I read something recently (possibly the NYT? Or NPR?) that said they've actually determined that it's not just pine nuts from China, it may also be the ones from Italy, and there's no way they've discovered to predict it. Which kind of sucks.

Ah, here it is.

[link]

Speculation has long raged as to whether the culprit is a Chinese variety of pine nut, Pinus armandii. It wasn't traditionally eaten in Europe and the United States, where most cases of pine nut mouth have cropped up, but has made its way into the global market in recent years.

Still, there's no firm evidence that P. armandii is the culprit. So scientists at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration tried to solve the mystery by running pine nuts through a gas chromatograph, and testing nut DNA, a la CSI. They used 45 samples, including 17 that had been associated with cases of pine nut mouth.

*****

Adding to the mystery is the fact that it's still unclear if it's the nuts or the people that are causing the problem. The scientists say it could be both.

I don't always see the reason to name cats, since they don't come if you call them.

Mine do! Leo also knows the difference between being called "Leo" and being called "Leonardo".

Mine do!

Seriously? That's cool.

Maybe I should stop calling Switch "Bad Kitty" all the time.

MFNlaw can attest to the fact that Loki and Pumpkin know their names. Hell, even Devi, Queen of Indifference. Whether they'll follow your orders is another thing.

I named my two cars. I don't name my electronics, except every time I get a new laptop and the set up asks me to name it, I name it HAL, because I am so original. Time and again.

I do have "That's a keeper," inscribed on the back of my Nano (which has no name), because it's what my friend (who was, among other things, a karaoke host) would say to someone after a particularly good-for-them song. It was sweet, as was he, and he died suddenly, and I like having it there; I miss him. And it's a music thing, and he was a music dude, so it just seemed right.

I named my basil plants Little Dudes. Does that count?

I think my inherent "dog person" is showing. Not that I don't love the cats! But they're very much ... cats.

Shadow knows his name. Unfortunately, he has begun to react most favorably to My Lord and Sir.

I name my electronics, but I don't always call them by name out loud.

However, since I do sometimes, I'm clearly crazy.

And I swear I was calling my car (all my cars) "Baby" long before I encountered the Winchesters. It just seems to make sense.

So out of curiosity, and only if you don't mind answering, what did he name them?

Shock and Awe. He might have had some issues, and I might have...really enjoyed pushing his buttons with them.

Like, he seriously couldn't look at them. It's not like I was topless or anything. I mean, when I was fully dressed, he'd sometimes close his eyes rather than pan across my chest. Or, like, stare at my hairline to minimise the threat of them being in his peripheral vision.

How could I resist that temptation?

The first time I heard about beastiality, I had an opinion about it in under 5 seconds.

For good or for ill (ILL! ILL!) it's that sort of a topic, I thought.

Huh. [link] Okay, I *used* to be able to make it through a work day without peeing, but I know that's not healthy. Or normal. Is this a vaguely practical thing to do? Or can we just admit that it's really hard, and it really sucks to be between that rock and that hard place and then not raise our risk UTIs for a month?