Cool news from afar, and from the bathroom counter

I’ve seen a couple of cool news stories in the past few days, and thought I’d share:

-- A ghost orchid has been found blooming in Florida.  This type of orchid is an endangered species, and this particular plant is unusual because it features nine blooms, and is located in a cypress tree about 150 feet off the ground!  I’ve been fascinated by orchids ever since I read, ”The Orchid Thief” (a book which would probably make my list of my top ten favourite books).  The book inspired me to buy my first orchid about four years ago, but it’s never bloomed.  At least I haven’t killed it.

-- A group of explorers from TIGHAR are on their way to the South Pacific to look for the remains of Amelia Earhart and her plane.  From what I’ve read, this group has made the biggest advances in finding out what happened to Earhart, and their hypothesis is very practical and logical.  This expedition is called “Niku V”.  It’s very sad that bones which were probably Earhart’s remains were “lost” in the 1940’s, but this expedition hopes to find other evidence of her presence in a place called Gardner Island.  Women’s shoes were discovered there years ago, so who knows what other evidence is lurking?  Good luck to them and I hope they find what they’re looking for… it must be a very exciting event to participate in.  If you want to know more about TIGHAR’s previous missions to the island, check out the book, ”Finding Amelia”. 

-- This isn’t conventional “news”, but about two weeks ago, my beloved Sonicare toothbrush died.  It had been used daily since 1998, so I can’t complain about its lifespan, but I do kind of resent the inability to replace the rechargable battery with a new one.  Regardless, we needed a new toothbrush, and a couple of nights of “conventional” toothbrush usage left me with no doubt that I wanted another Sonicare.  We ended up with the Sonicare Elite 9500 because we got a good deal on it, and I’m now in oral hygiene heaven.  It’s more powerful than our old Sonicare, and it does such an amazing job of getting teeth clean.  I’m a flosser, so I can tell what gunk the toothbrush leaves behind, and this one is doing a super job.  The “ultrasonic” sensation takes some getting used to, but it’s soooooo worth it.  Neither Flippy nor I have dental insurance, so it’s a medical expense which gets overlooked for years at a time, and I’ve no doubt that the Sonicare people have saved us much more in dentistry expenses than we’ve ever spent on their products.  If we can get another eight years out of this brush, that will be wonderful.

-- This isn’t news either, but… is there anything better than, “So You Think You Can Dance?” I love the show so much, I think I might even love it more than “The Amazing Race” and “Survivor” and “American Idol”.  It’s the only TV show Flippy and I are actively following this summer, although we’ve watched a couple of episodes of “Hey Paula” just for the horrific thrill.  I never had an opinion about Paula Abdul—I didn’t love her, I didn’t hate her, she was just a fairly pleasant judge on AI.  After seeing “Hey Paula”, not only do I think she’s a train wreck, I don’t like her at all.  If she agreed to this show to “improve” her public image, it’s not working.  She whines, she has tantrums, and she doesn’t seem to have the slightest ability to take care of herself or to deal with any sort of setback or conflict.  Worst of all, she seriously says things like, “Why don’t people treat me like the gift that I am?” Can you imagine saying that about yourself?  In just three half-hour episodes, her entire personal staff seems to have turned over, proving how much fun she is to work for.  The only redeeming quality she seems to have is that she loves her dogs and treats them well, but other than that, she needs to get a grip.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 07/13 at 01:45 AM

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