Frightening - Our Oceans are Turning Into Plastic

Disturbing article on plastic in the ocean.

I'm not sure how anyone could look at this photo of a turtle and not shudder:

And that's not even the tip of the iceburg.

Dr. vom Saal’s research spurred him to throw out every polycarbonate plastic item in his house, and to stop buying plastic-wrapped food and canned goods (cans are plastic-lined) at the grocery store. “We now know that BPA causes prostate cancer in mice and rats, and abnormalities in the prostate’s stem cell, which is the cell implicated in human prostate cancer,” he says. “That’s enough to scare the hell out of me.” At Tufts University, Ana M. Soto, M.D., a professor of anatomy and cellular biology, has also found connections between these chemicals and breast cancer.

“Except for the small amount that’s been incinerated—and it’s a very small amount—every bit of plastic ever made still exists,” Moore says, describing how the material’s molecular structure resists biodegradation. Instead, plastic crumbles into ever-tinier fragments as it’s exposed to sunlight and the elements. And none of these untold gazillions of fragments is disappearing anytime soon: Even when plastic is broken down to a single molecule, it remains too tough for biodegradation.

God, I could quote the whole article. Go read it.

Weekend Recap in photos

We went up to my parents' cottage on Lake Ontario, New York-side. The weather was mostly nice and we had a blast. All of our clothes smell like the cabin and campfire and dogs. There were Peanut Butter Cup s'mores (MUCH tastier than the old-school chocolate ones), home-brewed beer, lots of laughing, not too many mosquitos, dog blood spattered everywhere (my sister's dog got a tiny cut on her ear from a rose thorn. She shook her head all weekend and it just kept bleeding and bleeding. Don't worry, she's fine. And my dad's a vet. However, with the rain, etc., we were inside a lot and the head-shaking made quite a mess.)

Now for the photos:

Memorial Day Weekend

We are heading out of town for a fun-filled weekend at my parents' cottage way up north. Our landlords will be invading our house for a "fun-filled" weekend of gardening and home repairs. I've warned them that things are not, shall we say, clean and to please try to overlook this character failing. As they have a toddler, too, they just laughed at me.

I'm envisioning beach frolicking, BBQ clams and chicken, yummy home-brewed beer, lots of sunscreen, even more bugs, running around with bubbles and through sprinklers, napping in the oversized hammock and getting licked by over-zealous doggies.

I intend to take lots of photos when I'm not eating, drinking, frolicking or napping.

I hope you have a lovely weekend.

With that, I leave you with this:

Veronica Mars

Two whole hours of new Veronica and I didn't realize it until I made my way downstairs around 8:30. Ugh.

I'm sad because I know the show has been canceled. And that was hanging over the episodes - that this was the last time I'd see this group together. It definitely felt unfinished and incomplete.

Veronica, lying to her dad. AGAIN. That broke my heart - that he most likely won't stay sheriff because of her ego.

It was a bit scary when she was trying to find out more about the Castle. With whom did she think she was messing? She's so cocky and thoughtless sometimes and she gets herself into terrible situations because she actively seeks them out.

I will really miss this show.

Nineteen Months!

Instead of boring you with tales of Sophie's awesomeness, let me sum up this month with a set of photos:

Shh, Quiet, Monsters:

P.S.: she's awesome.

Heroes!

Holy moley, that was the most intense hour of television I've seen in a long time.

Stop reading if you haven't seen it yet because OMG I can't wait to write this until tomorrow.

Yay, Hiro!
Ando: "You look badass!" Hiro: "Really?" (big, goofy grin)

Yay, Nathan! That one caught me a bit by surprise.

Yay, Peter! Cool that Simone's dad transported him back to talk (I'm assuming that is what happened).

"Call me Noah." That made me tear up.

I actually liked Niki this time. That she had the courage to fight Sylar (does she know what he can do?) was awesome.

Update: with all the Candace hinting about being fat, etc., I fully expected that when she got knocked out by Niki that she would turn back to her true self. I think the writers messed that one up.

Scary that Molly talked about someone worse than Sylar. It totally got chills. Also that she knew Sylar was already there.

I wonder if the very bad man Molly alluded to has anything to do with the eclipse in the preview for next season? Probably not. Awesome that Hiro ends up in front of his hero.

Is Peter dead? Nathan must be after that explosion. I can't imagine the series without Peter. We still don't know what Grandma Petrelli can do.

I wonder if they are going to tell more of the geriatric Heroes' story - Simone's dad, Hiro's dad, Grandma Petrelli, Claude the Invisible (still missing...), Linderman, and etc.

[btw, how utterly awful does Final Four look? Also, why did they make a Transformers movie? Oh yeah, it's Michael Bay, of course. Hey, Michael Bay: your movies suck. Over-compensating much?]

Still no Wireless. I did just get an email from her, though:

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: wireless@samantha48616e61.com
Date: May 21, 2007 8:57 PM
Subject: Time to End This. Time for What is Next.

I'm in China. It's the only way. Learn more @ samantha48616e61.com.

Also…

Not sure what will happen to me next so you need to know when I broke into Linderman's files in Vegas a few weeks ago, I came across the name Kaito Nakamura several times.

We should learn more about him.

I found this site: www.yamagatofellowship.org.

Start there.

HG

What else?

The Big Pet Food Recall List

Here is the latest list of pet foods on the big recall list.

We've been feeding our cats Wellness brand cat food for a few years now. So far they have not been added to the list.

What's disturbing to me about all of this is that the cheap brands and the, supposedly, higher-end brands all came from the same place. Slap a stylized bag around it and you can charge a lot more.

Dogster is keeping on top of all the news coming out about this. Helpful to check their site because it seems to be updated more frequently than the FDA site. Big surprise.

False Alarm

Well, no tornadoes. Way to spread the panic, National Weather Service.

The kitties, who panic at the mere suggestion of water, didn't make their way into the basement because the house has no gutters and a sheet of water was blocking their path. I found them huddled together under one of the wicker porch chairs. It's a covered porch, but still. Silly kitties.

In other news, I made myself a yummy snack yesterday at lunch. This is a recipe my sister uses to weed out her true friends. If you can't finish it, then she's finished with you.

You take a coffee mug, put a whole bunch of chocolate chips in it (I hacked some chunks off one of my bittersweet chocolate blocks because Aaron seems to have eaten all the chocolate chips), melt them in the microwave for about a minute, stir in a spoonful of peanut butter and then stir in some oats.

Yummy! Filling! Holy crap, I almost couldn't finish it but I don't want to be de-friended by my sister so I soldiered my way through it.

------------
For the grandmothers at home: Sophie counted to fourteen this weekend when we went to the playground. Except after ten she said: One-teen, Two-teen, Three-teen, Four-teen. Pretty perceptive of her, I think. Hmmph, Eleven is for suckers. Also, she's started using longer sentences: "Momma, read a book now, pease? 'Kay, cank cue, Momma." "Ow, rain hurt my head. 'Top it!" (She insisted on going into the yard while it was raining. Apparently the rain hurts.) "Rain! You go 'way!"

She's also in a narrative phase: "Momma, talkin' teffone. Daddy walkin' 'way. Tabs outside? Momma sit dere. Drivin'. Keys? Gasses? 'kay, home now, pease."

Oh No, Dorothy!

I live in New England. We don't get tornadoes except very rarely. However, our severe thunderstorm weather has just been upgraded to a tornado watch until 6 p.m. WTH? We don't know what to do in a tornado!

Any advice? The sky is a very angry dark green and the trees are blowing sideways. Also, it is raining so hard that it looks like the building is moving through a very aggressive carwash.

Good thing I let the cats outside at lunch time.

Also a good thing that Tabitha is smart and she told Otto about the window in the basement. Hopefully they'll keep their wits about them and not panic long enough to get themselves back inside.

Heroes

Sulu is a good guy! I loved the scenes with Hiro and his dad. How long were they in that room training? No wonder Ando left - he must have been getting anxious to get Sylar.

Funny that Ted asked: "Who's Sylar?" And then poor Ted. Yikes.

So we know that the Petrellis' dad had powers but we don't know what. I guess Linderman isn't their dad. Still don't know Grandma's power. What do you think it is?

Did D.L. die? In the previews for next week, it looks like he's alive.

So the shapeshifter's cute body is not her real one? Little comments about being fat and people see what they want to see, etc. In the other future, she's killed by Sylar at some point - I wonder how he gets to her? Maybe everything falls apart because Linderman is dead. I guess Linderman can't heal himself if his brain is smushed.

Where is the invisible man? Where is Wireless? Where is the Haitian?

Bringing the FBI agents back was odd. I wonder why they did that?

What else?

Happy Mother's Day!

We're having fabulous weather here this weekend. Aaron put together a yummy breakfast of bagels and smoked salmon and eggs and Sophie has been very huggable all day.

She's had diarrhea for the last several days and we don't quite know why. I called "NOT IT" on the diapers this morning because Damn. Also, it's Mother's Day. Mother's Day = hugs and smooches and no brain-melting poop.

We went to a local playground after her morning nap and she insisted on only going down the biggest slide in the park. A long, enclosed tube that goes in a spiral down to the ground. And she'd only go down on my lap. Well, once with Aaron. And then there was lots of swinging that seemed to tire her out because as soon as we got home, she wanted to go back to sleep. No lunch.

She doesn't have a fever and she's not puking. She is drinking a lot of water, so that's good. Basically, we're just keeping an eye on things because there are no other symptoms.

Anyhoo, I hope all you mommies have a Happy Mother's Day. My life has changed so much with Sophie. Most of my opinions and ideas about how to raise a child have been questioned and flexed and refined and reworked. I had no clue about a lot of things and I've learned to be flexible and open-minded and let Sophie take the lead in some situations.

And to my Mom: four kids?! Amazing. The energy and commitment it takes to raise one precocious child is extreme; I can't imagine raising four kids with very different temperaments and personalities. Not only did you raise us all to be strong people, but you did it with panache and with an added sense of wonderment and magic. Notes from Santa and the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy, bootprints by Santa and nibbles out of Rudolph's carrots. The importance of holidays and birthdays. Fostering our imaginations with tales of leprechauns and fairies.

Thank you, Mom. I strive to add the same sense of magic to Sophie's childhood.

Hugs.

Sorry, ladies, he's taken

My very handsome hubby:

I forgot to mention that we went down to visit my sister and her awesome family this weekend. We had a blast. The whole fam damily was there (except for my dad, but he doesn't count because he NEVER comes down on the family weekends). 6 kids, 9 adults all staying in one house. And we fit! Barely. Lots of laughing and fun and playing outside.

This is what comes to mind when I think about the weekend:

18 month stats

I realized I forgot to list Sophie's 18-month height/weight stats from her appointment a few weeks ago. For those playing at home, she's 32.5 inches tall (95th percentile) and 23lbs, 13 oz heavy (around 30th percentile).

She's also in the 100th percentile for cute.

Heroes

Uh oh, Hiro's sword! Does Sulu fix it?

And I know it was in the preview, but it was freaky when Sylar looked at Hiro when he was supposed to be frozen in time.

How did Sylar get the freezing power? From one of Molly's parents? So Molly is the Walker system, then - what Primatech is using to track the heroes?

I predict that Claire will not shoot Peter. Maybe Wireless will, by accident. On her site, she's talking about a meeting with Parkman, Sprague and Bennet.

So the shapeshifter can shapeshift buildings, too? Or is her power much more than just changing herself to look/act/talk like people?

Another theory of mine: Linderman is Nathan and Peter's father.

Question that has been bugging me: in last week's episode, FutureHiro's big plan was to save Claire so that he could kill Sylar. But in that future, Claire WAS saved, so why was Sylar still alive? PresentHiro had already worked to save her.

What else?

Entertainment Weekly: Heroes

Entertainment Weekly has 5 different covers this week and they all contain clues to the season finale of Heroes.

Amy Winehouse

I'm officially obsessed with Amy Winehouse. She is amazing. I sincerely hope she doesn't burn out. What I would give to be able to sing like that.

Update: I just found this comparison of photos of Amy. She looked so gorgeous on the right. I hope she gets help.

Veronica Mars!

Yeeee! It's back on!

Piz was absolutely adorable last night and even though I didn't really feel the chemistry between him and Veronica, I like the idea of them together. I'm bored with mumbling Logan.

What was up with the woman Piz and Wallace brought to the party? Was she in college? She seemed much older.

Also, did you see Gilmore Girls last night? Lauren Graham is very talented and I was feeling her pain while she was singing "I will always love you" and Luke walked in. Ugh, heartbreaking and awkward. Also - Rory and Logan are going to get engaged? Interesting. I really, really wish Alexis Bledel would just stand up straight. Her slouchy shoulders are very distracting.

Mission Accomplished!

Lest we all forget.

May 1, 2003, George Bush: "Major combat operations in Iraq have ended."

Since then, 3,211 of our soldiers have died in combat. Oh, sorry, not-combat. More than 26,000 soldiers have been wounded.

When is this going to end?

Heroes!

Whew! What a great episode!

Sylar as Nathan blew me away. I did not see that coming AT ALL. When he started to kill Claire, my jaw dropped to the floor. And when he flew out of the press conference? Awesome.

Future Hiro! He's so grumpy because Ando died. I wonder if the comic book page he handed to Present Hiro was the page about Ando dying. If he can't save anyone else, save Ando.

Again loved Peter's character. Loved the Matrix-like fighting scenes.

Still hate Mohinder.

What happened to Jessica? Why is it only Niki now?

So Sylar killed the shape-shifter and Nathan and D.L. (loved when he grabbed Peter through the door) and Ted Sprague. Who else? Micah?

Where was Linderman?

Who is this new little girl, Molly? What kind of power does she have to be able to kill Sylar? And why didn't they use her the first time?

How is Hiro going to kill Sylar? Obviously he stabs him, but how does he get that close?

Also, that was a massive scar on Peter's face. If he can regenerate - what caused a scar like that?

We briefly saw Wireless this time - she was the woman helping Bennett.

What else?