First entries: bacon, extra fingers, towels, and popes

So, for my inaugural entries, I picked some of the coolest I've seen over the years. "Cool" is a definition within the eye of the beholder, of course. What interests me might not interest you, but there should be a good range. Different strokes for different folks, right?

List of bacon dishes is about one of the best foods known to exist (if any of you know me outside of this blog, then you know I have an odd fascination for the food). I don't have a particular affection for pork in general, but I love bacon enough that I would eat every morning if I could afford the time to cook it. The list is surprisingly comprehensive, seeing that there are ways to serve it that I had never dreamed of. The pictures help immensely, but be warned, reading on an empty stomach is not recommended!

A decadent maple bacon donut. Mmmm.. donut... <DROOL>

Polydactyly is a medical condition that sees extra digits on hands and/or feet. Described in the dry anatomical prose, it doesn't sound as interesting, but then, you have to see the images. The X-rays fascinate me, and I'm almost ashamed of how cool they are. I mean, these are real people affected by this, but luckily, I don't think any of them would think that I'm calling them freaky. Be sure to the related Polydactyl cat article, which has far more images.

It's easy to miss if you don't look closely.

I've never read any of Douglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books, an admission which instantly lost me geek cred from some of my readers, I'm sure. However, I can still get a few chuckles from reading about Towel Day. Even a schmuck like me knows that a strange affection for towels is a lynch pin in the fictional universe. That the fans have chosen it as a way to honor Adams's works with it tells you that they are a devoted breed.

Another list finds us with List of sexually active popes. I was raised Catholic, and while my current religious status is a bit complicated, I still hold a level of respect for the Church and its authority. People like to talk shit about Catholicism (indeed, it's one of the few "safe" groups to mock), but if only 16 of 265 popes can be proven to have violated their vows of celibacy, that's a pretty good rate. I myself found periods of forced celibacy (deployments and divorce) hard to endure, and I'm not sure I could take a lifetime vow like that without breaking it.

I suppose that's all today. I haven't exactly worked out a schedule for this, but I'm hoping that I'll post a few times a week. That will let me avoid feeling pressure to find new articles to post, keep the well from drying up too fast, and let me test the waters of interest in my posts.