Hi there! I'm a Really Weird Typo...

I was just looking at a brochure for our local YMCA, and right at the end it admonishes the reader that

100% attendance and participation are required for courses marked with an apteryx (*).

I'm used to seeing it misspelled asterix (not to be confused with the indomitable Gaul), but this is a new one. Excuse me while I squint at that tiny star to see if it really does resemble a wingless bird with hairy feathers...

Is it eight o'clock yet?

"Mommy," said my four-year-old son, "Are there two winners on Canadian Idol?"

"Not after tomorrow night," I said. "There'll be just one."

"Oh," he said. "Then the winner must be Kalan. Because he sang the rockingest songs."

I did not teach him this. Honestly. Nor did I anticipate that both my preschoolers would fall utterly in love with Kalan's version of "Born to be Wild" on the first hearing and beg me to play the video (or just the MP3) over and over while they sang along. They don't seem to care much for Jacob (who I would think is "rockinger" on the surface), and Theresa (whom I quite like) leaves them unmoved. But Kalan's more upbeat performances seem to go over really big with them. Heh.

Oh, and GIP!