YES, YES, A THOUSAND TIMES---YES!

hrrm. someone else came up with the same answer to the question, "Are Hummer Owners Idiots?" as i did. and stated it far better than i would have, too. yay!

i keep seeing a lot of ads for The Perfect Cookie and various other similar appliances on TV; all allegedly meant to simplify one's life, particularly as far as cooking is concerned. all of them have one thing in common, too---all of them enable their happy, happy users to get as little of whatever substance they're working with on their hands as possible.

this is a thought which patently offends me. in an immediate sense, most cookies do require touching/handling/holding/fondling/forming in one's hands. in a grander sense, most culinary anything of any sort does require tactile attention at various stages. and in an even grander sense than that---most things in general require rolling up shirtsleeves and getting up to one's elbows in the midst of whatever it is they're working on.

i personally enjoy getting my hands dirty. one thing i've finally come to realise is that i really like doing things with my hands, above all else. it doesn't matter what i'm doing so much as it matters how i'm doing it. and really, it's something i should have realised early on; especially given the fact that i've NEVER had long fingernails. why? because they get in the way, things get trapped under them, they snag, etc., etc. there are a zillion reasons why, and so i've always kept them nice and short and neat.

so things like the aforementioned Perfect Cookie absolutely baffle me---i mean, putting aside for the moment that it's some ridiculous product being pimped on TV relentlessly, the whole notion. how can you make cookies that way? the cookies in the commercial look like crap. there are some things that you shouldn't do with your hands, but there's also everything else.

i like to take things apart. i like to put things together. i like the creating---both in theory and in practice. i like knowing how things work. i like doing everything myself. i like knowing where things come from and how they got that way. i like learning, i like knowing, and i don't think i'd ever like to stop. and while i don't like making mistakes, if they teach me something (no matter whether it's a messy something or not), usually sometime later i'll at least appreciate whatever it is they've taught me. and there is nothing in the world like a big musty book says my inner Yomiko.

i don't understand this at all---when, exactly, did we become so afraid to get our hands dirty? and how have we survived this long since then? O.O;;;