Giant Dog!

This has been sitting in my Firefox window (I like to keep certain tabs open every time I open Firefox for quick important-things access - Gmail, Artful Stew, GReader - but sometimes I leave things up just because I have yet to actually get to them, like that NY Times article about that play starring Laura Linney that my mom said I should see but have not even fully read yet...) for over a month.

It's time to show the world - Giant George! One of the tallest dogs in the world!



How adorable is he? Of course, I cannot support the extreme growth on either end of the dog size spectrum since both super enormous dogs and super tiny dogs generally end up suffering from physical maladies and disorders that can cause an early death... but seriously, how cute is he?!

This Almost Made Me Cry: Regenerating Organs

It looks like helping kidneys is still a long way off, but at least there's hope. The clip at the end is what (nearly) produced the waterworks.



Thanks again to HowStuffWorks. I truly hope that we can start employing these techniques on a larger scale soon.

Also, the guy, Dr. Anthony Atala, sounds exactly like my surgeon.

New Life Goal: Mayor of a Canadian City

I want to be her sixty-six years from now!



Many thanks to HowStuffWorks for finding this delightfully Canadian clip - seriously, how Canadian is it? It's got hockey, nice people, compliments on winter headgear, and even some strange Canadafied version of bowling.

For some reference, here is where Missassauga (The Mississippi of Canada... because of the S's, not because of anything else at all) is.

If Canada was slightly warmer, I'd move there right now.

Voice in the Vent

The Voice in the Vent has had quite the variety of activities going on lately.

Last night, in classic VITV mode, he watched a 40s-50s era musical. Which one? I'm not sure, but it was pumped up all the way and he sang along. Quite lovely.

A few days ago I heard the moo'ing again. Now, I've determined a few possible solutions to this weird, weird conundrum:

A) He has a small child who has one of those Animal Sound Wheels where you spin the arrow and it lands on an animal and the animal makes a sound - except his is stuck on The Cow Says Moo and I have never heard a child in there...

B) He has one of those "Cows in a Cup" cups and the sound of the moo'ing delights him. It washes away the anguish of not yet being a Broadway star.

C) It's his really obnoxious cell phone ringtone, and he just doesn't get a lot of calls.

Any ideas?

PS. I keep hearing this plastic rolling, crunching noise... I think he's covered his furniture in plastic like old ladies and obsessive-compulsive cleaners.

Squirrelpocalypse Now: Coming of the Squirrelmageddon

Yes, yes, they are going to kill us all. Just look at this "ravenous" (Serious Eats' word, not mine) beast - it's absolutely batsh*t crazy. You can see it in the tail.

However, we may have had a breakthrough in how we can avoid (or soften the blow) of the Squirrelpocalypse. How?

Shake Shack induced Type 2 Squirrel Diabetes. Look at that little demon - it's so clearly addicted to the Shack. It needs its fix, and if we give it to it, it will die marginally sooner than its already short lifespan.

If we employ this technique en masse, we can drop the average squirrel's lifespan from 3 years to 2. Even better, they'll spend their entire lives lusting after our fatty, sugary treats, so hypnotized, so entranced by peanut butter custard and shackburgers that they'll forget all about their plans for world domination.

Now we just have to get Shake Shack in on the deal. Who's good at PR? Also aggressivly persuading people to believe your conspiracy theories? Anyone? Anyone?

I Belong!

About a week ago at work I changed my desktop background from the standard Windows Blue to that adorable picture of Sunny when he was a (smaller) puppy.

Although I've been working at my job since November, love it, already knew most everyone from a previous internship, and had taped up a picture of a very cute otter from the January month of the PETA calendar my boyfriend pawned off on me (given to him by a random PETA mailing - no, we have no affiliation with PETA), changing the desktop background to Sunny felt very permanent.

I have no idea why, but up until a week ago I had never even thought about changing the background. Now that I have, it's like I've put my stamp on my little space at work. Even if I'm not at my desk, people can walk by, see Sunny, and think, "Yep, that's Artful's desk alright."

Nobody probably thinks that except me, but for whatever reason, I feel like I've made a legitimate step forward in establishing that, really for real, this is my job and I fit in here.

Awwww, this little Stew's growing up.

See What Internette Did There? New Blogs Show Out!

Hey Readers!

You know how much you love my blog? With all its conspiracy theories and animal-related news?

Well then you'll love my friends' blogs! I waited to post this Shout Out until they both had a few months worth of posts, so you all will have plenty to read.

Internette is written by my lovely friend Alex and covers everything from awkward Craigslist ads to witty friends' quotes to in depth analysis of the Puppy Bowl. If you want a quick laugh to brighten your day, head on over there.

See What I Did There? is written by my equally lovely friend Hillary and covers all sorts important topics like what is the best commercial ever, essential You Tube videos, and more hilarious quotes from hilarious people.

Both authors are successful journalists beyond their blogs, and (thankfully!) they post links to their most recent articles. They've had bylines in PaperMag, the Times Magazine Blog, Slate, and College Candy, just to name a few.

Check them out! (but don't forget about me!) Their links will always be posted under my Linguistic Linguini section, as with all of my favorite blogs.

Enjoy!