Kitty Rides A Roomba

(via YesButNoButYes)

Page Miss Glory

From 1936. (via Everlasting Blort)

Counting My Blessings

Now that the turkey is in the oven, I have time to count my blessings. Oh, this is not the first time, but I'm just now jotting them down to share. 2008 has been a wonderful year.

Miss Cellania is doing well for a small blog. After three years of posting on one topic a day with many links, I switched to a format more in line with other link blogs. As you can see from the graphic, that paid off immediately! Thanks to the several bloggers who advised me to do it (if I tried to name them, I'd forget someone, but Alex gave me the final push). Many thanks to you and everyone who visits, contributes, reads in RSS, links to the site, Diggs, Stumbles, and comments. Special thanks to everyone who clicked on an ad for me!

My greatest blessings are my children. Princess and Gothgrrl are growing up so fast, and I am proud of them. Their grades are only slightly better this year, but I am very happy that they are starting to see how putting some effort into their work pays off. At this point, they are doing their homework (and on time), reading their material before the last minute, and actually studying for tests! And they are progressing in more than just schoolwork.

Last night we had a bit of a party here. When I went to bed, I told them I didn't care how long they stayed up as long as they were out of bed by noon today. This morning, I found they had cleaned the house! Even my desk is tidied up (and now I can't find anything)! It's great to start a busy day like this with a smile.

I bought a new house this year. It's the kind of house I had always dreamed of. Yes, it has its problems, and moving was a pain, yet it is still the nicest home I've ever lived in. This is a gift I will always treasure.

I was worried about what would happen to the old house. The real estate market is the pits. Every other house in my little town has a for sale sign in front. Friends suggested I rent it out, but I was leery -I'd heard too many horror stories. But without any effort on my part, a reliable tenant landed in my lap, so what was a worry has turned out to be another source of income.

Just this week, I was approached by another website for a paid blogging job. I'm not going to say what site it is just now because I haven't posted anything yet. It seems like another blessing out of nowhere.

I finally had a presidential election night that made me smile.

Last but certainly not least, I met a guy. I could write volumes about him, but that would be both invasive and premature. Let's just say I'm happy about it.

Praise be to God for the charmed life I'm living!

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all.

Fun Links

How to Organize and Cook Holiday Dinner for a Crowd (42) using Spreadsheets. Just one of the many geeky Thanksgiving tips from Instructables. (via Metafilter)

See tiny works of art created inside the eye of a needle. Don't take these sculptures anywhere near a haystack!

How many ways can you make a cupcake look like a turkey? There's no limit, until you put turkey meat IN the cupcake. Don't do that. (via Buzzfeed)

A critical review of a three-year-old's pretend restaurant. Sounds like a lovely place to visit, but you don't want to drop too much cash.

Don’t Try This at Home: Totally Dangerous Experiments. It's all fun and science until someone loses an eye!

Watch this body builder flex his muscles! Just one example of a large collection of James Kuhn's moving face paintings.

The Greatest Pranks in Geek History. The Cal Tech Prank Club and the MIT Hacks have spent years trying to outdo each other. (via Neatorama)

5-year-old Dribbler

Milan Simon Tuttle is five years old and has been playing basketball for a year and a half. She's short, skilled, and adorable! (Thanks, Laura!)

Information Links

Huge Buried Water Glaciers Discovered on Mars. A potential drinking water source for future astronauts?

The remains of Nicolas Copernicus have been identified by DNA testing. We also get to see what he really looked like.

Why it took 17 years and $13 million to bring Chinese Democracy, the new Guns N’ Roses album to the public. Personally, I think Axl Rose was going for the world record in procrastination.

Depression 2009: What would it look like? It would be completely different from what our grandparents experienced in the 1930s.

Brilliant Meteor Caught On Video In Canada. After that eye-popping video, read the story.

Scientists reveal that long-lasting romantic love is possible, at least according to brain scans. And all this time we assumed some people were lying to themselves for the sake of the kids.

Mark Johnson traveled the world to record musicians all performing the same song, Stand By Me. The result is entertaining, uplifting, and totally cool.

Saturday night, Space X fired up all nine engines, burned half a million pounds of propellant, and scared the daylights out of the locals. "Space-X shook the T-Bone off the grill hit my dog on the head, he thought I smacked him, he bit my ankle."

Delta II Rocket Explosion

Set to the music of The 1812 Overture. (via Dark Roasted Blend)

The Haines Sisters

The Haines Sisters couldn't make it, so a couple of friends stepped in. From the movie White Christmas.

Good Reads and Information

The Dos and Don'ts of the James Bond Lifestyle. Master all these things, and the world will buy tickets to your life story.

The Top Ten Arguments that Can't Be Won. So you may as well not bring them up at the family holiday dinner.

A Colombian woman received a transplant of a windpipe grown from her own stem cells. Unlike other transplant recipients, she won't spend her life taking anti-rejection drugs. This historic transplant might never have happened due to overzealous airline security, but the day was saved by a last minute charter from a German surgeon with his own jet.

People who seem to attract good fortune are different from people who don't. They pay attention, seize opportunities, and count their blessings. (via Geek Like Me)

Statistics on hunger in America for 2007 are out, and they don't look good. Don't expect the situation to be any better for 2008 and 2009.

Ten Reasons why Teddy Roosevelt is the Coolest President Ever. Fun stuff culled from what could have been a much longer list.

Astronomers are discovering that water, and life, might exist on all manner of planets where conditions are very different from those on Earth. "It's like science fiction, only better."

How to bring a woolly mammoth to life. It doesn't even require viable cells, just a DNA sequence. (via Metafilter)

Shrimp on a Treadmill

I posted about the shrimp running on a treadmill years ago, but this version has the perfect music! (via Boing Boing)

Fun and Funny Links

Top 10 Amazing Animal Videos. Posted for the off-chance that there may be one or two you haven't seen linked here before.

In the game QWOP, you are our small nation’s sole representative at the Olympic Games. Ideally, you will run 100 metres …but our training program was underfunded.

A penguin seeks refuge from hungry orcas. Any port in a storm!

Guitar Hero + bicycle = Bike Hero. A masterpiece of planning and timing that will have you leaning into the curves.

John Cleese, Eric Idle, and the rest of the Monty Python gang have decided to fight back against the unauthorized uploading of their material to YouTube.

A spec ad made for Zune that has nothing to do at all with Zune, as far as I know. NSFW or lunch.

Shea Gunther drank 17 cans of energy drinks in seven days in order to bring you reviews of each. Ha! I drink the equivalent in coffee every day.

Flight of the Bumblebee

On marimba. (via Metafilter)

Information Links

Berry Gordy changed the face of pop music by founding Motown Records, and in the process changed race relations in America. Fifty years later, he tells the real story behind the business.

Which came first, the chicken or the chicken egg? Ardvarchaeology gives us the short answer, but more questions are raised in the comments.

Astronomers have taken pictures of what they believe are planets that revolve around a star other than our sun. If this proves to be so, they are the first such photographs ever.

Carbon-14 formed by atomic weapons testing can be used to date biological specimens, like trees and human beings. You can lie about your age, but your autopsy can find out if you were born in the mid-1950s. (via Metafilter)

Good news for Christmas morning gift opening: some manufacturers are launching new packaging that's easier to open. You won't need to use a saw, blowtorch, or your teeth to get to the product!

Underage soldiers of World War I. They included a future king, a future US senator, and one who is still alive. (via Grow-A-Brain)

The 20 Healthiest Places in America. According to the ranking by the Centers for Disease Control, New England is the place to be.

Salps are jellyfish-like animals that reproduce fast and eat a lot of algae. But can they reduce the effects of global warming?

The LEGO™ Lifestyle Home

Legomaniacs can do more than just build things from Lego bricks! You can display your passion in your home with furnishings made from Lego bricks, home products from the Lego company, and products that have that familiar (if not company-sanctioned) shape.

read more | digg story

Links for Fun

An examination of why we are so drawn to sad LOLcats. Anthropomorphism makes it easier to confront -and laugh at- our own woes.

Ride a ship through the Panama Canal. A time lapse video takes you all 48 miles in only two minutes.

The dumbest exercise machine you'll see today. Gee, I sure love my treadmill, but wish I could use it on the road!

Cat vs. Cat in the Mirror. Guess who wins? Another of those videos that make you laugh and then feel guilty about it.

12 Pop Culture Cavemen (and Cavewomen). A man who resembles us but does not understand or fit in with the confusing modern world is a wonderful device for both comedy and adventure.

Puppet: An Animated Short by Patrick Smith. The animated story of a young man who creates a hand puppet that hurts him in increasingly gruesome and bizarre ways.

Watch 4,345,027 dominos fall to set a new world record. Someone needs to pick up their toys.

A recent New York fashion show had a super hero theme, with costumes modeled after action and science fiction film characters. But best of all, the clothing shown was make entirely of chocolate!

Moonrise

Moonrise over Hakalau, Hawaii. (via I Am Bored)

Information and Good Reads

A new genetic theory suggests that mental illness may be due to struggles between the genes you get from your father and the genes you get from your mother. Kids driving their parents crazy may be simple payback.

Keeping a Promise When a Life Is Near Its End. You might need to get a tissue before reading this.

The evolution of beer advertising, from portraying a healthful tonic to classy drink to the beer for everyone. Just ignore the fact that it's Pabst Blue Ribbon. (via Dark Roasted Blend)

Humans have taken the natural rhythm of day and night and made it into a very long day. Scientists are only now beginning to study the effects of light pollution.

Don Levy found a suitcase full of photographs ready to be picked up by the garbage service in Watertown, Massachusetts. The photographs show Hiroshima in the period shortly after the US dropped the atomic bomb on the city in 1945.

How a secretary fell in love with science, and therefore scientists. She does her part to make sure SCIENCE IS HAPPENING. (via Bad Astronomy Blog)

Just how are you supposed to give a whale a physical examination? With remote control helicopters, of course!

Treehugger calls Bullshit on Recycling, with a short course on the history of recycling in America.

Oh Happy Day

The Edwin Hawkins Singers.

Paradise City

By Guns and Roses.

Fun Links

How to have sex in a small car.

Child Exerts His Will On Helpless Phillies Fans. Must... resist... oh, I can't help but raise my hands and cheer, too!

99 Bricks is Tetris with a twist. Your goal is not to fit the bricks together, but to build the tallest tower you can without knocking them down.

How to turn your car into an Unstoppable Murder Machine. In eight easy steps.

What Taylor did for his 19th birthday. It paid off well. (Thanks, Neal Loughborough!)

The Top Ten James Bond One-liners.

Watch a UFO make crop circles! (via the Presurfer)

Timesculpture.

Informative Links

With so much to do before Inauguration Day, 77 days rush by quickly. Take a short course in the customary presidential transition procedures.

Do you know a manly man, a man you can look up to, who epitomizes the best in manliness? Then you're lucky! Nominate him now for the Man of the Year award from The Art of Manliness.

The average hand in a study of 51 college students had 150 different species of bacteria on the skin. If that doesn't make you want to go wash your hands right now, I don't know what will.

How much does it really cost to eat a healthy diet? Junk food is way cheaper than nutrient-rich foods like fruits and vegetables.

Everyone knows that weather affects your mood. Everyone, except for those who did the research.

World’s Biggest and Most Expensive Green Homes. How awesome that people who don't need to save money still want to save the planet!

How president Franklin Roosevelt became a stamp collector, despite having no interest in the hobby. With a lesson for president-elect Obama to consider.

A look at the historic US election through the eyes of an American history teacher in Canada. The great thing about tilting at windmills is that you occasionally win.

How do different religions define death? the relatively new concept of artificial life support has thrown some of the old wisdom for a loop.

Are You Popular?

A training film from 1947.

Dreadfully Different Dolls

If your Christmas list includes someone, a doll collector or not, whose taste runs to the unique, odd, or totally bizarre, I have some wonderful shopping suggestions. This is the world of doll making turned on its head.

read more | digg story

Mahna Mahna

The earliest known Muppet version, from 1969.

Fun Links

Many people have a secret, or not-so-secret roster of famous people they would jump in bed with, given the opportunity, no matter whether they are in a committed relationship or not. Having no relationship, it was easy for me to put together such a list.

How neat to discover a portable hole you can take anywhere! Just be careful how you use it.

The Chestnut Tree. A sweet animation about memories made with Mom. Watch, then call your mother.

Ninja Kittens. Toyota combines two internet obsessions into one car ad. Effective, or just cute?

The Love Stories segment from the film When Harry Met Sally. Anytime you meet someone, you have the potential to make an epic story like these.

For a pointless game, The Game is pretty fun! Warning: not for the competitive.

If The Matrix Ran on Windows XP, how many times would a reboot be necessary to finish the movie?

In the short film Genre, Don Hertzfeldt illustrates many different types of movies, including some he just made up! Horror porn, anyone?

Don't Look at Girls

A public service announcement. (via Everlasting Blort)

Ten Terrific Tubs

A look at modern bathtubs that come in an amazing range of styles ...and prices. The tub shown is $190.000!

read more | digg story

Veteran's Day

American Anthem by Nora Jones.

Information and Good Reads

Stephen Hawking writes about life with ALS. His main complaint is that his speech synthesizer speaks with an American accent.

How hate transforms your brain. Hatred heightens your judgment and your ability to assess what other people are likely to do next, while romantic thoughts just befuddle you.

TIME Magazine presents their picks for the 50 Best Inventions of 2008. The home DNA test comes out on top.

Foreclosures lead to tent cities across America.

Don't call it a "budget", call it a spending plan! Here's how to make a realistic plan you can stick to.

Riff Offs: 10 Songs That Resemble Other Songs. It has to be near impossible to write a song that's completely different from any other song before it.

History of Science presents From Cave Paintings to the Internet. Explore the history of information technology by year or by category. (via Metafilter)

Nebraska is turning into a national dumping ground for unwanted kids. Since a broad law intended to save infants passed, 27 children children up to 16 years old have been relinquished.

The 500 million year old octopus. Fossils of the eight-armed creature who preceded dinosaurs have been found in both Australia and China.

The Road to the Inauguration. Newsweek takes an in-depth look at the secrets of the 2008 presidential campaign in a seven-part series.

The Rubber Dog

(via Arbroath)

Injury Update

Those of you who suffered through part one and part two of my injury story may be pleased to hear my wounds are much better. I debrided and lanced the bite marks and the swelling went away. As of yesterday, I have full use of my left arm, including lifting heavy objects. The bruising still looks bad, so I am milking it for all the sympathy I can get!

Injury Update

Those of you who suffered through part one and part two of my injury story may be pleased to hear my wounds are much better. I debrided and lanced the bite marks and the swelling went away. As of yesterday, I have full use of my left arm, including lifting heavy objects. The bruising still looks bad, so I am milking it for all the sympathy I can get!

Fun Links

"I do not have any money so am sending you this drawing I did of a spider instead." It IS a cute spider.

The Weird Body Quiz. I scored 8 out of 10, since I'm good at weird stuff.

Wanna learn something about Rube Goldberg? No? Ok, just watch a bunch of videos of Rube Goldberg contraptions.

As fans protest a remake from MTV, Wil Wheaton recalls his first time at The Rocky Horror Picture Show. (via Metafilter)

Australian Etiquette. Peter offers a few word translations with this, but there are still some confusing places.

Watch 40,000 crickets devour a head of lettuce in one hour. video won't take nearly that long.

The 9 Most Inappropriate Soundtrack Choices of All Time.

The Loopbox, where the music never stops. Yakety Sax is conspicuously absent. (via Gorilla Mask)

The weirdest news stories of the week.

9 Dangerous Animals of Australia

Australians are proud of their wildlife, which is not only the oddest in the world, but also the most dangerous. That’s not to say that it’s a dangerous country, because most animals do not go out of their way to attack people. You just don’t want to take any chances by provoking the native species.

read more | digg story

Japanese Acrobatics

From 1904. (via I Am Bored)

Fun Links

When you're out to do something that's against the law, consider what your mug shot will look like when you are selecting your shirt.

9 People Who Kill The Mood During Sex.

Splitter is a flash game based on simple physics. Your object is to get the smiley face to the brown spot by cutting through wood or strings, then letting gravity take its natural path. I got to level 11 before I decided I'd better stop and get some work done.

One man's account of ordering a squirrel monkey from the back of a comic book. Their lives together began with 28 stitches.

Never Ignore A Nerd. Someday that might be your biggest regret.

Kung Fu Clowns. Much more entertaining (and less creepy) than the kind who try to make you laugh.

Urban Knitting, the world's most inoffensive graffiti. Who wouldn't want a cosy for the corner street sign?

The coolest way to get home after a long day's work. And no greenhouse gasses, either!

Catbite Update

I appreciate all the comments and emails I received about my run-in with an excited cat. Two days later, my wounds are much better.

Yesterday was a bit rough because I could hardly type with my left hand. The bruising showed up, making it look a lot worse than it really was. I should have taken a picture, since the bruising looks better today. But I never had any red streaks or pain above my elbow. Today I can use my fingers as well as ever. There is still a little pain when I straighten my arm. It really smarts when I try to lift something, because that flexes the affected muscle. I think I will be all better again within a few days. Now, to tackle the bloodstains on the carpet...

The Ugly Song

If you're ugly like me you're in good company!

Information Links

The 2008 Weblog Awards are now accepting nominations. Nominate your favorite blogs by posting a comment under the appropriate category. Nominations are also open for the 2008 edition of the Canadian Blog Awards.

Biomass & Thermal Power: 25 Cutting-Edge Designs. Science and technology are teaming up to make your jaw drop.

How we used to vote. Political shenanigans and dirty tricks are just business as usual.

The Lost Years & Last Days of David Foster Wallace. A long and fascinating read that might make you cry.

Blunders and Mistakes of Science and Engineering. I think three meshed gears make a wonderful symbol -of something that doesn't work.

Luddites and the Original Rage Against the Machine. The Industrial Revolution was bad news for a lot of people.

How Sir Ernest Shackleton saved the 27 men of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition in 1915-16. "The greatest leader that ever came on God's earth, bar none."

Electoral maps for every US presidential election. Note how the red and blue states have flip-flopped over the past hundred years.

20 Wonders of the Microscopic World. These photographs are the winners of the Nikon Small World Competition.

Black market real estate? Is that even possible? Yes, and it's the most efficient way to buy land in Bangalore, India.

Have a Cup

That's all nice and fine, but honestly, would a free cup of coffee make the difference between getting out and going to the polls or staying home? I don't think so. Let's just look at it as a freebie for what you are going to do anyway!

Fun Links

Congratulations to Mangesh Hattikudur, co-founder of mental floss (actually my boss) who recently became engaged to his longtime girlfriend Lizzie! Female fans are in mourning.

Congratulations to Natalie Dee (of Natalie Dee and Married to the Sea) and Drew (of Toothpaste for Dinner) on the birth of their baby. It's not a pretty story, but she sure is a pretty baby!

Roses for her birthday.

François Macré recorded Thriller using 64 tracks of only his voice! This gives a whole new meaning to the term "one man band".

The 40 Greatest Uses Of The Super Mario Theme. Don't miss the tesla coil version.

The game Distopix is supposed to challenge your concentration and reaction time. I had fun playing it, but it kept running away from me!

The amazing Bickford, a robot built out of disposable razors! This is what you call cutting edge technology.

A guy gets revenge on a cat who always sleeps on his car. I laughed, then felt terribly guilty, and laughed again.

A selection of divorce cakes. (via My 2 Second Shelf Life)

The Home Stretch

John F. Kennedy Campaign Jingle

Obviously, from 1960. (via Cynical-C)