Archeology

SHILOH JOLIE-PITT?? Sounds like a sponsored archeological dig site . . .

The NYT reporter who herself was given a middle numeral in place of a middle name -- Jennifer 8. Lee -- wrote a story a few weeks back about the exploding popularity of the newly created girl's name Nevaeh (some MTV rocker spelled "heaven" backward to create some unique magic, and made his daughter's name quite ordinary in the process.)

When it comes to the private lives and to mother power especially, I might snort or satirize a bit but I let the private choices and divergent experiences of other folks wash over me like smooth waves of electromagnetic force. I ponder possible connections and contrasts in my own experience, but I seldom consider how to disrupt and redirect their course to one I'd find more suitable or seemly for them.

So here's the flow of my thoughts today --

Moms creating, delivering and naming new babies is ordinary magic, the kind I've practiced privately myself. Celebrity moms like Angelina Jolie or Gwen Stefani deliver their unusually named babies to a riveted world though the same kind of ordinary creation magic that humble and anonymous moms and dads experience, the same everyday "real magic" through which every muggle who ever lived in this real world arrived.

[via BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | 'Jurassic beaver' found in China]:

Castorocauda lutrasimilis, which was unearthed in China, is a species previously unknown to science.

It dates back to 164 million years ago, a time when mammals were thought to be primitive creatures confined to land.

But this animal was adapted to life in water, meaning scientists may now have to rethink their theories.

Who knew wet, furry and hot-blooded beavers roamed with dinosaurs. That goes to show that being a mammal and surviving the apocalyspe unleashed by a comet's crashing into Earth is really, really hot.