To all who sent love, thoughts, and/or gifts: you have my sincere thanks, and I reciprocate your feelings (but I don't not reciprocate your gifts; I'm keeping those). To those who didn't: you 're not getting any cake.

Today Dennis Ferina, an actor and former Chicago policeman, was arrested at LAX trying to board a plane with a loaded handgun in his suitcase. His defense? "I forgot it was in there." He forgot. Oh, okay. He just forgot. Let him go boys.

What?!? In what universe is it a logical possibility to 'forget' that you have a loaded gun stored in your suitcase? Is he suggesting that he always keeps a loaded gun in his suitcase when he's NOT traveling, and then when he needs to use the luggage, he removes the gun? Or perhaps he was threatening his socks and left the gun in there for intimidation, all the while intending to take it out before he got to the airport.

If you're going to lie, at least make it a good one.

Nine-hundred dollars and a new transmission later, the Corolla is back on it's feet. Here's to another 100,000 miles and our forthcoming "economic stimulus" check. We would have just stuffed it in the bank anyway.

... ... ... I've been staring at a blank page for a while, and nothing really is coming to mind ... ... ... I've got nothing.

This evening, I had my first class of the new semester. Psychopharmacology is meant to be the study of how medication treats psychological problems. It's team-taught by two MDs and could be an interesting class, but I wasn't particularly encouraged when one of them suggested that "everything" we learn in the class could be obsolete within "two months." Really motivates me to study hard.