Hodge Podge

A random assortment of links and thoughts...

• Uganda: Human rights FAIL. I don't understand how such a law can be passed in 2009.

• DC: Civil rights WIN!

• How can you have sex so noisy that it is legally classified as anti-social behavior?! No, seriously, how? I want tips. Also, I find it odd that only the woman is being sentenced, when the neighbors comments refer to both of them.

Items found on my last-minute holiday shopping internet search:

• I really wanted to get these measuring cups for my sister for Christmas, but they are sold out everywhere. WTF?
• This diary is meant for people like me--people who can't keep diaries. Case in point: this blog.
• Would I rather be cute & useful or gorgeous & eco-friendly? Do I have to choose?
• Ridiculous.

OOAK

I was looking at Regretsy, like I do, when I came upon this Etsy shop. The first product I saw was... well, not pretty. It only got worse from there. My main thought about these items was, "This baby/parrot/mermaid looks...weird." I then noticed that many of the products said "OOAK" before the title or somewhere in the description and thought, "Ohhh, these are all sculptures of creatures with a rare genetic disorder called OOAK. An eye disorder. Or something. Alright, that's a little weird, but I respect this woman's quest to publicize and/or normalize this disease through art. That's actually kind of sweet."

And then I Googled "OOAK." It stands for "One Of A Kind."

Turns out this woman is just a terrible sculptor.*



On a related note: what the EFF is this (NSFW)???

*NOTE: She is a much better sculptor than I could ever be. Also, she is working with clay, which I imagine is hard to smooth into adorable wrinkly baby faces. But still. STILL! And what's with the hybrids?! They're like PSAs against genetic splicing. Sorry. Sorry. I didn't mean that. (I am a terrible human being.)

This sentence made me smile today...

"I know a guy in Michigan—father, Detroit Lions fan, handy with tools—who is beside himself when Jennifer Weiner publishes a new book."

Animal sex!

MSNBC.com recently posted an article about whether non-humans find sex pleasurable. I find it interesting/funny that they use the term "hook-up" more than once to describe mating. I personally can't see why animals would not get pleasure from sex, and that's basically what the scientists in the article say, too.

Here's my question: why is it big news that other animals "likely have orgasms"? Are they distinguishing between orgasm and ejaculation? (Orgasm involves pleasurable feelings, but ejaculation is just a bodily function?) Or maybe they're saying that females in other species have orgasms! Now THAT would be something to blog about. (Ooh, wouldn't that be a great song parody? "Let's Give 'Em Something to Blog About")

Hook-ups in the wild: Do animals enjoy sex? [MSNBC]

Pop art at its best!

Mari Kasurinen modifies My Little Pony toys to look like iconic movie characters. I want one so very badly. [The Guardian, via Jezebel]

Excuse me, I do believe you have my hat.

This sounds like so much fun...

The Hat Game is a modern version of the children's game tag, only with a bowler hat. The game was created by Simon Games and is currently being played at the South by South West Interactive Festival in Austin.

The game revolves around a GPS-equipped bowler hat which people can follow in real-time on a Google Map. If by using the map you can track down the hat wearer you need to say to them 'Excuse me, I do believe you have my hat!'. They then need to pass the hat onto you.

The person who wears the hat the longest each day wins a prize. Of these, the one who has it the longest over the weekend of SXSW Interactive wins the big prize. [googlemapsmania]

Awesome. You can find the game at The Umbrella Group.

Bizarre & Tragic

How sad... Natasha Richardson has died. Apparently, she fell while taking a skiing lesson on a beginners' slope. She bumped her head, thought she was fine, but then there was some brain swelling... and now she's gone.

I can't fathom how shocked her family must be. She probably laughed about falling on the beginners' slope... Just reminds you that seemingly insignificant injuries can kill people. One of my mom's dearest friends and mentors from medical school recently died because a blister on his foot got infected. A blister! And then he got MRSA (Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus), and it killed him.

I don't know what lesson there is in all of this. I could advise my friends and family to take care of themselves, but really, these things happen. I guess it's one more reminder to live while you're alive.

Natasha Richardson dies aged 45 [BBC News]

Richardson was a true daughter of the theater [MSNBC]