old.

No matter how fresh the corn, or how tasty the ribs, eating a meal during the first part of The Bourne Supremacy (even the second time around) is not a good idea. The action is too fast-paced and the soundtrack too frantic to allow for a slow enjoyment of food, and the resulting leisurely process of digestion. Wonderful movie. Terrible stomachache.

No one knows the reason behind the odd color , which comes off when it rains, then reappears. Does any other animal have coloring that washes off?

Did humans live at the time of giant animals such as the protemnodon and the diprotodon? These were similar to the wombats and wallabies of today, only much, much bigger. One researcher says yes, based on her findings at Cuddle Springs in New South Wales. Other scientists disagree.

An amazing photo of lenticular clouds over Mount St. Helens. Here are some from Spain , and more from Hawaii.

In order to get a better look at bacterial patterning behavior, a researcher develops a printing press that utilizes photolithography.

A chemist and an artifact conservation specialist uncover the secrets behind its color illustrations.

In several events in Gloucestershire down a 640-ft hill:

18 competitors with various cuts, scrapes, and bruises
3 in the hospital with possible fractures
0 mishaps to the eight-pound cheese

The cheese wins.

The season of stone fruits is here.

BPA (bisphenol-A) is found in plastic food containers, sealants on teeth, and in the linings of cans of food. New research shows that BPA causes the mammary glands of mice to be more sensitive to estrogen. A majority of human breast cancer tumors are estrogen-dependent.

I manage once again to sit down where someone has peed standing up or hunkered over. Even though I checked, I obviously didn’t check well enough.

On a holiday weekend, it can be bumper-to-bumper on the road, then foot traffic possibly worse than Christmas. The lines inside the stores were 20 deep in many places, so I found myself outside several times, waiting on my companions. A large woman was leaning against a post, and after a bit, began to belch. Not just once and not a polite burp, but a resonating one you would expect at a bar, perhaps. Or at a table of teenage boys.

Then, when I thought she was through, there was another sound. To say the woman was gassy is an understatement. I moved on. Quickly.

First Russia , now China . Where is the water going?

Not a good year for the young apricot tree.

At the Elephant Bar, three of us tried to finish the enormous slice of mud pie, but couldn’t. I can’t imagine trying to eat it after a full meal.

She seems agitated, and at one point was either trying to bite the molt off or eat it. Her new home has nandina leaves to perch on.

One of the three mantises has been looking a little peaked, and now there are only two. The biggest one, which is by itself, appeared to have caught the carcass of another on its hind legs. (Not thinking too well here, it is after all, a holiday weekend.)

Now I realize that it has had its first molt, which means it’s growing.

Rainier cherries are my favorite. Easily bruised, highly perishable. Expensive.

These are kept under plastic covers, which explains the reflections.

He thought his protruding abdomen was from overeating. The surgeon thought the usual methods of removing liver tumors would work. They were both wrong.

The outcome is optimistic. The liver will regenerate the portion removed, and will stop at its original size. To me, that’s profoundly stupendous.

The big bins of melons were everywhere, so I came home with a whole seedless one. I’m just glad I won’t be sitting outside eating some, because the fog has been rolling in each evening.

Some of the best melons are the crunchy yellow and orange kinds, usually from the farmers’ markets, but those won’t be around till late summer. I always think of the Elephant’s Child and his ‘greeny-crackly kind’ at melon time.

Got large amounts of both and some giant onions for onion rings. I might try Thomas Keller’s onion ring recipe, which calls for cake flour and cornstarch. It’s more a tempura batter, adding an ice cube to the mix. In my old recipe, the sliced onions are soaked in ice water for a few hours first. Maybe I’ll do some of each.

When summer temps go ballistic, the Japanese head out for eel, or, as sushi lovers know, unagi. The perception that eel relieves the misery of extreme heat dates back to ancient times .

This week, thousands of eels were found near a hydrothermal vent under some Pacific islands, surprising scientists. Eels are seldom found in masses, and never before around the superheated conditions of these vents.

What’s the connection? Well, it’s the end of the week with a holiday coming up, and my brain has shut down. I honestly don’t know, but it’s food for thought.

Normally, they swarm like, uh, flies when I put some fruit in jar. But the last two days, they’ve been scarce. There is a hungry mantis waiting for a little something.

I have other methods. Still don’t have a name for the other two.

What do you think of when you see the word ‘lagoon’? Disney’s Mermaid Lagoon with frolicking women? Bolinas Lagoon? The lovely Lagoon Nebula?

A hog lagoon, also known as a hog lot is described here , and can be condensed to three words: liquid manure pit.

There is a plan to purify lagoon contents in North Carolina, with the resulting clean water going back to water the pigs. A developer of such a system, Don Lloyd, will gladly demonstrate the cleanliness of his product by quaffing some.

Have they succeeded in removing the possible ‘bouquet’ of such a drink as well?

Millions more are oblivous of any survey , because they are busy on the cell, eating, grooming, working on the laptop, reading, or otherwise engaged while driving.

Drug smugglers resort to creating bananas from glass, then stuffing them with cocaine. Finished off with a realistic paint job, they almost fooled customs personnel, who were tipped off by the unusually hard fruits .

There’s a bright future ahead in the ceramics world for these guys should they go for rehab. Plus, they have solved the annoying problem of the blackened banana.

Much, much easier to eat if you can find some really fresh corn that doesn’t need butter.

The story of how a football team is coming to the aid of an endangered cat.

If it bites , it will stay attached for much longer than you would expect, and pliers will have no effect in releasing its grip.

Jeff comments:

There are two species of poisonous lizards; the bearded lizard is the other one.

I stand corrected. But perhaps pliers will not be needed to remove one from your person should you be bitten.

In which a lizard, a gopher, various spiders, a bat, eagles, and the elk all play a part.

My desk is located in front of a large window, where I can look out onto a flowerbed and part of the backyard. Ivy and other groundcovers provide shelter for lizards in the flowerbed. My peripheral vision is used to the small birds and insects that constantly visit. What it is not used to is a sudden leap upward of something small and almost black. Lately, I’ve been seeing darker lizards all over the yard. First time I’ve seen one lunge upward at insects.

Normally the resident lizards are the small gray variety, with some of these tossed in the mix. The western fence lizard can disable the bacteria in ticks responsible for Lyme disease.

When ticks feed on this lizard, a substance in the lizard’s blood destroys the offending spirochetes in the tick, thereby rendering its disease-causing abilities useless.

If you’re into math puzzles and polyhedra kits, this seems like a good starting point.

This time, it’s phthalates , found in plastic wrap, toys, cosmetics, and plastic bags. When animals are exposed to it, males undergo feminization.

So, how can mothers, or mothers-to-be avoid these substances on a daily basis?

From the NY Times, a report on six of the slimmest, smallest cameras, which include Nikon, Canon, and Sony. Not too pricey either.

It used to be muffins, then bagels, now cupcakes? Cupcakes the size of softballs?

I remember the Hostess ones with the strange icing that could be peeled off in one piece.

When a friend was crying over a divorce, I took over chocolate cupcakes with ganache.

Might be easier than turning straw into gold (see Rumpelstiltskin post). But NASA is offering money as a prize , and even gives a few hints.

I have the recipe mostly in my head, but being distracted, did not take into account there was almost twice as much pork as usual. Therefore, the dish was neither sweet enough nor sour enough. But it was pretty.

My search for the right ribs tonight was not successful. It is early yet. There will be oven barbecuing this weekend, and most certainly, there will also be fried chicken and onion rings. And hopefully a movie or two without regurgitation scenes.

I bought two plastic boxes at Petco, but one had a flaw which is not visible till the top is removed. It goes back. Meanwhile the top is well vented, more of a tarantula home than an ultra-slim mantis. I must cover most of the holes with plastic of some kind, or else everything will escape. I might put the two males together (at least I think they’re males). This will be dealt with tomorrow.

The bacteria is a new species of actinomycete found in deep sea beds in Japan, and produces abyssomicin C, which kills MRSA , the superbug that has surfaced in and out of hospital environments.

Once in a while, I will hear of someone who is redoing part of their garden, and willing to part with mature specimens of plants I never heard of, or have coveted. Recycling is a boon both for the giver and the receiver.

I had a neighbor who used to redo large swaths of yard in lovely flowers, then rip them all out a few months later, and go with another color scheme. Her rejects, still in great shape, would go in the trash, where I would see them as I drove by, thinking it was such a waste.

My prize haul sits in the side yard awaiting attention. I got, among others, bergenia, blue bell bulbs, an astilbe, and various groundcovers.

Mia comments:

Lucky you! Post some pictures when you get them planted.

I will. The list of plants was posted on the email, and some knew to reserve ahead. The giant daylily clumps and ferns were spoken for.