2005 began at the super-snazzy Cascade Theater in Redding (above), hosted by Turtle Bay Exploration Park, where I shared the bill with forensic entomologist Dave Falk (below, left) and Hollywood bug wrangler Steve Kutcher (below, center).

Other '05 highlights: visits to the Fernbank Museum in Atlanta, where these charmers (above) were introduced to the joys of entomophagy, and the Exploreum in Mobile (below), where I learned you don't need a full set of choppers to crunch a grasshopper.