Heinlein - Specialization is for Insects

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.

-Robert A. Heinlein

Core Human skills

- post via Kottke.org

Children Full of Life

A must-watch documentary about the teaching of compassion, empathy, and team spirit in Japan.

Dumpster Dipping (NYT)

Dumpsters: 6-7 feet deep, and often hugely wide (have you seen the 30-footers?). Line with sandbags and waterproof material. Add water, and you get an instant swimming pool!

Check out the urban oasis below.

Things to Eat and Not To Eat

Some interesting and unfamiliar food items that I came across on Wikipedia.

The common ingredient: Egg!
Scotch Egg- hard-boiled egg wrapped in mincemeat and fried
Welsh Rarebit (Welsh Rabbit) - toasted bread covered in cheese sauce
Croque-Monsieur- grilled cheese and ham sandwich
Brain (as Food!) - GROSS, MAN...which brings us to the next article,
Transmissible Spongiform encephalopathy
Loco Moco - Hawaiian diner meal consisting of rice topped with burger patty, fried egg, and gravy

Others (mostly bacon dishes):
Angels on Horseback (UK) - oysters wrapped in bacon
Meze - Middle Eastern appetizers
Sfiha - Chaldean pizza
Baconnaise (I shudder to think...) and Bacon Lip Balm
Chivito - Uruguayan sandwich
Luther Burger - Burger with Glazed Donuts in place of bun

And now, I have the serious munchies for bacon & eggs.

Caught A Lite Sneeze (by Tori Amos) - Evans Blue Cover

A little less delicate, much more angry. How often do male bands do covers of female-sung songs, anyway?

Green Mobile Phone

Motorola recently released a new cell phone for T-Mobile that is made from recycled plastic water bottles.

The Moto Renew claims to have a carbon footprint of zero, based on the fact that Motorola will purchase carbon credits for every Renew consumers purchase. (Could it be any clearer that their target market is people like me?)

Checked it out in the retail store today since I'm shopping for a new phone (and possibly new carrier). I was kind of disappointed, since plastic isn't the best material for cell phones. It was very light and felt like a toy in my hand, almost like a Barbie play phone. I imagine it would get very hot after a few hours' use and that the plastic, however nicely recycled, wouldn't dissipate heat very well - not quite as well as the cold-to-the-touch sleek titanium gadgets that I've been spoiled by. It didn't help much that T-Mobile didn't have a live model available for me to play with. I was almost going to switch carriers for this phone!