He said with a smile, but she slammed the door in his soliciting face.

But then, he could argue that he could not read the ‘No Soliciting’ sign.

Perhaps I should spell that ‘phobea’. But first, a shot of cortisol.

If you have an abnormal fear of needles, this is not the treatment for you.

In all fairness, no one in the article is claiming a cure. But it seems to work for some participants in a study.

I want to miss a call.

Oh, and kudos to that funeral home in South Africa that packs extra batteries in the casket. You just never know.

No surprise there, but instead of ravens, doves, or the various songbirds, we hear the screeching of seagulls.

Jubilant, no doubt, at finding a new and vast area of water that is the valley.

The sun was out, although briefly. Around here, that was cause for celebration.

It can increase the potency of many medications by interfering with an enzyme in our bodies that metabolizes drugs.

A very unusual eruption plume.

Not at its best, having been on my desk all day without water, but I thought it still had considerable grace.

There are better ways to shed weight, I think.

It has been spotted regularly near a building in North Carolina. The head looks like a kangaroo’s, there’s a long, skinny tail. Its picture has been posted online, but no one really knows what it is, and at least one viewer said it might be a chupacabra.

Animal experts, always ready to splash cold water on curious, but non-scientific minds, suspect it is a red fox with an abnormality called Sampson. If this is the case, the fox lacks a layer of guard hair fur, making it look as if it had no fur at all. Especially when viewed from a distance.

Or, it could be mange, or some unknown creature.

It was 4 o’clock, and my tax person asked that I go through my stuff once again. I needed a little something.

But certainly not this. I’d rather starve.

In the Atlanticus Codex, Leonardo drew his idea for a self-propelling vehicle with three wheels. In the years since the discovery of the Codex, no one had been able to create the cart.

Then Italian scientists found that their earlier interpretations of the drawing were wrong. Their successful model was put on display in 2004.

There are differing opinions on the effectiveness of moving squirrels from one’s backyard to a woodland area. Some people feel it is useless, and that more squirrels move in to replace their departed cousins.

I am of ‘it works’ camp, although one has to keep at the process steadily. For years, we had infestations, partly because we are surrounded on all sides by mature oak trees that provide ample food and nesting sites. Now the population seems more normal.

We use the Hav-a-Heart traps. The squirrels are mostly quiet, but from time to time, we get a vocal one. An amazing variety of sound is emitted from an average squirrel, and one that has puzzled me is the whispery one.

I usually chalk it up to fear. It’s only a short drive to some woods, though we do make sure it is at least five miles away.

It turns out that the ones with the Alec Baldwin-like voices are the loudest ones of all.

It’s a good thing I ran out again and got most of the lawn fed before the thunder started up. Now the sky has opened up, and the patios are covered with pea-sized hail.

Happy Spring!

It’s being called a storm of the century, leaving thousands homeless, and ruining sugar cane and banana crops.

Meanwhile Cyclone Wati is a possible threat moving in from the Coral Sea.

Why is so much food missing from the fridge? Why so many candy bar wrappers by the bed?

Some people who take Ambien were puzzled by their steady weight gain until researchers discovered an unexpected side effect.

The lawn has needed feeding, so during a lull in our daily rain, I ran out with a sack of grass fertilizer.

Unfortunately, today’s lull is brief indeed.

But the little black-headed birds eat the breadcrumbs I throw out. If I’m to raise any praying mantises this year, I’ll have to to provide other food for the huge bird population.

If your calls for a mate are drowned out by the noise of the water, it’s a good idea to evolve toward the ultrasound level.

Those of us Americans who find wine selection somewhat daunting seek out labels with something familiar, say, a monkey or a fish.

So what did I advise my sons to get when they were invited to a party not that long ago? Yellow Tail, which has a wallaby on the label. Reasons? Good reviews, for one. And at $5 per bottle at Trader Joe’s, they could get a white and a red for a song.

In London, the men were injected with TGN1412. It was the first human trial of the drug, which was targeted for treatment of such diseases as rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis.

The doctors in the trial are appealing for international help in saving the men, who are now on life support.

After 45 days and nights of rain (or so it seems), it has been triggered, and all I want to do is burrow under some quilts till the sun appears for more than 15 minutes.

Don’t most of us have enough stored fats to last for a prolonged sleep?

There are several versions of this in my music library, I’m listening to Al Jarreau/Oleta Adams at the moment.

Locally, the waters of March are causing some flooding in places.

So many spammers. I might just turn comments off entirely. If you want to reach me, just email.

Jaguar is out with its Pedestrian Deployable Bonnet System (PDBS) to soften the impact.

In Afghanistan and Denmark, found for the first time.

Something is disturbing the house spiders. Normally we keep our distance out of a mutual respect, but last night and this morning, they are coming out and making their presence more obvious. One just scooted across the desk in the direction of the laptop. Perhaps there is earth movement.

Or maybe they’re beginning to wonder where the sunshine went.

A few nights ago, I found enough time to flip through The Complete Book of Sushi by Hideo Dekura, Brigid Treloar, and Ryuichi Yoshii.

Each year, the boys come back at Easter to dye eggs. Maybe this year, I’ll set out all the makings for various kinds of sushi, and have them fix dinner. I may need a sharper knife though.

His stylist says he used Pierce Brosnan and Johnny Depp as inspiration, and Ken emerges from his session with a somewhat edgier look.

But Ken. Ken, what’s this I hear about Barbie being a baby toy? Childhood moves on.

No one has done an official study on the benefits of cider vinegar and honey mixed in water, but there are many fans. In this article, a journalist decides to give it a daily try. In six weeks, she loses seven pounds.

That’s the part I’m interested in.

So, in addition to the modified South Beach diet, I’ll try the vinegar with a splash of honey and water. Maybe it’s better with ice.

Another heartstopping moment when I bend down for the hose, and surprise a mother bird hidden in the groundcover ivy. They seem to explode out of the nest.

Despite the seemingly disastrous practice of having a home on the ground, this particular bird (I will look it up in the Sibley soon) is very successful. Their relatives in the garage are possibly smarter. I will have a photo soon, but this calls for vigilance, which calls for spare time.

It has rained for 38 days and 38 nights. Especially last night. Actually, we had three nights of rain in just the seven hours that I was trying to sleep.

Out of My Head.’ To get my heart started back up again (see previous post).

At least my eyeball didn’t pop out of my head.

If you have a nest of baby birds in a basket hanging from a beam in the garage, it’s best to leave it alone till you’re sure the parents are out of there.

Two Vermont fishermen claim to have a video of the famous lake monster. Either that or a sturgeon or a long-nosed gar or a member of the plesiosaur family from the land before time. Or the time before land.

Perhaps this will become a new category. In this case, How to Pop Your Eyeball Back In If It Falls Out.

You’d be surprised how often this might happen. And if you cringe easily, best to skip the link altogether.

Did I make you look?

In Norway, a woman living above a bar found that beer flowed from her taps. The down side was that the bar was discovering water flowing from their beer taps.

The problem was taken care of in very short order, as beer in Norway is quite pricey.

I was until one station inexplicably played a Christmas song, which wrecked my concentration and disturbed me so much I had to get up and wash the dishes. Back to Michael Buble and Put Your Head on My Shoulder.

There have been 31 earthquakes in the Andaman Sea area recently, and disaster officials warn residents to keep alert. Chances of another tsunami are possible.

The weather has caused some terrible accidents. This is not a region known for blizzards.

First, it’s tax prep time, which always takes at least twice as long as I think. Then too I’m filling in on care for my mom while a sib is on vacation. I’ll be posting more next week, but if we get some snow (it’s more possible this year than most), I’m going out to play.

Oh, and I’m going back on the South Beach diet, so there’ll be lots of agonized accounts of those no-sugar popsicles again. Thanks to the ankle sprain last year, I gained most of the lost weight back.

But not of the varmint sort this time. In the same basket used a couple of years ago, there’s a new family of baby birds chirping away. The earlier nest was known for its silence whenever a human was near.

He has been seen with those earbuds as he makes his rounds in the Vatican.

Now wouldn’t that make a great ad?

Water means the ingredients for life.

They have the whole sky to play in.

I managed to steal some reading time this afternoon, William Langewiesche’s A Meditation on Flight. specifically the part where he explains how airplanes turn. For a brief time then, I was also in the sky, leaning, picturing how a plane rolls over so easily, then rights itself.

You would think that any self-respecting, non-poisonous frog, given the chance, would mimic the look of the most toxic dart frog in its neighborhood. Not so Allobates zaparo. It copies the look of a less poisonous frog.

The reasons why are explained here.

Tulips stand up to storms pretty well.

They don’t enjoy having their pictures taken.

A paleontologist explains that the trunk-like object could well be just that, and what appeared to be the body of Nessie would be the top of the elephant’s head and its back.

Apparently, traveling circuses would allow their animals a dip in the Loch.

This by no means closes the book on lake creatures.

Is filled with peril, if overdone. People who are too keen on whitening agents are known as ‘bleachorexics’, and face serious problems with their teeth and gums.

Two words: Root Canal.

How much to this rumor of a possible offer to backup users’ hard drives? Google won’t say.

In Turkey, five siblings move about the way scientists suspect early hominids did. Their gait is not like that of apes, who use their knuckles. Instead, the siblings push off with their wrists and palms.

While a genetic flaw has kept the group from developing normally, some scientists feel that the three sisters and two brothers have accessed a form of behavior long buried in the ancient brain.

I went to a different library tonight, and removed myself from the nonfiction section long enough to find the Yann Martel, A Home at the End of the World by Michael Cunningham, and The Probable Future by Alice Hoffman.

For my nonfiction fix, I got Inside the Sky, A Meditation on Flight by William Langewiesche.

But since I no longer have spare time, I don’t know when I’ll get to read them. Perhaps most days, I’ll just stare at the covers, and wish that life would slow down a bit.

It rained so much last night I dreamed the house was flooded.

In San Francisco, a trash company will soon begin collecting dog droppings as a new raw material for methane production. Talk about a never-ending resource.

Galanthamine is a compound in daffodils used in drugs that fight dementia-related diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

In Wales, farmers might be growing fields of the flowers in the mountain areas, because levels of galanthamine increase with altitude.

The teen, who suffers from a brain tumor, endured 19 accidental radiation overdoses, and is improving thanks to hyperbaric oxygen treatments.

Her condition remains guarded, but her skin has responded dramatically to the treatments.

So many witnesses, so few official believers. But now, researchers are on the trail of how ball lightning forms, creating an object that resembled a ‘. . . hot jellyfish, quivering and buoyant in the air’.

Another article offers further discussion of ball lightning, unfortunately, the video clip does not work.

First the hare. It was big, and it jumped into the midst of the dogsled team.

The dogs were bamboozled. (Look, we’re being attacked by a rabbit.)

The hare got away, and is probably in some bunny bar, laughing with his buddies, who don’t believe him.

A mosquito-borne illness, Chikungunya, has infected 185,000 residents of Reunion, a French-owned island near Madagascar.

Brits are turning more to plain water and healthier drinks. Could the benzene effect have something to do with it?

The kids used to giggle through this ancient game, which is now considered abandonware.

After the poor patient had been seen to, the doctor/player could sign the chart. However, the boys were never content with this, but signed the appendix or whatever was handy.

Nowadays, this practice is actually encouraged in operating rooms due to an increase in surgical errors.

Just now beginning to bloom.

In the UK, some soft drinks are found to contain benzene, a carcinogen.

Two ingredients, sodium benzoate and vitamin C react to form the harmful chemical. In the U.S. concerns were raised about this years ago.

In the future, sharks may be remotely controlled via implants, and used for spying purposes.

I needed a little something.

I only meant to watch for the duration of dinner (spaghetti), but was mesmerized till work started calling in a loud, persistent, grating voice.

It is not the best dinnertime entertainment. Tonight I’ll watch the last half after I eat.

She’s 61, and her friend was held in the crocodile’s jaws. When she jumped on its back, the croc dropped the friend, and went after her. She almost lost an arm.

What I should have done was make chocolate chip muffins, but there was a bag of less-than-crisp apples to use up.

If you are lazy like me, you can top off a baked muffin with a layer of chocolate chips, and zap until the chips melt.

I would have a picture except the object in question has been eaten. But I can show what a storm-battered amaryllis looks like in a bit.