Thank you. Weeki Wachee's been around for ages — heck, it looks like this summer, they're having a 65th AnniversaryMermaid Reunion.

Not just tripping balls, but tripping balls with guns and a f'n rocket launcher. Oy!

You forgot about crows, cockatoos (pictured but not listed) & mynahs, all of which, especially hill mynahs, mimic human speech. Budgies, too, though of course they're just small parrots.

The world needs the Electric Hellfire Club with Dr Teeth as Sebastian Shaw & Janice as Emma Frost.

Going by the linked article, it doesn't sound like tea will do it. Even smoking it isn't efficient because, apparently, catnip burns too quickly.

And here I thought catnip had about as much psychoactive value for humans as banana peels.

The father and 4 year old son may well have been allowed to continue flying, when the domestic dispute angle was uncovered, specifically because of the outrage against the TSA. Had they NOT been allowed to continue, there would likely have been angry posts defending the innocent father and child, who were framed by…

Something has to keep us ugly bags of mostly water together.

I experience it the same way. It feels like an icepick through my right eye. I have to be really careful, because the pain can be debilitating. Milkshakes or similar are the worst, I presume because they flow around & cool a large area, but are still viscous enough to stick & keep cooling said area. I have to take…

Good. I can feel your anger. Strike down the Twi-hards with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete.

This is a funny article.

As long as you didn't believe his last name was "Lee," eh, True Believers?

She's off with Tiana doing something other than being an accessory.

I'm just trying to understand how "summer tan" = "black." In Louisiana. 'Cause, you know, it's not like folks ever get tan in Louisiana. Or there weren't free Creoles. Or quadroons or octaroons. But, hey, it's YA and it has magic; logic need not apply, Which, come to think of it, can often be said of narcissism writ…

Anything that gets your body working makes it stronger. IOW, controlling your life so that you experience no stress just means that, when some unavoidable stress pops up, you have no coping mechanism. You can't handle the stress because you no longer know how. It's sort of the other end of the spectrum from the…

Thanks for a very interesting & enlightening read. My research on PTSD has mostly centered around the present and the future: what do we know, and what can we do? I had wondered idly about historic precedents but, other than shell shock, hadn't gone too far with it. I was particularly struck by the array of data from…

You might think that, but you would be wrong.

Aurochsen were absolute bad-asses.

I find them somewhat hit or miss. UH is very good, but suffers from a rather too swift wrap-up. The one about Vikings & Celts (I've slipped the title) is good, but not as interesting as, say Tigana or Lions of al-Rassan. I couldn't get into his modern fantasy, Ysabel, but, of course, YMMV. All that being said — I…

This is a really great article. A modern fantasy author whom I think excels at this (among other things) is Guy Gavriel Kay. His supporting characters are very finely drawn, and almost always have their own clear arc. This arc, of course, underscores either thematic or plot material in a larger sense without being…