First order of business. Peter today pointed out some additions to the English lexicon that I've been meaning to mention for a while. It is a set of at least three of them, perhaps more. The three I have in mind might be written pointizz, thingizz and factizz. You can hear them in sentences such as "You know the thingizz is that you fight over the batter, and you know, the sugar shock afterwards" (Tom Cruise on baking cookies). Of course Language Log and others have beaten me to this by miles and even managed to get into debates about analyses of it, so I won't go on any longer.

Second order of business. I have in my possession a Timberland gift card worth $100, that I have no earthly use for. It can be used at any Timberland store in the United States or Puerto Rico. I'm willing to give it up for as little as $85. That's like Free Money! If you're interested but are not near a Timberland store I could even acquire some goods for you from the one here, and send them. But I think for that service I'd have to waive the discount.

Third order of business. A week or so ago I walked through Isham Park on the way to work and spotted a juvenile raptor of some sort, probably a hawk. It was eagerly hunting the squirrels and crows there, though without much success. It wasn't quite fast enough to swoop down on the squirrels without them zigging or zagging away. It didn't do a great job of hiding its intentions for them either. A few times it went for the crows, flying right into them as they went between trees. The crows seemed at most annoyed by this.