Loud guitar Apr 13, 2006
Sometimes I play the guitar.  I've been doing it since way back in 1994.  The thing with playing guitar is that it must be done with as much volume and force as possible.  Acoustic guitars are good for this.  I've never seen somebody break an acoustic guitar by playing it too hard.  And since it's acoustic, it's louder depending on how hard you play it.  Acoustics are fun that way.  Electrics are a bit different.  It doesn't matter how hard you play, it matters how loud your amp can go.  In the famous words of Spinal Tap describing their amps, "These go to eleven."  The electric guitar was created to be played loud.  It's nearly impossible to play an electric guitar through headphones. 

With that in mind, I've always enjoyed being home alone so I can blast music as loud as I want.  I did this a lot when I lived with my parents.  It came to a sudden and screeching halt when I went to college.  I didn't want to be that annoying jerk who played loud music in his dorm, so I got a key to the music room and did it there.  That worked most of the time, except people came in and out of the music room, so I never felt comfortable.  I can't play around people for some reason.  The loud playing came to another screeching halt when I moved into an apartment.  I brought out my electric guitar a couple times, but my neighbor upstairs came down one Friday evening to ask me to turn it down.  Yes, Friday evening.  What could he have been doing on a Friday evening that required absolute silence?  And I didn't even turn it up that loud.  It could have been quite a bit louder.  Loud enough to shake stuff off the walls.  That jerk.  So anyway, I was pretty pumped to move out of the apartment and into a house.  Once again, I could crank the volume up to eleven and scare the cats.  Now, whenever Wendy leaves the house, I play loud guitar and fulfill my calling in life. #entertainment
Stupid Old Navy shirts Apr 13, 2006
I buy most of my clothes from Walmart because that's just how I roll.  The rest are from Old Navy.  Old Navy has some good stuff, and most of it is pretty cheap.  But I have one big complaint:  I'm annoyed at all those shirts that say stuff on them, like the name of a state or an event.  I consistently make the mistake of wearing these shirts around my family, and then I get questioned:  "Oh, you went to Colorado?  How did you like it?"  No I didn't actually go to Colorado.  It's just a stupid Old Navy shirt.  "What's Franklin McCallister?  Is that your high school?"  No.  I have no idea what it is or what it means.  It's just a stupid Old Navy shirt.  I guess I should think more before I buy clothes with writing.  Or just not buy clothes with any writing at all. #lifestyle
Watermat Apr 13, 2006
The Watermat is a 20-foot long foam mat that floats on the surface of the water, enabling users to effectively "walk on water".  At $599, it's a steal.  (via Neatorama) #technology
Product packaging Apr 11, 2006
Sometimes I get mad at product packaging.  Like when I try to open a box of food and I follow the instructions that say, "Tear here to open".  This method works about 0.05% of the time.  The rest of the time, I screw it up and end up tearing the whole box apart in a fit of rage.  Nothing should be keeping me from my food. 

The really sad part about this is that companies employ people FULL-TIME for creating product packaging that is easy to use and fool-proof.  And I'm not talking full-time for half a year, or full-time as long as the project exists.  I'm talking full-time, all the time, lots of money, lots of people.  People go to school and get big-time degrees to they can become "Packaging Engineers".  I know because I was one (sorta).  And these people sit around all day and think, "Hmm, how can I make this box of tissues easy to open?  Ooh, I know!  I'll make a perforated shape that the user must press in and then stick their finger in the box to pull out, thereby scraping their finger and causing pain and anger.  Then I'll make the perforated cardboard completely failure-prone and make its failure a catastrophic event so that the box will either be 'unopened' or 'destroyed'.  And then I'll make another layer of packaging:  clear plastic wrap." #products
Sno-Baller Apr 11, 2006
The Sno-Baller is a tool that's used to quickly and easily make snowballs.  It's shaped like salad tongs, except with hemispherical balls instead of salad-tong-fork-and-spoon-things.  (via Cool Tools) #technology
Take things apart Apr 10, 2006
I've been finding recently that the best way to fix things is to simply take them apart.  I'm not sure why this works, but it's worked twice in the past month or so. 

Our washing machine wasn't draining completely, so I *tried* to take it apart.  I took out some screws and figured out how the thing worked (a general idea).  I wasn't really sure how to fix it, so I put it back together.  And tada!  It worked great after that.  I think it was just the treat of being taken apart that caused it to fix itself.  It later broke and is unfixable, but that's beside the point. 

One of our toilets sounded like it was "running" recently.  So I took the lid off the back part and played around with a few things.  I didn't find anything that was broken, so I put it back together so that it would at least flush properly.  That's when the "running" sound stopped.  I am by no means a plumber, and I didn't actually fix anything.  Once again, I think it was just the threat of being taken apart that caused the toilet to fix itself. #psychology
Cancelled plans Apr 10, 2006
I'm a huge fan of cancelled plans.  I always have a bunch of things scheduled at night during the week, whether it's a Bible study or a class or something else.  But when they get cancelled, it's just such a great unexpected surprise.  I plan out my whole schedule based on something happening, and now that something isn't happening.  As long as it doesn't adversely affect me, I'm a huge fan.  It's great to go home at night thinking I have absolutely nothing planned.  It's a good feeling. #psychology
Mammatus clouds Apr 10, 2006
This University of Nebraska link has a bunch of pictures of mammatus clouds, which are defined as "a cellular pattern of pouches hanging underneath the base of a cloud".  (via Digg) #technology
WunderKat Apr 10, 2006
WunderKat, a new method of energy production:
The novel approach is based on two common but previously unexploited natural laws.  One is a well-known form of Murphy's Law which states that when toast is dropped, it always lands buttered side down.  The other law states that when a cat falls, it always lands on its feet.  These two laws are set in opposition to each other by attaching a buttered piece of toast to a cat's back, buttered side up.  If the cat is then suspended in the air, the two laws cause the cat to perpetually rotate.  By building a device to hold the cat and capture this rotating energy, enough force is harnessed to drive an electric generator. 
(via Neatorama)

Update (2007-04-12 9:29am):  I've learned that this is called the Buttered Cat Paradox. #science
Credit card no-sign (1) Apr 9, 2006
At a few stores, the credit card machines allow you to get away with not signing your receipt if your purchase is below a certain amount ($25 I think).  This is the best thing in the history of the world.  I'm not sure why we sign receipts anyway.  Is my scribbled signature a confirmation that I'm the person who's using my credit card?  Couldn't anyone sign a sloppy name and use a stolen credit card?  And who came up with this $25 amount?  Is $25 too little for fraud catchers to worry about?  Either way, I'm a huge fan of this system because I can use my credit card without signing some stupid little piece of paper.  Two of the places that use this system are Quizno's and Wawa, which are arguably two of the best stores on the planet.  Now if I can only get Dunkin Donuts and Walmart to adopt this system, my life will be officially complete. #business