Mew

Kitten heels supposedly got their name because the small thin heel resembles a kitten's claw.

Supposedly.

Also, I appear to be on a shoe kick right now.  So to speak.

Heels

It appears that my shoes, having more or less "a heel extending from the back of the shoe to the front of the shank and a tread formed by an extension of the sole," are technically wedges, despite being basically bog standard men's shoes.  I feel like either I or the dictionary definition are missing something, but there you go.

I'm a wedge wearer.

Barbie(tm)

For all of the flack that Mattel gets from the progressives and feminists, much of it admittedly well deserved, it's interesting to remember that when Barbie was first introduced, it was created and designed by women (primarily Ruth Handler, wife of one of the Mattel founders), and was one of a very few dolls on the market with an adult body-- in other words, that did not automatically cast the doll's owner in the role of a mother.  It was intended to be a doll that a girl could imagine herself as, that opened up a great deal of opportunity for unchecked imagination.  It's just too bad they've had so much trouble keeping the momentum of those initial ideas of empowerment.

Word for the Day-- God's Penny

According to the Big Book, God's Penny is ": a penny or small sum paid as earnest money esp. on concluding a purchase or hiring a servant."  It's like saying, "I promise I'll pay you, but in the meantime here's a little something from God to tide you over."

On the one hand, it's kind of nice, since you're getting a little extra.  On the other, the more I think about it the odder it gets.  "Hey, God, what, you can't spare more than a penny?"  Or alternatively, "Um, why does God need a starship servant?"  Also, "You're paying on behalf of God?  Shouldn't that be the Pope's job or something?"  Seriously, the more I think about it the stranger it seems.

Hmm.  A little more research shows that it's not actually supposed to be money from God, but rather money given in the sight of God-- sort of equivalent to "As God is my witness, I will pay you the agreed upon money."  Which is still odd, but I guess not quite as odd.  Because you're still suggesting that the money has some sort of significance to God, which, what?  I mean, that works if you still worship Mammon or something, but the Judeo-Christian God is sort of supposed to be beyond all that.

Mm.  Black's Law Dictionary (or at least what appears to be a poorly edited OCR scan of it) suggests that the small sum was customarily then given to charity or as alms.  Which does more or less finally make sense of the name, actually.  I'm actually sort of disappointed.  This was much more fun when it didn't make any sense at all.  Alas.

What is bubblegum flavor?

Everyone knows what bubblegum tastes like.  Or at least a lot of people.  Ok, a lot of Americans.  Anyway, we've all* tasted the ice cream, or the cotton candy, or chewed the gum itself.  But what, exactly, is it?

Turns out, nobody really seems to know.  All right, that's not quite true.  I mean, the people at Hubba Bubba presumably know, right?  And Wrigley.  And a bunch of others.  But each of these has their own proprietary combination of flavorings, and no one's talking.  It's a little bit like the formula for Coke-- we can make a few guesses as to some of the obvious components, but the exact proportions and some of the minor additives we can only guess at.

So here's what we do know.  Ethyl methylphenylglycidate is one of the flavors.  That's a common artificial "strawberry" flavoring.  It does not appear to be in actual strawberries, but it is fruity and berry-y and the government has classified it as Generally Regarded As Safe.

Another compound is isoamyl acetate, also known as isopentyl acetate.  This is another common flavoring, generally used as an artificial banana flavoring, although it reportedly also tastes a bit like pear.  It's dead simple and cheap to make-- I'm pretty sure it's the stuff we cooked up in high school in AP Chemistry.  Unlike the strawberry flavoring, it is an actual component of real bananas, although in the actual fruit it's only one part of a much larger collection of naturally occurring chemicals.

There are some other likely components-- most versions probably contain vanilla (or more likely vanillin), as well as methyl salicylate (wintergreen-ish), and of course some sort of sweetener (sugar, HFCS, stevia, whatever).  But the exact formulas remain a mystery.

*as previously disclaimed

Late att night

We (my significant wife and I) have just discovered that AT&T cellular does a thing of which we were previously unaware.  That's a little redundant, isn't it.  Oh, well, never mind.  Moving on.

You see, late at night, a little after midnight, AT&T will access your phone and download a summary of your phone's data activity.  I had vaguely assumed that they kept a running total, but no, apparently the phone itself keeps the record, and then AT&T just grabs it in one go at a time when most phones are not in use.

Unfortunately, if you've accidentally left a few applications open for a long time, and also coincidentally forgotten to turn on WiFi, this download can end up quite substantial.  Of the, "Hey, where'd all my data go and why am I getting overage charges" variety of substantial.

So let this be a warning-- close out your apps every once in a while.  And don't turn off WiFi and then forget to turn it back on.

Papal update

Yesterday, whilst discussing the length of the papal reigns, it occurred to me to wonder if Benedict XVI would keep the name after he retired or not.

It turns out that there may actually be some official uncertainty about that very subject.  According to the Daily Mail (not always the most reliable source, but there you go):

"The Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales said firmly on Monday that the Papal name of Benedict will be dropped and the Pope will resume his old name of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.  However, yesterday a Vatican spokesman said that he would actually keep the name Benedict and added that his title might be ‘Emeritus Bishop of Rome’ – in other words, a second Pope.  Padre Federico Lombardi [Vatican spokesman] said of Benedict’s new title: ‘His name will remain Benedict XVI. This remains for life, until he dies. It will be interesting to see how we address him, how he will be called.’"

There is precedent-- the last Pope to resign was Gregory XII, and he apparently kept the name Gregory until his death.  So if Ratzinger decides to stay Benedict, there will be some justification.

Meanwhile, he'll be living in an apartment block/monastery inside the Vatican grounds (as soon as it's finished being renovated).  Hopefully, he'll keep the partying to a minimum.