Spirit as well as Opportunity have gotten a power boost in recent months, apparently due to Martian winds that have swept accumulated dust off their solar panels.

The Martian office of Mr. Goodwrench is going to be annoyed that they're not getting credit for dusting the things off and checking the tires and all that.

Now that I've had a day to think about it, my sluggish memory has dredged something sleep-related up out of the depths. I read an article (maybe in Discover, probably 10 or 15 years ago) that claimed that if people were deprived of time cues (daylight and clocks and so forth), they would settle into a pretty regular schedule of being awake for 3 or 4 hours and sleeping for 1 and 2 rather than sleeping for 8 hours and being awake for 16 or anything resembling the usual circadian rhythm. I have no idea if that's been debunked. I do sometimes feel like I would like to live that way (the sleeping pattern, not the never seeing the sun or knowing what time it is)

Hee. I'm now picturing Stephen Colbert looking for Mr. Goodwrench on Mars.

Hee. I'm now picturing Stephen Colbert looking for Mr. Goodwrench on Mars.

Eww. Now I'm seeing Stephen Colbert in LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR.

I was at work last night until 7:15, taking care of work that needed to be done "immediately" according to someone who is not my boss. Before he left at 4:45, my boss asked me to stop in and see him every morning when I get to work to report on a project for the next 6 weeks.

I got in to work at 8:55 this morning, no boss in his office, although I was told he was at work. I return after a stop in my office to update a report I plan on giving him daily. Still not boss. He continues to not be in his office until 9:15, when I do get to speak with hima nd give him my updates. I am so looking forward to 6 weeks of this.

Now I think I will take a walk and get myself coffee and a bagel.

Congratulations, NovaChild! And welcome, Eddie!

Kate, Have you or your dad seen the Almodovar film Talk to Her?

Yes, I love that movie!

Kate and Robin should check out Caetano's fantastic book about the Tropicalia movement.

David, I have that book, but haven't gotten around to reading it yet. I'll kick it up a couple notches in the queue.

Despite being very much not a morning person, I do like the first hour or so in my office every day. My boss doesn't get here until at least 10 most days, so it's more fun and relaxed, which is a good way to start the day. Right now we're listening to my coworker's Bollywood collection on his iPod.

Kristin, the tape of last week's "Eyes"? Or this week? Because I taped over last week's with tonight's "Lost."

Oops! Oh well, never mind. It's not something I was dying to see; just something I thought I would check out if it was available. No worries.

I'm having another one of those days where I got to work and no one is here. Well, that's not entirely fair, there are two people here, but neither of them is my boss. Or the person who could tell me where my boss is. Huh. I'm going to guess that there's some big meeting. Or everyone just has spring fever?

I took a sleep studies class in college (held at 2 pm in a huge dark lecture hall -- oh, the delicious irony) where we talked about the fact that very few creatures have a 24-hour circadian clock. Humans run a little fast (approx. 23 hours), and hamsters run a little slow (approx. 25 hours), so we're all experiencing mini-jet-laggy feelings all the time. Exposure to sunlight does a fair job of adjusting our internal clocks to match external time, but most of us don't get outside enough for it to really work.

Another interesting tidbit is that if you shave a sparrow's head and paint it black, you can totally throw off it's circadian rhythms.

Which is a roundabout way of saying that my office should give me a laptop and let me work from Bryant Park today, because it's freaking gorgeous out there, and my cube is very far from any windows.

Another interesting tidbit is that if you shave a sparrow's head and paint it black, you can totally throw off it's circadian rhythms.

What I want to know is why someone even thought to try this in the first place.

Kristin, I've got both eps on a tape (along with last week's VM and last night's LOST and ALIAS), but I haven't gotten around to watching them yet. I can send you the tape when I've gotten to them (maybe this weekend), or if I decide I'm never going to get to them.