This post is exactly what it sounds like, and it's a sad corollary to Sandy's compendium of celebrity suicide attempts. Tear-water tea was sad, but this is sadder: people who have committed suicide in their garages. Before the prevalence of catalytic converters, there was a significant amount of carbon monoxide in car exhaust; even so, if you're going to run a car in an enclosed space, there's going to be CO (in response to which, there are patents to deactivate the ignition if CO is detected, much like... READ ON
Something else to file under garage sales: the woman who accidentally sold the ashes of her husband's first wife. The turtle jar that housed the remains was purchased for fifty cents by a woman who thought it would make an excellent cookie container. The woman who sold it claimed that its urn status was obscured by the fact that they collected many turtle-themed objects. The ashes were eventually retrieved. Overall, I think that makes a pretty sad garage sale. Objects that are ripped from their context... READ ON
Since my foreign garage sale correspondents are still filing their reports, wouldn't you know I'd find another way to talk about garages. Specifically, the garage band. I'd love to be able to say I formed one in the 90s and that it enjoyed a small, jealous, following of anarchists... But no. I was never in a band, though I did learn early on that the way to a confused teenage boy's heart, or at least ego, was by being a groupie. So I sat there in a group of other young hopefuls, drinking suicide... READ ON
NAME: G. Kelner OCCUPATION: Cajon Maker LOCATION OF SALE: Victoria, BC FAVORITE BOOK: The Grapes of Wrath FAVORITE COLOR: Green FAVORITE ANIMAL: Yellow Lab FAVORITE ELEMENT ON THE PERIODIC TABLE:... READ ON
A while back, Neatorama featured this picture of Xia Aifeng, a Chinese woman who hasn't had a haircut--good or otherwise--in 16 years. You've gotta love the Cellar Image of the Day...And I think it's nothing but synchronicity that today's is: curly-haired pigs. And this just sounds like something out of a Sam Shepard play (and echoes a few of the comments from yesterday): while riding a bus in Jakarta, a woman's ponytail is snipped off. Nuryamah, 35, felt a tug on the back of her head as she took a... READ ON
Ok, so we've asked you about the most expensive haircut you've ever received. But what about the worst? Y'all are really lucky I couldn't find the picture I was going to post of me circa this very haircut. I'm not going to make the rules for you, but I do think childhood shouldn't count, unless you suffered psychological pain. I mean, yes, I'm sure many of us were subjected to some strain of Dorothy/Mark Hamill wedge (here's a blueprint if you'd like to recreate the glory), but did we really hurt inside... READ ON
In an age where a showdown between Kanye and 50 seems to draw more attention than so-and-so's potential running mate, maybe the spotlight is aching to warm another subset. That's just what David Humphries, Detroit-based founder and producer of Hair Wars, thinks: "The rappers have been in the spotlight since the early 1980's and it's bigger than ever. But it's time for a new type of celebrity." Enter the hair... READ ON
My theme for this week started out as hair, but for today's post it seemed almost impossible not to extend this theme to include something that wants so badly to be considered hair--that signature houseplant/talisman of the 80s: the Chia... READ ON
Doug Williams is a dear friend of mine, and he also happens to hold the Guinness World Record for Longest Nipple Hair. The paperwork arrived the other day: with his 5.07-inch-long nipple hair, he officially beats out Simon Mould of the UK, whose prize hair was 4.5 inches. The measuring ceremony (pictured) took place this spring in Brooklyn, attracting the attention of The Brooklyn Paper: It might seem excessive to bring in a medical doctor for a single hair, but the Guinness Book requires that the... READ ON
It's an earnest question, and I'm not interested solely so I can poach your great techniques. I'm interested because ever since my father strapped my brother into his seat so that he might be motivated to finish his dinner, I've been fascinated by what what really inspires people to finish the work in front of them--especially if these methods are extreme. An Ohio State University study on employee motivation broke down the importance of the following factors: The ranked order of motivating factors were:... READ ON
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Fatherly Advice
5 Questions: Nervous "Rex"
How Many Vice Presidents Can You Name in 10 Minutes?
The Rhodes Scholar program is named for De Beers founder Cecil Rhodes.
