"I saw this brown-haired guy on TV last night....oh...what was his name?" Mom questioned. Miles and I offered her dumbfounded looks. "Oh, YOU know! I was telling Charlie about him last night, and he guessed it right away."

"You mean you've had this conversation before and you still don't remember his name?" I asked wryly.

She chuckled. "No. He's an actor. He's had drug problems."

"Oh yeah, that's a really big help," Miles replied sarcastically.

"No, no. He's had a few run-ins with the law." Miles' expression mimicked his earlier response. "Oh, oh! I think he's been in a movie with that woman who steals things."

"Winona Ryder?"

"Yeah! And he might have played a lawyer once. I think."

Miles appeared to be holding back tides of rippling laughter. "You think? So let me get this straight, you're trying to think of an actor who has brown hair and a drug problem, been in trouble with the law, played a lawyer, and acted with that woman who steals things...is that right?"

"Yes! OH! And I think he might have had a hyphen in his name."

There was silence as we tried to piece the puzzle. Then, Mom, exasperated, reminded us, "Charlie got it RIGHT away."

I fumed, thinking snottily, "Well why don't you go ask Charlie then." She exclaimed suddenly, "William Downy, Jr.!"

I rolled my eyes. "Robert Downy, Jr., perhaps?"

"Yes, yes! That's it!"

"Where's the hyphen?"

"I said I thought he had a hyphen, not that I knew he did."

"Right. So what about Robert Downy, Jr.?"

"Huh? Oh, I've forgotten."

The stimulating conversation is in Wisconsin, I'm telling you.