“Starship Kimchi: A Bold Taste Goes Where It Has Never Gone Before.” The first Korean astronaut is getting ready to go up to the ISS, and he’ll be taking specially designed space kimchi with him.

“Ordinary kimchi is teeming with microbes, like lactic acid bacteria, which help fermentation. On Earth they are harmless, but scientists feared they could turn dangerous in space if cosmic rays and other radiation cause them to mutate.”

I, for one, welcome our new mutant space kimchi overlords.

(Link courtesy of the Snook, who got it from Toast.)

Happy birthday to Bex! We’re going to see Margaret Cho on Wednesday night, and I’m super-excited…

The Perils of Blogging
“Blog under your real name, and ignore the harrassment.” That’s a nice little article on the importance of using your real name on the Web. I had a few people tell me that my whole drama with anonymous trolls last week wouldn’t have happened if I were quieter about who I am and what I do. “Why can’t you just have a journal in a locked drawer?” I can understand their bewilderment, especially those who aren’t that Internet-savvy. It comes down to this: I like to talk and I like to write. For whatever reason, I feel compelled to put my life out there for friends, family, and whoever to learn about. I’ve been doing this for eight years now, and the benefits far, far outweigh the occasionally annoyances. I’ve made friends – real “in person” friends – from around the world. I’ve gotten some amazing opportunities. I’ve met some of my heroes. I’ve got a community here that I can count on. That’s why I do this. I made a decision early on – way before I started blogging, in fact – that I was going to be transparent about who I am online. And if people don’t like it, they can get stuffed. 🙂

Wow! I just found out that a class of sixth graders will be using my sock monkey tutorial this week as part of a unit on, you guessed it, sock monkeys! Neat. Hello, middle-schoolers!

Oh man. Why did it take me so long to listen to the Best of Bootie 2007? IT RULES. I’ve used it for my last two runs and it’s been awesome. I nearly fell over when the Star Wars sound effects kicked in. I also really like the “Tender Umbrella” mashup. Highly recommended.

Even if you’re not a knitter, I really recommend this week’s Sticks and String podcast. David’s essay about last week’s apology by the Australian government was one of the best bits of writing I’ve heard about it, and it’s a good explanation of what it was all about (for those from other countries).

It’s Oscar time!
We’re about 22 hours from the start of the Academy Awards, so if you haven’t put in your entry for my Oscar Contest 2008, you’d better hurry! (There always seems to be such a rush at the end. I think everybody’s waiting to see what the critics predict.) Also, as usual I’m asking if those of you are are TiVoing the show can help me out by counting the number of dead people in the annual obit montage. Just drop me an email or a comment with your total. Thanks!

I’m almost embarrassed to post this, but I just picked up a copy of Debbie Bliss’s The Baby Knits Book at Borders in the city for $3.95. Some, uh, knitting stores sell it for a lot more. Like, $80 more. Ahem. Anyway, all the copies they had on the shelf are now gone (sorry!), but you might get lucky at one of their other locations…

Update! I’ve just been told that they have more stock at the Bondi and Macquarie locations.

Great AskMefi Today: What do you call those big clumps of snow that accumulate in your car’s wheel wells? In my Indiana family, they were always “car boogers.”

The Duckworth-Lewis Method explained. Neat! The DL Method is a system for deciding which side in a cricket match wins when the game has to be cut short (for weather or darkness). I always wondered how it worked.