I think I'll wait patiently for the "Barefoot Pads Cause Cancer" headline.

Here - this explains it:

The Barefoot pad connects you to the earth for the seven to eight hours a day that you are in bed. The Barefoot pad is far better than taking antioxidant vitamins because you will be getting an infinite supply of antioxidants (free electrons) to combat free radicals and their associated inflammation and to help you stave off aging and disease or even heal from disease that is already present.

The patented Barefoot Earthing Bed Pad fits any size bed, occupying the lower 1/3 of the bed where your feet will naturally rest. The soft, comfortable fibers of the pad are specially created to conduct electron flow through your feet. An earthing wire connects the fibers of the pad to the earth outside your home, so that your body’s cells are literally bathed all night with trillions of electrons from mother earth.

The principles on which the Barefoot Pad works are so logical and understandable that you will be asking along with us why mankind has overlooked the healing powers of our being grounded to the earth.

If you're being bathed in trillions of electrons, doesn't that just mean that someone's running a current through you?

Go lick 9 volt battery instead!

An earthing wire connects the fibers of the pad to the earth outside your home, so that your body’s cells are literally bathed all night with trillions of electrons from mother earth.

What if you live in an apartment?

:: makes mental note to go outside barefoot in backyard as soon as it isn't, like, FREEZING::

What if you live in an apartment?

Then Mother Earth hates you and you are doomed.

Cool painting: Still Life With Girl and R'lyeh by Adele Leibowitz. Worksafe.

Espesso: Coffee You Can Eat With a Spoon!

Yes, it's spelled like that on purpose. And while a lot of folks around here like coffee so thick you can literally scoop solid bits of it out with a spoon, this treat is…well, quite spoonable. It's edible coffee. Movable Feast compares it to a mousse, even. I say: brilliant. Then I whine petulantly and want to try some. I haven't wanted a product this badly since that Japanese coffee that came in a can which was marketed under the name GOD. Which I never was able to find, dammit.

I'm working on application stuff for UCIrvine and I need to write a statement of my teaching philosophy and wow and I just not in the groove for getting this done.

ND, if you're still working on this... This is probably obvious to you, but I just had an enlightening conversation about teaching philosophies with the person that trained me in grad school. I have a real problem with them because I think they are mostly bullshit and jargon and you never know what the person on the other end is expecting. She thinks they are important, but, interestingly, doesn't really care what methods the person uses or exactly what they say, it's more whether they've thought about their teaching at all. She says many of the ones she sees look like they have been cut and pasted from the web. Use that jargon, because some people think it is important, but she said to strive for a 50-50 mix of jargon and specific, personal examples from your teaching.