Glow-in-the-Dark Cats

Scientists at the Gyeongsang National University in South Korea have cloned cats that have the ability to glow-in-the dark when exposed to ultraviolet light. By inserting a virus into the skin cells of a mother cat and placing those contaminated cells into the womb, scientists were able to prove that it was possible to clone an animal with a manipulated gene. Apparently, this development could allow for a better understanding of human genetic diseases in the future. But what about the benefits of glowing cats?

If you ask me, cats that could truly glow-in-the-dark would make for an unique and styilsh night-light. And, much like the new Litrospheres, they last for about 12 years. The only downside is that the latter requires no power source while cats require a steady diet. Still, the crazy cat lady down the street could have the most power efficient house in town. [InventorSpot]

Squirrely Behavior

On Sunday, while immersed in a discussion as to the necessity of wearing a full rubber suit in the cactus garden if we were going to dress as Martians and trip on mushrooms, I noticed two squirrels fighting rigorously.

Afraid the smaller's poor tufted head was going to be veritably torn off in the raucous fray, I approached, only to turn my head modestly aside upon realizing they were making love.

Fighting is so akin to fucking, sometimes it's hard to tell the difference.

There really is a thin line between love and hate.

PS I was at the Huntington Garden's cactus section (the largest of its kind in North America, and filled with creatures that resemble pincushion practical jokes and the Little Shop of Horrors - SHOUT OUT! - a play my fantastic friend Ruth did red lip-sticked, high-school hips-swaying backup singer utter justice to as a petulant youth).

Mom's Breakfast Casserole

My mom - a dubious chef at best - used to to make a scrambled egg/sausage oven-baked concoction to impress overnight guests.

It was good, in that Wal-Mart solid, Betty Crocker spongy kinda way. The warms wafts of mystery meat and over-cooked egg were rare enough that they always signaled a kind of eventfullness, and at their savory best, holiday cheer.

She was so cute for always pulling that trusty 'guests are here' recipe out of her little olive-green recipe card box.

I'm gonna call her and tell her I love her today.

happy birthday to my brother Eric! he's 25 already. holy-moly.

let's check out the origins of this phrase i've always found annoying.

HOLY MOLY

from http://www.BulbSociety.com we find that according to the ancient Greek poet Homer, the magical properties of Allium moly allowed Ulysses to enter unharmed the lair of the sorceress Circe. Southern European folklore regards the plant as good luck and a protection against demons. Allium moly is an ornamental allium, or flowering onion. It is a close relative of the famous edible alliums: Allium sativum (garlic) and Allium cepa (the common cooking onion).

Garlic reportedly gave strength to the pyramid builders and courage to the Roman legions. Medicinally, it has served as a popular remedy for colds, sore throats and coughs; physicians and herbalists prescribed garlic as a diuretic and for intestinal disorders and rheumatism; and people ate garlic daily as protection against plagues, disease and, of course, creatures of darkness. Early American colonists relied on the plant to treat a variety of medical problems, while later settlers strapped garlic cloves to the feet of smallpox victims hoping to cure them.

Onions also have been used medicinally for centuries. In the Middle Ages the onion was used as a charm against evil spirits, the plague and infection. The onion was a favorite spring food of American Indians, providing a frontiersman with a good nose a telltale means of locating an Indian encampment.

xmas presence

What is up with this eternal state of discontent and why do I insist on existing in it? I've noticed that no matter how I change up my life, that gnawing, under-satisfied sense of urgency always comes back as soon as I settle into the newest change.
Reprogramming this mindset, this ego, this melodrama that controls me is my primary interest and concern.
I won't let it rest, or relent to indulge when I think I can't fight it anymore. I have no choice. This is my life, and I have the free will to exist in this primal neediness, or experience life the way it can be, free of expectations and fully in the moment.
For me, the only choice is the latter.
I'm on a journey with myself. The outside doesn't matter anymore; not the way it once did.
What matters is learning to be fully present, with me, in every moment.

blind survival

in the soft dark, when the cars are finally still, and I am lying on my mattress under the skylight, i can hear the rumble of the ocean and the waves breaking on the sand.

last night, sleeping cozily in the nude under my feather blanket, i awoke suddenly, with the realization that were a tidal wave to hit and were i to survive, i would land somewhere naked and blind (well, negative 6 in both eyes).

i then began to seriously question why i didn't have a backup bag - contacts, old glasses, t-shirt, underwear, nalgene bottle, rope of course, for tying the unknown necessity - lying handily near for optimal grabbing as the unknown disaster struck.

give me a couple years, and i'm going to be one of those mamas in the mountains living under a rock in a buried bus.

4 seagulls on my Morning Run

They were perched on the concrete, sunlit and unruffled, one to a parking spot, in a perfect line of four.

And there was the mini-thanksgiving-turkey like skeleton of one of their own, in the foreground, picked as clean as could be.