Well, it's been a while, but I thought I'd return with a photo of a new "friend" I found in my back yard: a giant (fist-sized) toad.

The toads here burrow underground, coming out when there's enough rain to surive. Hopefully this one will be OK; I poisoned a nearby ant hill (full of large, biting red ants) that he/she might have been using for food.

Other news: I discovered that the compliation "Whore: various artists play Wire" has a My Bloody Valentine song that I've never heard before (apparently the last one they recorded). I ordered the CD from Amazon last week and was pleasently surprised that it had arrived already today. I've been listening to the MBV song (Map Ref 41 N 93 W) over and over.