I'm not normally a fan of Fox News, but this editorial regarding the latest Michael Jackson mess is the most sensible one I've seen on the subject. "Hmmmm, let's see. Reclusive guy, addicted to plastic surgery, spends millions on bizarre hobbies, admits to sleeping with kids, never has sexual relationships or even close friendships with adults of either sex, keeps his own children veiled and in seclusion, dangles his baby out of a window, appears terrified of casual contact with the general public. Golly, y'think I should let my kid stay over at his place?"

There must be a lot of running with scissors going on ....

Okay, it's official. Only the most dedicated entomologist would do fieldwork in a state game area in Michigan during gun season.

Yup, it was the fault of those Formica exsectoides again. I'm going to be working for Cathy at Michigan State next semester, and this may have been the last warm day of the year that I could be free to do the necessary preliminary fieldwork. Fortunately, my wardrobe includes numerous layers of blaze orange. It also helps that I'm not much of a morning person; most of the serious shootin' is done before noon, and I didn't get to my field site until 12:30. Still, although I've been out in the Michigan woods in November before, this was the first time that I made such a trip into an area where gunfire was audible from several directions.

All in all, a successful trip: The ants were active, I collected 40 specimens from six mounds, and I didn't go straight from the site to a taxidermy shop aboard the hood of anyone's pickup truck. I do have one question, though: Just how would one label a collection of preserved entomologists?