Johari

i bought into the fad:

Johari

DO IT or else i'll spam you
and then just for fun:

Nohari
oooh there are so many more i could pick that i enjoy :)

nose hole

have you ever looked down into a mirror pointing up your nostrils and imagined how you would look without a nose (no nasal septem, nostrils, nothing!)? so creepy. for full effect make sure to blow your nose beforehand so there is nothing getting in the way.

teflon is bad

i told you so :P
yesterday, "A group of scientific advisers to the Environmental Protection Agency voted unanimously Wednesday to approve a recommendation that a chemical used in the manufacture of Teflon and other nonstick and stain-resistant products should be considered a likely carcinogen." CNN teflon article

highlights:
• the chemical used is perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), also known as C-8
• specifically, the SAB board members are voting in consideration of carcinogenicity findings by a PFOA review panel. not all the panel members agree with the "likely carcinogen" classification, but dissent is probably limited to three or four people.
• there are several scientific studies on the carcinogenicity on PFOA and there is dissent among everyone involved regarding their reliability. in particular, the panel dismissed a DuPont and 3M-sponsored 2005 review giving "suggestive evidence" that PFOA is a carcinogen, saying "We do not feel that it rose to the same level of scrutiny as the other information we were considering". (they considered, in contrast, an unpublished but peer-reviewed 1980 study). a 3M scientist accuses the panel of making selective use of information.
• the board members have asked that the panel's report clarify why some studies were used and others weren't
• the EPA administrator Stephen Johnson (ONE PERSON?) can accept or reject the SAB's recommendation
• DuPont is the sole producer of PFOA in north america

so we'll see how it turns out. i haven't looked at the scientific studies, but my instinct is to not trust the ones ordered by the manufacturers. in a world where companies have been known to hide information declaring their products to be toxic, i would think that for every published report "safe" to the company, there are ten with more dangerous findings that we will never find out about. look what happened with asbestos. maybe i'm a cynic because i work on plaintiff litigation :) i know how you can select expert scientists who support the view more favorable to you. but the ewg also sent a cover letter to the EPA, discussing how they would disqualify DuPont's "scientific" studies and the carcinogenicity conclusion to which they came, and i don't believe there is much that DuPont can do to refute that letter's content. EWG letter to EPA concerning DuPont's response to EPA's inquiry of possible TSCA Section 8(e) substantial risk reporting violations

again with the curtains

crate & barrel's orange ("russett") curtains didn't look so good on display. the orange hue was a little too intense and the texture of the material made it look dull. dull loud orange. so i went back to bed bath (it's amazing how much you can walk when you are on a mission. i returned some stuff to bed bath, walked 5 avenues (+ a few for getting lost) to crate & barrel, and then back to bed bath). found these:


much nicer. going to drill some holes into the ceiling to add another rod to the front and move those panels to the front rod. and replace the white panels in the back with something peachy. the only problem is that the sun filters through pretty readily in the morning:


replacing the gauzy panels with something thicker might fix it

curtains

welcome to episode one of "i don't have anything to bitch about so it's time to talk about how i amuse myself". after >2 years of living in the apt i'm in now it's finally time for curtains. the pornography photographers hanging out below the windows or across the river will have to find a new model. here is the first attempt, going the bed bath and beyond route:


it looks different with sunlight, with different light shining on it, and i'm not so sure i like the glitzy effect that it picks up from certain lights. glitz doesn't work with this color scheme. i think this color scheme requires suede which to me has the most disgusting texture. my hands always feel dirty after rubbing against suede. not that i'm intending to rub against the curtains. that's a story for the curtainless windows.

but now, i'm going to try for the hot caribbean look using this:
Orange and maybe a more cream-colored thin panel underneath. not sure. the light panel i have now is delicate and pretty and i still want to maintain that effect.