I know I'm a little late re: the commute conversation. But I have to vent: it took me two hours and fifteen minutes to get to Denver this am. One hour for the first 70 miles and another 1:15 for the last 15.

The only good in that is that it has mostly cured the pining I had been doing for a particular job up here.

Roger Ebert's article on food and memory, now that he no longer eats nor drinks.

Yeah, on days like today I'm glad I don't drive to work. I've read that trips on the expressway that normally take 30 minutes are taking 2 hours.

Another contender for Odd Headline o' the Day: Study Reveals How Flies Mate by Shaving Them with a Laser

With extra added bonus picture of a naked Jeff Goldblum as The Fly....

Michal Polak and Arash Rashed pretty much man-scaped the male flies with a laser to see how it affected their sexual performance. The spines themselves were too small to cut by hand. They did it with such surgical precision that they could cut off a third of each millimetere-long spine, or the whole darn thing.

As it turns out, the spines are like biological Velcro. A partial shave did nothing, but getting a full blown Brazilian wax reduced the odds of mating to around 20-percent.

Two of my co-workers drive in from Grayslake, about 35 miles away, which normally takes them an hour (they leave home at 5:30, get in at 6:30, and then they leave at 3:00 pm). Today, they didn't get on the road until 5:50, but then didn't get in until 7:30. They're thinking about leaving earlier than usual this afternoon to beat some of the traffic (and snow) home.

Here our groupon is $20 for $60 worth of photo books. I bought one.

I got one too, Suzi, since it's an online company! I am thinking of having one made for Christine, our day care provider, who has been with Noah forever when he goes to school in the fall. I'm not sure how I'll do it. But I bet I can get pictures of her kid.... hmmmm...

I have noticed that both the SO & I are far less congested since we started using the kettle on the woodstove. (Which unlike the fireplace is supposed to have a hot surface up there. Mine is a dual level so I can have a cooking surface and a warming surface both. Loves it, I do.) I also haven't had a single nosebleed since then, when usually I have them regularly, even when I try to hydrate throughout the day.

Although it's also easier for me to hydrate now, what with the constantly boiling water in the kettle. Mmm, tea.

I did want what I had ready for lunch. Only I now also want it again. And after yesterday's big dinner, and not having worked out yet today, I'm pretty sure that's a bad idea.

I'm getting a ton done in the office today. But now I've run up against something I need to ask the SO about, and of course he's just left the house.

For the thrift store.

To buy disco clothes.

For church.

Hee. We're covering "We Are Family" this Saturday. Fun, fun. Assuming the leader gets home. He appears to be more or less stuck in the weather, too. Our weather is fine here. Lovely and cold, but clear. I need to restack the woodpile, I think.

Ohhhh, Kat, that sounds like a wonderful gift. I was really impressed with the albums I have seen.

While I'm not happy about being sick but I'm glad I'm not driving on the icy roads today.

Man, I can't imagine losing eating and drinking. My appetite has been shot all to hell by nausea this week, but that's not the same thing, by a far measure.

Being a babyface could be good for your health.

GOOD FUCKING LORD. British Columbia Transit System has the worst fucking website for the fucking bus tickets for the Olympics EVER. I just spent 45 minutes trying to figure out how to navigate it and I clicked a mystery link and finally got to where I needed to purchase tickets for the Olympics.

YES THE OLYMPICS WHICH WE ARE GOING TO NEXT MONTH. Ahem. I'm kinda excited.