The Colorado potato beetles are gone from my work area now. Reliable sources tell me that they were taken away and then fed some heavily pesticide-laced potato leaves as part of a toxicity experiment. They will skriiiitcchhh and scraaaaaaattttccchh in my office no more. As always: Be careful what you wish for.

Cathy and I seem to make amazing breakthroughs while drinking coffee, something we make time to do together in the midst of almost every afternoon that I spend in East Lansing. (She drinks latte; as I mentioned in passing last time, I prefer my espresso shots blended into a dark roast brew. What the hey; I tolerate caffeine much better than I do lactose.) That's why the project took a great leap forward in our favorite Grand River java joint this afternoon. I foresee a weekend of reading many, many journal articles. And drinking more coffee. Lock up your biscotti; I'm on a roll now.