Having been an avid cook for several years, I’ve lived through the pleasant experience of rivers of tears involuntarily gushing out of my eye sockets on the occasions I peel and cut my own onions or shallots many times. But what’s the phenomenon that so brings us to tears? It seems that it’s just our [...]
Archive for July, 2009
What’s the slowest animal?
Jul 29
The slowest animal in the world is the sloth! This fact isn’t too difficult to except, seeing as how these fellows spend an overwhelming majority of their time sleeping (20 hours per day) and feed exclusively on leaves sorely destitute of nutritional value. So sloths aren’t horribly lively; indeed, they move at the catatonic pace [...]
The origin of coffee?
Jul 29
According to historical discoveries, coffee first appeared in Ethiopia (more precisely, in the province of Kaffa) in the east of Africa. It seems that the locals of this region have been getting jittery with it since about the 8th century. These Ethiopians then summarily introduced the delightful caffeinated concoction to Yemen, but it wasn’t imported [...]
Ah, summer: sunny days, heavy storms. Sniff sniff.. smell that? That delightful rainy odor? “Oh please, rain is simply water, which has absolutely no odor to speak of”, you say. Indeed you’re right! But it’s not the rain that smells rainy, but rather the soil; more precisely, that beloved characteristic smell is attributed to an [...]
In our time, it’s common to see someone spontaneously getting a piercing simply for it’s aesthetic appeal. However, piercing has an astoundingly ancient origin and has even been assimilated into rituals within certain tribes. Ear piercing: The story goes that sailors would don a golden earing so that they might sell it to finance their [...]