Tonight I am slightly falling apart. Just a little loose and teary.
And there is really no point in complaining my head off (oh please don't tell me that nothing I write here has a point. I might just cry) so here are ten quite interesting things I have learnt recently.

All thanks to my latest obsession: Qi.

1. After Sir Walter Raleigh's execution, his head was embalmed and presented to his wife. She carried it with her at all times in a velvet bag.
(I plan on doing this. Haven't told Craig yet. I'm sure he won't mind.)

2. There is a disease called Argyria which is linked to the intake of silver particles diluted in water, the most obvious symptom of which is a conspicuously blue skin.

3. Death by being hit by an asteroid is almost twice as likely as being struck by lightening.

4. The smallest dog on record was a Yorkshire Terrier that was 6.5cm (2.5 inches) high at the shoulder and .5cm (3.75 inches) long from nose to the root of its tail.

5. The last veteran of the Crimean War, which ended in 1856, was a tortoise called Timothy who died in 2004.

6. Almost every Banana we eat has been propagated by hand. Most banana plants have not had sex in 10,000 years and their genetic material has not changed in 100 centuries. As a result they are extremely susceptible to disease. Unless a genetically modified version can be developed soon, all bananas may become extinct.
(Maybe they'll stop sneaking them into EVERY SINGLE FRUIT SMOOTHIE EVER)

7. Hawthorn flowers have a heavy, complicated scent, the distinctive element of which is triethylamine, which is also one of the first chemicals produced by a dead human body when it starts to decay.
(is it wrong I now want to get a Hawthorn plant??)

8. Triethylamine is also the smell of sex: specifically of semen; hense its positive association with wild springtime rogering outside in the fields.
(then again, maybe not.)

9. The latin name for Turkey is Meleagris gallopavo which means 'Guinea-fowl chicken-peacock'.

10. Pistachios are deadly dangerous. They are classified under Class 4.2 of the International Maritime Dangerous Goods code: Flammable Solids (Substances Liable to Spontaneous Combustion). Fresh pistachios, if stacked under pressure can burst into flames and cause a cargo fire.

	Days to go
fauxmas	10 days
Cinderella	13 days
Marilyn Manson	14 days
Arriving Hong Kong	15 days
Arriving Auckland	21 days
Arriving Wellington	29 days
Craig arrives in Wellington	36 days
San Francisco	51 days
2nd Anniversary	54 days