The Column One story in the L.A. Times today grew out of reporter Rosie Mestel being told by a doctor, at age 43, that she did not have a left kidney. She was stunned to learn this, but it turns out there's nothing very unusual about missing a major organ or having one too many. It happens, more often than you think.

It was reassuring to discover I was surrounded by nonstandard humans, but it only made me more determined to find out how I had gotten this way.

Seems like a good time to note that L.A. Times Books recently collected the best of Column One, chosen by the paper's editors. More info is at the Times Books site. They are also pushing a new work by photo artist Ed Freeman called Desert Realty. He shoots pictures of derelict buildings then digitally places the images in bleak desert scenes, to interesting effect. Yes, this is the same LATB that publishes me.