Random June

The 2010 Bulwer-Lytton contest results are in and two Canadians are represented. David Mitchell on why being reminded of your own ignorance is good for you, Ascot hats and the news that grumpy people make better decisions which I plan to snarl at the next person who accuses me of not being chipper enough on a Monday morning. Slurls or really awful website names, how to make your own butter (via dottedyellowline) and the classic Danish tongue twister that'll tell you if you should even try to learn the language.

To get political, an exploration of the billion dollar summit mystery and photos from Saturday's peaceful protest hijacked by a small group of idiots. And from Laurie, some excellent photos of what the protest message was all about before it got overshadowed by aforementioned idiots. Staying within the political, but moving towards ecological, there's so much I want to say about the oil spill, but I simply don't have the words. Instead, a link to what happens when they spill coffee at the BP headquarters, a small movie called Cries from the Gulf by Lea Morris was says it better than ever could and a brilliant photo of a wave that sums it all up.

From the ecological to nature (would you just look at those segues!)… a fascinating article about exploding lakes, drunk parrots, a penguin soccer team (I had to get to World Cup in here somewhere), a dolphin who uses an iPad - the bleeding thing is everywhere - and Frankenfish. You've heard of blue holes, right? This makes me nervous. Very nervous. And yet it is one of the most beautiful pieces of art I've ever seen (found on dooce).

Janet sent me this photo of a cat that walked on the keyboard too many times. I showed it to Lucy. It didn't help. Willowtree posted a one minute summary of Lost as done by cats that means I now don't have to rent the final two seasons, Wheelie Catholic posted this video that asked the question "what do you consider disabled?" although I think perhaps it's more a question of sanity (which probably makes me an old fuddy-duddy). However, that punked out version of Scotland the Brave is seriously awesome. Lucia invited us to get a silly name and I really hope somewhere you get one that's worse than mine and then share it in the comments. Because mine'ss Booger Diaperchunks. Honestly. And Michele sent me a reminder that a second opinion can be a very good thing.

From Trevor, an important message from a kid, the Better Marriage Blanket and if anyone ever gave me that for an anniversary, they shouldn't be surprised to wake up dead. Also, someone has turned a public loo into a house, an attorney's bra prevents her from seeing her client, a priest wants some paintings of angels in a church removed because they have a "diabolical homosexual look" (which seemed appropriate to post during Pride week)and lastly, an incredible video of an even more incredible hailstorm in Oklahoma. Stick with it. It's insane.

Picking up on items mentioned earlier in this post, David suggested I do an image search in Google for our cross eyed opossum - I'll pass on the suggestion - and sinkholes in Guatemala 2007 and 2010 (more photos here), which also make me nervous. Who knew providing electricity could be this much of a nailbiter, for the pencil obsessed, a reminder to take your meds and an endless variety on the half-full/half-empty conundrum. There's a new way to diagnose fibromyalgia, a very different take on the pinup calendar and this one just never gets old. A brilliant ball launcher for a dog. I need one of those (more details on this to follow in an upcoming Lucy post) and lastly, an example of what voting for Zach would get you (part two is here).