this is where Laura laughs ...

So, I went to get a pedicure today ....

Simple enough endeavour but instead of going to Third Avenue Spa, which is my regular haunt I took a chance on Anka, a woman Laura has raved about for years. ("She's not lazy and doesn't cut your callouses with a razer. Anka is strong and she buffs and buffs and buffs them off." <-- said with maniacal gleam by a woman who goes through a pumice stone every month. One. A. Month.)

Half the price, in her home, I figured it was worth a shot, given I do not have enough callouses to require razoring anyway and cash is definitely tight.

After a mini-adventure in some drunk lady's foyer in the bad part of town (Ottawa does have one) address was deciphered correctly and Anka and I got chatting. Turns out she knows a guy with whom I went to grade school and who probably still sports pencil leads in his arm from my piercing him at whim. She is also comfortable declaring herself the best pedicurist and waxer in town: she does great brazilians, she said, under arms, legs, special waxes on different parts, even some men come to her to get their faces waxed, ears, nostrils ... which, she claimed, does not hurt as much as one would think.

So I had my nostrils waxed. 'Cause I am the sort of person who will try anything novel if it does not seem possibly deadly or migraine-inducing.

It wasn't as bad as I thought, actually. Like getting an instant cold and then having all the snot ripped out. It was a bit off-putting when Anka insisted on my examining the wax afterwards to see how many hairs she had yanked out.


(Email me if you want her number. The pedicure, with paraffin for $40, was great.)

recipes peas

So I am not funny. I still want recipes involving fresh peas as I have a mound of them sitting on my counter right now, dying to get all fermented and gross before they can be used.

Help me stop them becoming icky. Offer up some recipes oh all five of you who read this blog. Preferably not involving risotto, pasta or crostini. Though I will accept such recipes if truly splendiforous.

been there. done that. will again.

courtesy Carlos. Thanks Carlos.

where...? wha...?

courtesy xkcd.com

books make you HOT

I was thinking of trying to find a way to make the HOT in the title sizzle but figured that might take too long. And there are books that need reading.

I'm rather disappointed by an article in today's Globe and Mail by a reporter I happen to know stating that "bookworms have exceptionally strong people skills." Here's hoping the problems with the story lie not with the study itself, nor with the reporter but with some very poor editing. However I think I know where the fault lies.

To whit, what is a bookworm? Is it someone who enjoys reading or is obsessed with reading to the exclusion of all else (as one commentor on the story suggests). [By the way, I HATE the word commentator.]

Further, the article suggests the study, as published in The New Scientist, concluded the higher scores on empathy and social acumen tests were "because fiction acts as a type of simulator."  

ahem.

This is a very dodgy position reinforced by a quote from Keith Oatley, one of the researchers and a professor in the department of human development and applied psychology at the University of Toronto:

"Fiction is really about how to get around in the social world, which is not as easy as one might think. People who read fiction give themselves quite a bit of practice in understanding that. And also, I think reading fiction sort of prompts one to think about these questions - you know, what are these people up to?"

Truly, truly, I hope the psychology department at UofT is not full of such intellectual dullards and it was merely an incredibly sloppy reporting/editing job.

Because the assumption inherent in this conclusion is that the readers of books are ultimate egoists who care not a whit for exposure to the epistemologies of others.

How, possibly, could reading expose one to other vantages, world views [to use another terrible term], experiences? How could one possibly learn about others from reading a book? Obviously, it must all be about practising one's own skills.

The comments left on the website by readers mimic the position taken in the article, with comments concluding that learning and exposure can only occur in an active social setting and that books teach one nothing.

Declining university grades and atrocious offerings from publishing houses now make sense.