Going down the drain, in style

I missed the November 15th deadline to apply for the spring semester of SGU, but it's just as well, because I don't think I'd be able to handle going off to school while I'm still struggling to medicate this depression. You see, I can't really concentrate on anything-- reading a book is even a labor, I can't focus. This is the first time in two months that I've been able to even focus on typing. But I do have every intention of going to SGU. I even have a list of dorm supplies started :)

I'm not sure how I found it, but this article on designer toilet paper caught my eye. I remember when I was about 15 I spent the night at a friend's house for her birthday party, and I was very pleased with her parents' choice of bathroom tissue. I wanted to know what kind it was, but I was too embarrassed to ask. In the U.S., specialty bathroom items aren't nearly as popular as abroad, mostly because they have to overcome this country's aversion to openly discussing, displaying or advertising anything to do with the loo. But in countries like Korea and Japan, toilet culture is much different and extremely consumer-oriented. And in France, wiping with your reading material has come back into style with Petit Lutin(pdf), toilet paper featuring printed articles on French culture and current events. This trend toward luxury in the loo is bound to hit the U.S. soon enough because we Americans tend to believe we all deserve the best, in the end [comma optional].

In other drain news, we just had our garbage disposal hooked up... after it sat in my parents' closet, brand-new, for 4 years. In rural Maine, it is EXTREMELY unusual to find a garbage disposal in any house, and this is the first time I've ever lived in a house that had one. The first one I ever saw was in my grandparents' apartment, and I thought it was so upscale! Maine is a little behind-the-times, to say the least. I'm very excited to try out our new luxury!