Picking a good place to visit

The very talented Matt Holm (author/illustrator of Babymouse and many others) is in China right now. And he spotted this fine establishment while there!

Is it just me, or is this yarn a little . . . waxy?

Via.

How would a gifted writer describe picking her nose?

I'm glad you asked! Here's Sylvia Plath on mining for nuggets:

There are so many subtle variations of sensation. A delicate, pointed-nailed fifth finger can catch under dry scabs and flakes of mucus in the nostril and draw them out ot be looked at, crumbled between fingers, and flicked to the floor in minute crusts. Or a heavier, determined forefinger can reach up and smear down-and-out the soft, resilient, elastic greenish-yellow smallish blobs of mucus, roll them round and jellylike between thumb and forefinger, and spread them on the under-surface of a desk or chair where they will harden into organic crusts. How many desks and chairs have I thus secrtively befouled since childhood? Or sometimes there will be blood mingled with the mucus: in dry brown scabs or bright sudden wet red on the finger that scraped too rudely the nasal membranes. God, what... satisfaction! It is absorbing to look with new sudden eyes on the old worn habits: to see a sudden luxurious and pestilential “snot-green sea,” and shiver with the shock of recognition.

From Plath’s Journals, via Janet Malcolm’s The Silent Woman, 160-161.

Colson Whitehead has words of wisdom for us all!

Wikipedia

“Pick your fights like you pick your nose: with complete awareness of where you are.”

From Colson Whitehead's book, The Noble Hustle.

Oh yeah, like it's mucus's fault.

Via Jack Ohman.

Boogers: The New Health Food

Via.

"I've got two beautiful daughters and they spend an amazing amount of time with their fingers up their nose. And without fail, it goes right into their mouth afterwards. Could they just be fulfilling what we're truly meant to do?"

—Scott Napper, biochemistry professor at the University of Saskatchewan

In The Big Book of Gross Stuff, I wrote about evidence that boogers can be good for our health. So I was pleased to see this article in which Scott Napper talks about an experiment he’d like to try.

"All you would need is a group of volunteers. You would put some sort of molecule in all their noses, and for half of the group they would go about their normal business and for the other half of the group, they would pick their nose and eat it. Then you could look for immune responses against that molecule and if they're higher in the booger-eaters, then that would validate the idea."

Napper added, with a chuckle, that he has already been approached by people keen to participate in a study. But like he says, science is about the exchange of ideas.

Or boogers. Either way.

Careful—driving on snot and ice isn't easy!

You might have to turn on your car's two-nostril drive. (Thanks, Eric!)

All I want for Christmas . . .

Is a Nose Shower Gel Dispenser!

A lot of things can go wrong in seven seconds

I'm all plugged up. Maybe I need a nasal aspirator!

Or maybe I don't.

These kids are gross, mean, snotty, rude, and rebellious. (I love them!)

Garbage Pail Kids were a mockery of Cabbage Patch Kids from back in the 1980s. The GPK showed up on various trading cards. As artist John Pound fondly recalls:

Using shock tactics for maximum impact, GPKs would be gross, mean, snotty, rude, and rebellious. But since I had to look at these violent, miserable, and disgusting kids all day while painting them, I selfishly wanted them to also feel good to look at—to be cute and lovable while spewing mayhem, disasters, and wild, crazy nonsense like they’re proud to be weird!

Buy the book! (If you want. No pressure. Not in the mood? Buy my books instead!)

The hagfish unleashes its snot!

The hagfish (a.k.a., the slime eel) oozes mucus from pores all over its body. It does this for defense . . . and as this hagfish being attacked by a shark shows, it works like a disgusting charm! (Sorry about the auto-play.)

"You swallow a litre of snot every day."

But if I need more, I can buy some, right? This ad is for the Science World convention held in Vancouver, B.C.

Looks like SOMEBODY has cat allergies.

This ad from the Philippines is for Drixine, a nasal decongestant.


It is also a bad idea. (Via.)

"I'll meet you by the Snot Bog!"

Via.

Sweden is a land of great natural beauty and strangely gross names. According to this article, near the town of Horsskog is a swampy area called Snormossen (Snot Bog).

Great!

There are places there named Köttsjön (Meat Lake), Kattsjärten (Cat's Butt), and Rumpsjön (Butt Lake). I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to dive into Butt Lake! There’s a lot of these types of places, like the Yellow Lake, Small Butt Lake and Big Butt Lake (Gula Röven, Lilla Röven, Stora Röven). Along these lines, the town of Mora used to be called Rövhålet (Anus).

Why? Never mind, I don’t want to know.

Ooh, for people who like to drink water, Pissholmen (Piss Island) is the place to go.

Finally, just the sounds of Äs, Middelfart and Horred makes me want to hide my passport!

"I thought it was a booger, but I guess it's not."

Eating snot is not socially acceptable, but it IS common.

This raises the question: WHY?  After all, in The Big Book of Gross Stuff, I share that some people think that eating boogers is good for your immune system. And look, here's a whole chapter from another book that's devoted to this subject. (Thanks to BoingBoing for this charming idea; the comic at top is by Ted McCagg.)

That's one way to sell a billboard.

Disgust the people driving past it so much, somebody feels like they HAVE to put a new ad on it! (Via.)

An Important Mystery, Revealed!

There are no reports that poop tastes good. Pee? Forget it. Blood’s not bad, I guess, but still.

So I guess that’s why kids eat boogers.

Behold . . . the SNOT OTTER

Did you know there's an aquatic salamander known as the snot otter? Me either! But I'm really excited to learn about it, as you can tell. The snot otter is also known as the hellbender, so that means it's got the two coolest names in the animal kingdom. If you'd like to learn more about this awesome beast, please visit Discovery News.

Birthdays are like boogers.

 The more you have, the harder it is to breathe. (Via.)