LMNOP

Good job, on this one, Internet.  You can take the rest of the week off.

We had a lovely Thanksgiving at my parents' house on Thursday.  I put a couple pics up on Flickr.  Here is the Official Dorky Sibling Photo of 2009:

This would have made for an excellent Christmas card photo, save for two details:

1. It looks like my older sister is missing a leg; and
2. Oh yeah, my parents don't send out a picture of us anymore, because they send out a picture of my nephew, because they love him more.  (Not that I am really complaining.  We were getting a little old for it.)

Speaking of the nephew--he is in a phase right now where he has realized that EVERYTHING IS A DRUM, AS LONG AS YOU BANG ON IT WITH SOMETHING.  Which means we get treated to a lot of adorable impromptu concerts, such as this:

Happy Thanksgiving! In honor of the holiday, I conducted a short interview with Pancake on the topic of thankfulness. As you can see, he had a lot to say.

Tote bag with serif handles, for font nerds who have lots of stuff to carry around.  Like their contempt for Comic Sans.

'The Office' Ends As Documentary Crew Gets All The Footage It Needs

How he H1N1 vaccine is made.

Man visits every country; has awkward, stiff photos of himself in front of things to prove it.

How would Earth look if it had a ring system like Saturn?

Hat I want: this.

This panda looks so sad!!!

Cool slow shutter photography.

I dare you to watch this just once.

Some accidental geography.

I make no secret of the fact that I will watch whatever ridiculous reality show Bravo wants me to watch, and this does not exclude Million Dollar Listing.  For the uninitiated, Million Dollar Listing is about three guys who sell really expensive home in L.A. by using a proven formula of Being Total Morons.  My favorite of the three guys is Chad, and it is easy to see why:
He looks exactly like Ramona Quimby. 

Seriously.

In last night's episode, we got to see Chad go to a salon and get a $600 'touch up' of his signature 'do (believe it or not, this process did not involve him walking into Beverly Cleary's house and asking for "the usual").  Chad also mentioned that he gets these touch ups every two weeks, which means his monthly hair budget is $1200.

Yes. You heard me.

Meaning I spend less on rent than this guy spends on looking like a d-bag/1980s children's book character.  Thank you, Bravo, for bringing this to my attention.

Not too un-recently, Twitter introduced a Lists feature, which lets you . . . make lists.  I guess that's really the whole explanation to be had.  So anyway, I made a list, and it just may appeal to you if you read this blog between oh, say, February 2007 and January 2008, and happen to remember its onetime companion blog, The Bathtub, which existed during that time.  If that description applies to you (I had Cathy run the numbers, and there is, in fact, a 12 in 7,000,000,000 chance that it does), AND you are on Twitter (now we're down to six in 7,000,000,000), you just may be interested in following this list, which features 10 former Tubtributors.  Some tubbers are not even on Twitter though, like Rory Porkham, who doesn't own a computer and may not even be alive anymore.

This is a pretty cool thing to do with your deck.

Plants are people, too!

OCLOTW (Obligatory Cat Links of the Week): Cats for Gold, Cats Chillin'

Crap.  Now I need a pet otter.

This is the best reaction anyone has ever had to anything. (Good share, Gorg-o)

Would you rather have EXCITING PEAS?  Yes.

OHTHANKGOD: John Stamos finally got a star of the Walk of Fame.

This beard is a must-see!  (thx, Buddy Love)

Wow.  As if regular rat tails weren't ugly enough.

This is great.  Probably my favorite thing in the world is watching dogs go through the process of getting comfy.

Best Illustrated Children's Books of 2009

The History of the Internet in a Nutshell

Winner Reptile of the Day:

The Breakdancing Turtle!

Loser Reptile of the Day:

The Crocodile That Got Eaten By a Badass Hippo.

Both images via Buzzfeed, the Internet's No. 1 source for Pictures of Reptiles Winning and Losing at Life on November 18, 2009.

 Today I read this article about a hotel in France that lets its guests live like hamsters, which I think we can obviously all agree is the best business idea since the origin of exchanging money for goods and services.

According to the article:

For 99 euros (£88) a night, visitors to the hotel in Nantes can feast on hamster grain, get a workout by running in a giant wheel and sleep in hay stacks in the suite called the "Hamster Villa."

That's right: it's a hotel that lets you pay approximately $150 to live like an animal that costs $10.  And I want to go there.

Sadly, I can't make it to France anytime soon.  However, my friend Michelle (author of this post and enemy of athletic trainers everywhere) happens to be living in France for the next few months.  After realizing this, I (somewhat jokingly) suggested to my friend Adam this afternoon that we take up a collection among our friends and all split the cost of sending Michelle for a night in hamster heaven.  By the end of our IM conversation, the idea had basically risen in our minds to the status of SWORN LIFE GOAL.  We then spent the rest of the afternoon devising a plan to solicit pledges from our friends in the interest of getting Michelle to the hamster hotel.

The hamster hotel is a few hours from where she is living, but Michelle has agreed that she will take the trip and stay there for a night if Adam and I are able to raise the money for the hotel stay and train or bus ride.  If you know Michelle and support this cause (or if you don't even know her, but are strongly in favor of sending people to hamster-themed hotels), please e-mail me at your earliest convenience to make your pledge.  A donation of $5 is the "One Cheekful of Sunflower Seeds" sponsorship level; $10 is the "Two Cheekfuls of Sunflower Seeds" sponsorship level; and finally, a $20 contribution puts you at the "Golden Hamster Patron" level of giving, which in turn qualifies you to receive, via U.S. Mail, a commemorative photo magnet featuring a picture of Michelle at the hamster hotel.  The magnets will be sent out at the conclusion of Michelle's stay, and yes, I am dead serious about this.