So we're sitting around eating dinner and watching "American Idol," and we heard one of the contestants sing "A Hero Lies in You" by Mariah Carey. My amusing sister Jennifer looked at the plate that held the gyro sandwich I'd just finished, and observed, "A gyro lies in you."

Yes, this is the same sister who last year, while we were embroiled in moving, looked at the little toy bird I'd perched on her knee for no particular reason and said, "Why do birds suddenly appear?"