Last week, I walked through my lab to get to my office and to get out. I spent some time in the lab talking with people who work there. But I did not lift a tweezer. Instead, I wrote. And looked out the window pretending to write. Also, I read papers on topics relevant for the discussion of the paper I am writing. And looked out the window. Some reading was more or less reminding myself what I had read before and forgotten; other reading was new and useful. People do publish. Now that I have soaked up this stuff (by the process of mental osmosis, otherwise known as: neurosis), I have to confront the limits of a discussion. Just how many degrees of separation can there be between my data and those in the literature? I suppose it is all a question of telling the story and the difference between a shaggy dog and a Kennel Club poodle is all in how you use the scissors. This week, I will be snipping.