A few bits and bobs I've been saving up before I go off on the schoolrun...

Market avocados at 6 for a pound and Lush products at more than £5 per 100 grams encouraged me to search out a homemade avocado facemask recipe. Funnily, I also ran across this brilliant MakeStuff.com website with loads of recipes and instructions for everything from homemade toothpaste to glow-in-the-dark ink.

Ever heard of the 5-second rule? Me neither. But apparently it's this: "If food falls to the floor and it's in contact with the floor for fewer than 5 seconds, it's safe to pick it up and eat it." Sounds dubious to me, even though I have few qualms about picking up food off the floor in certain circumstances. In any event, an apprentice at the University of Illinois has investigated the issue and found it not particularly true, but learned some other interesting things in the process. (via the Prandial)

Being the evil bringer of toast, I was quite interested to see what my soul is worth on the open market. It appears that it's worth £11469. Not too bad considering that 73% of people have a purer soul than me. Evil, naughty me.

Finally, fancy a little kickabout? See how you do in this Magical Kicks game-ette.