Incidentally, the “graffiti” girl’s story was of particular interest to me since I used to spend hours “tagging” my parents’ driveway. Here is some of my early handiwork — I had a penchant for drawing transvestites.

… and that’s me. I was certainly a grubby thing, huh?
–S.

Did you hear about the little Park Slope girl who got in trouble for doodling with chalk on the sidewalk? Some old-biddy neighbor reported her to city officials, lumping the drawings in with graffiti.

Now it’s been said that chalking is a gateway crime. Indeed. The girl recently rolled up her sleeves and defiantly drew again! Cheeky!

If she’s not careful she could have a career on her hands. Just look what happened to this man.

–S.

Used to be that I hated seeing most kinds of clouds. The big fluffy ones set against a blue sky were OK. So were the dark gray ones rolling in and promising a good, creepy thunderstorm. But as for all of the others? Eh. Until now. I’ve been reading The Cloudspotter’s Guide: The Science, History, and Culture of Clouds by Gavin Pretor-Pinney — the founder of The Cloud Appreciation Society — and I love it.

So far of particular interest was the tale of a pilot — Lt.-Col. William Rankin — who as Pretor-Pinney puts it, “got intimate with a Cumulonibus.” While flying directly over a large storm, Rankin’s aircraft experienced engine trouble, and Rankin was forced to eject. He parachuted right through the Cumulonibus — complete with lightning, torrential rain, and hail — and managed to get away with only decompression sickness, frostbite, welts, assorted bruises, (and a phenomenal story to tell at dinner parties.)

–S.

The pond is really well-established now. It even has frogs, and I catch them sunning themselves on the rocks from time to time. Well, never really at the same time, so maybe I only have one frog that gets out a whole lot. I’m not sure. Anyway, look here if you don’t believe me…

Does anyone out there know just what kind of frog he is? I’d really like to know what to call him.

–S.

What does it mean when no one notices your new haircut? That it is so bad that it’s better not to speak of it? That people just don’t look at each other much anymore? What?

James did it. Turn-about is, after all, fair play.

–S.