Japan has better toilets than we do. That's the general gist of the Scientific American article, "From Thrones to Robo-Commodes: The Pitfalls of Inventing a Better Toilet". The article holds this gem about how they made a toilet that, er, washes your bits after you're done:
This is a 48-page TOTO history published by Weekly Sankei magazine in 1985 ( Read more... )

• 08:51 "if a young lady misses her period, Pliny wrote, induce menstruation by slicing three hard-boiled eggs, reheating them on the hearth, an ...

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• 11:37 My aunt: "We have to either bless or curse what I have here."
• 11:58 Dad: "Boil up some spaghetti." Mom: "That's not my forte."
• 13:39 Dad: "...now this is about football, not about brains, but it's similar."

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• 06:44 The nights are getting colder, and the mornings are darkening.
• 11:13 Receptionist: "Mike, you have calls on 1 and 2." Pause. "You go, Mike."
• 14:52 Cold feet, I have not missed you, but I see that you're back anyway. Phil hasn't missed you either.
• 15:11 It is cold enough to warrant my fleece slippers.
• 15:28 Gah. I pretty much lost the last two ( Read more... )

• 07:05 ++Swordwork in the back yard while the world wakes up around me.
• 08:53 WalMart is against Obama? One more point in his favor!
• 10:15 Boss: "It's Minnesota. You don't hear any complaints until you feel the gun in your side."
• 10:16 "Fear and Loathing" is the midnight show at the Uptown this Sat.
• 14:27 Dear body, just because there was exercise ( Read more... )

• 08:23 "Within hours of his demise in 1955, Albert Einstein’s brain was salvaged, sliced into 240 pieces and stored in jars for safekeeping." - ...
• 09:12 CSA pickup today, and I'm already behind because I hardly cooked last week.
• 09:22 So tempting & easy! Ice Cream in a Bag. (NYT) ping.fm/A7rT2
• 09:47 Dear editors: Having a contest where the "prize" ( Read more... )

• 08:01 They finally cleaned the NgithOwl fridge, blocking the emergence of the Ancient Ones for another decade.
• 10:51 "You don't say everything. You leave a space in the poem for the reader to enter and fill in." - Ondaatje.
• 11:30 From doc title: "Combustible Gas Channel." Brilliant! All explosions, all the time!
• 13:52 Rather annoyed that Twitter ( Read more... )

• 10:31 If I had butter, I would make pancakes or French toast. ::grump::
• 11:13 "I am learning to get online myself," said McCain, "and I will have that down fairly soon." - via Slate.
• 15:32 Hellboy II - Funny, great action scenes, a thrill a minute, and actually had some (*gasp*) depth. Minor plot idiocies aside, a great movie.
• 21:14 Dark Kingdom: ( Read more... )

• 06:58 Smoke on the Water Ancient Japanese-style is *awesome*. Via prof_vencire: tinyurl.com/2om3w8 #
• 06:59 Feeling stressed already, though there's no reason I should be. Off to work. Oh, maybe that's it. #
• 08:36 Am going to be only QC person at NgithOwl for 2 weeks...while still handling on-site elsewhere. Ahahahahaha! #
• 10:12 Could anybody *maybe ( Read more... )

This poem (received in yesterday's Writer's Almanac) expresses quite well how I feel about singing...the only thing it leaves out is the cringing feeling when somebody suggests a sing-along!

Poem: "Tin Ear," by Peter Schmitt, from Country Airport. (Copper Beech Press).
( Tin Ear )