It's some kind of wacky hybrid eclipse that you can only fully appreciate from, like Tahiti. But I get around 25% coverage, which is worth poking a hole on a piece of cardboard for.

Clearly, you have the wrong priorities. booking express flight to Tahiti.

I don't know what kind of sponges you're using, ita, but that doesn't sound right.

sponge-worthy

Heh. Haven't heard that in a while. No soup for you! One year!

Which reminds me that I need to find some lunch.

Awwww -- Duck lays eggs in front of Treasury:

Security is tight in front of the White House for a new resident -- a Mallard hen sitting on nine eggs she laid at the foot of a sapling over the weekend.

The mother duck chose for her nest a fresh heap of mulch on the sidewalk outside the heavily guarded entrance of the Treasury Department, next door to the presidential residence.

Secret Service officers have erected metal stanchions around the tree to shield the incubating bird from passersby on the crowded pedestrian plaza in the heart of the U.S. capital.

"I'm getting more calls on this than on the Chinese currency," Treasury spokesman Rob Nichols said.

Treasury staff have dubbed the bird "T-bill", "Duck Cheney", and "Quacks Reform", Nichols said.

Treasury Secretary John Snow, who "had been briefed on the duck", paused to pay it a visit after testifying before Congress on Thursday, the spokesman added.

The mallard chicks are expected to hatch at the end of the month.

And, hee! It's Stitch!

Treasury staff have dubbed the bird "T-bill", "Duck Cheney", and "Quacks Reform", Nichols said.

Those wacky Treasury staffers!

Treasury Secretary John Snow, who "had been briefed on the duck",

I wish I could have seen that briefing. Although it was probably just a few Powerpoint slides....

I wish I could have seen that briefing

"It's a duck, sir, not a terrorist plot. It's a mother duck sitting on her eggs. Mother's Day is next month. Let's just leave the duck alone."

PlayStation maker Sony Corp (SNE.N). has been granted a patent for beaming sensory information directly into the brain.

Cashmere, the fact that you have a "usually" for this situation does not make me happy. Yikes.

Kate, we're on the fringe of a nice neighborhood (the governor's mansion is five minutes away) that is wedged between three very questionable neighborhoods. The bad is that those folks move into the bad neighborhoods close enough to warrant a notification. The good is that our municipality has more police per resident than any other in this city. Also, my next-door neighbor is a cop, so other than being freaked out by the idea, we're still pretty safe.

That's not to say that we're not looking to move out of the fringe and into the legitimately nicer part of our neighborhood in the next few years.

Noon already. How'd that happen?

Today I need to decide what I want for lunch before I go out. Yesterday I tried the "walk around until I figure out what I want" method, and it turned out what I wanted was two new pairs of shoes.