Wired: Cute Inc. Dec. 1999
I have asked Yamaguchi why so many cute Japanese characters have no mouth. At Sanrio alone, the muted legions include Hello Kitty, Pochacco, Cathy the bunny, Nutz, Chococat, and Cookie-Bau. Might this fit in with the helpless aspect of kawaii? If submissiveness is part of the appeal of cute, what better than to have no mouth at all?
"Kitty has a mouth," Yamaguchi states flatly. Spread open on the table is an issue of the glossy magazine/catalog Kitty Goods Collection. I look again: The damn cat has no mouth.
"It's hidden in the fur," Yamaguchi insists.
"But -"
"She has one."
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NYT: In Guatemala, a Rhode Island-Size Jade Lode
The exact locations of the outcroppings are not being given, to protect them. Leading archaeologists in Guatemala, though not directly involved, are applauding the finds. Héctor Escobedo of the Universidad del Valle called the jade discovery "one of the most significant" in decades of investigating the Mayan past and said the new deposits probably account for "all of the sources for Mesoamerican jades."
This is so cool. Can you imagine being one of these archaeologists and finding this 3 years ago?
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NYT: Divers Discover Maya Relics in Caves That Became Rivers
By far the largest of the submerged river systems is called Ox Bel Ha (pronounced OHSH bel hah; the name is Mayan for "three paths of water). Its labyrinthine passageways, an estimated 200 miles, wind their way underground within a triangle, embraced on the surface by the resort city of Cancún, the late classic Maya coastal trading center of Tulúm and the inland classic Maya site of Cobá.
We visited Coba on our Yucatan trip. We stayed at a cheap diver's motel in Tulum where these cave divers generally stay. I think it's really cool what they're doing but cave diving is generally considered one of the most dangerous sports.
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NYT: How About Lunch, Dear? Bring Everyone
But the truth is, it's surprising how little you do need to do to make everyone, including yourself, relax. Believe me, there are ways of inviting your friends over, even en masse, without hating them for having the brutal inconsideration to take you up on your hospitality. Make it lunch, make it light, and make them work.
I've never seen Nigella's show since I don't own a TV, but I think I would enjoy it more than any other cooking show. She seems to be pretty down-to-earth and sensible. I don't want a "personality" showing me how to cook.
