Who put the Viagra in our pond?

During the last couple of months, our pond has turned into a nightly orgy of toad mating. Not frogs; just run-of-the-mill bufo americanus. But they sure do get it on every night. It's actually a pleasant noise, but maybe you have to have grown up in the sticks to appreciate them.

I don't know how the proud parents keep up with handing out cigars, as when I go outdoors to feed the fish, I can see dozens of tiny little toad babies hopping everywhere. I just hope I haven't trampled any. It would be a rather unpleasant ending if they last thing you saw was a mammoth human foot descending upon you. Plus they have made an amazing dent in the mosquito and slug populations.

Update: Jane Doe has been identified as of August 24, but her past suggests that perhaps she wasn't really suffering from amnesia.

Over the last few weeks, the local media has been publicizing the case of a woman with amnesia. I admit I feel particularly sorry for anyone with amnesia, particularly because it's still not well-understood by the medical profession.

Here is a story from today's newspaper, and a so-so photo - who knows, someone might stumble onto this blog and recognize her.

DALLAS - Found lying on the sidewalk of a residential street in Dallas and later diagnosed with amnesia, the woman who has been called "Jane Doe" for over a month now said she would simply liked to be called "Ann."

"Ann comes to mind," she said when asked of her name. "Ann is what I remember."

However, that's about all she can recall. Authorities have been trying to unravel the mystery of her identity ever since she was found on July 18.

"I remember stopping, getting gas and a drink and then driving to the airport in New Orleans, and those are the only things that I remember," she said.

Ann said she was alone and heading towards the airport to catch a plane before the rest of her memory went completely blank.

"I think I had an e-ticket, but I don't remember checking in," she said.

She is soft-spoken, has manicured nails and her hair, which is reddish-brown with a little bit of gray creeping in, has been professionally cut and colored.

While she said authorities said her age may be in her mid-20s, Ann said she remembers the age 40.

"I think it's more like 40," she said. "That may be the one thing that you don't want to admit to - 40 came to mind."

She said she is unaware of having any family or children.

Story contributor: JANET ST. JAMES / WFAA-TV jstjames@wfaa.com

One film I saw earlier this year, and really liked, was Thank You For Smoking. The dialogue was sharp and Rob Lowe was especially good. Since trailers for the film are pretty easy to find, I thought I'd post the opening credits instead:

The theme song dates back so far that my father had it on a 78 rpm record. I always liked the lyrics in which the lead singer (Tex Williams) mentions "I don't reckon they (cigarettes) hinder your health - I been smoking all my life and I ain't dead yet".

Wish I could find my dad's copy of the song, but 78s don't age well. A couple of years ago, we found some old Elvis Presley 78s - recorded on the Sun label, no less! - and tried to put them into sleeves, but just picking them up broke some of them.

Almost forgot to mention some Tex Williams trivia: a) he wasn't from Texas, he was from Illinois, and b) he died, aged 68, from lung cancer.

Us folks in Texas have generally quit worrying about getting hit by Hurricane Dean, although I feel sorry for our neighbors to the south who are currently getting drenched, or are still battening down their hatches.

I can't help but wonder if all this contributed to my having an odd dream about a cruise ship last night. I was at a shipyard when I'm suddenly standing in front of a massive cruise ship, although it was shaped oddly and riding way too high on the sea's surface as if it were almost weightless. Kind of like this:

I spotted some signs on the ship's deck, as it was hard to do as it was sitting so high, and I suddenly spotted one that wished my ex John Savelle a happy birthday. (Tomorrow is his birthday, and no I didn't send him a card or anything like that.)

I decide to board the ship to see John, but it's already moving. But somehow I'm able to board later, only to find a very glum ex. Seems that the local media dug some dirt on him regarding his past military career and it was published earlier in the day. As he usually is when appearing in other dreams of mine, he shows little or no interest in me, even though his wife is absent. Instead, he spends his time drinking or curled up in bed looking miserable.

Even though there's still an air of nervousness at my office (the corporate headquarters of a national mortgage company), the latest news has been oddly positive. I received an email alert from Forbes with news of the day's best and worst-performing stocks, and our company's stock was actually one of the best-performing ones. This was the same day (last week) that Countryside began to tank big-time. Those option ARMs are biting a lot of people in the collective ass. Thankfully we never pushed them, and discontinued the product entirely a while back.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the air quality here in Texas has gone to hell as it usually does in the late summer. The DOT puts up Ozone Warning signs, combined with a polite suggestion to Try Carpooling. I wouldn't mind carpooling but nobody at my office lives nearby. In the meantime, the air quality brings on my asthma full-force, almost always at night, so instead of sleeping I'm coughing. Or I use my emergency inhaler which stops the coughing but keeps me awake.

Finished watching the Japanese series Shotgun Marriage last night. I liked some characters, mainly Aki's two suitors and Chiyo/Aki's dad, but the lead actress (the knocked-up one) annoyed me more and more as the series went on. It was like she had multiple personality disorder. And Aki should have married the doctor.