Hooray, huzzah and let's party!

[enismirdal]

As you probably neither know nor care (*lol*) today is the FIRST ANNIVERSARY of this LJ. Hooray! Isn't that excellent!

Some of you guys have been on the Flist from the outset - naath and tienelle come to mind. Others are more recent additions. Whoever you are, your posts are great, you guys are great and I'm glad to know you, however slightly. So thank you, all of you.

I guess this is a geekery milestone. Excellent!

It also might be added that as of last night, I have known Girly for a year. Also a wonderful thing to consider. Thank you for everything, sweetie :D

---

Because it seems like a good idea, I will provide some things I like:

In which a baptist minister exorcises demons from his computer.

Guide to British Slang, presumably written by someone rather cynical.

Salad Fingers 5 - the most messed-up cartoon on Earth. And episode 5 is the most disturbing yet. I'm going to add an extra warning after terrifying Fishy - this is WEIRD in a really not-good way. Not suitable for those of a sensitive constitution.

---

I also feel the need to comment on fruit. Why? Because there seems to be a simple fact of life that fruit is not as good as chocolate (I am sure several of you will disagree, but I speak in general terms). The reasons for this would be twofold, I think. Firstly, fruit has less sugar in, and none of those lovely addictive chemicals present in chocolate. Secondly, fruit is simply not ergonomic!

So I have composed a silly and pointless comparison of fruit ergonomics...

ergonomics n. the study of the relationship between people and the equipment they work with and the environment they work in, with a view to increasing efficiency. -- adj. ergonomic.

On the ergonomics of fruit.

Chocolate bars, you see, were designed by people, to be eaten by people.

Fruit, on the other hand, have not been considered at great length by ergonomists with nothing better to do. This may explain why, to many people, chocolate holds more appeal than fruit.

Below is a review of the ergonomic strengths and failings of some common fruits:

Banana
- easy-peel wrapper to limit spread of stickiness
- firm(ish) consistency allowing sensible bites to be taken
Conclusion - ergonomic construction

Apple
- no single non-edible or dry point by which to hold it
- must switch from body to top and bottom of core partway through eating
- nasty scaly bits in core
- not too sticky
Conclusion - not very ergonomic but could be worse

Orange
- large amounts of squirty, sticky juice
- no non-edible or dry point by which to hold it
- skin keeps interior clean - definite plus
- large amounts of peel and pith which must be removed
- breaks neatly into bite-sized pices.
Conclusion - strongly non-ergonomic but segmentation a good idea

Satsuma
- also juicy and has skin but no 'handle'
- BUT less pith
- again, skin keeps interior clean - definite plus
- segments separate more easily
Conclusion - more ergonmic than orange but still sub-optimal

Grape
- mouth-sized pieces that do not leak juice unless damaged
- all neatly held together on convenient twiggy bits (non-edible)
- small minus point of no external wrapper to keep contents clean
Conclusion - ergonomic design

Raspberry
- mouth sized pieces but no twiggy holder
- squidgy and fragile
- hard to pull off the (spiky) branches without squashing
- that funny core thingy down the middle that it really hard to get out without ruining the fruit
- no external wrapper to preserve contents
Conclusion - good size but not very ergonomic

Watermelon
- skin to preserve contents/hold by is good
- BUT huge amount of juice soaks it anyway
- no natural division into segments
- width of slices means taking bites inevitably soaks hair as well
Conclusion - strongly non-ergonomic; possibly about the worst ergonomic design noted in fruit

Pomegranate
- small pieces is a good plan
- BUT all must be individually extracted from bitter and non-edible pith/skin
- squirty juice gets everywhere and stains clothes horribly
- skin tough and hard to open without knife
- however, this means insides remain clean and free from contamination (hopefully)
Conclusion - strongly non-ergonomic

From these observations, it can be inferred that a properly ergonomic fruit would either come in small portions (~mouth-sized) or divide naturally and easily into similar small pieces. Some point by which to hold the fruit during consumption is good, as is an external wrapper to protect the contents from damage and dirt.

What fruits fit this specification?

One springs to mind. Therefore I award the fruit ergonomic design to the...PHYSALIS!



Hooray for the humble physalis!

Comments

[fate-ofthe-free.livejournal.com]

There is a good way to eat water melons, which is to cut a hole on the top and dig it out with a spoon, rather like eating ice cream. Then you don't get the juice everywhere and you may use the skin on the hole as a lid, so it's fresh for next time. Excess juice can also be used for watermelon popsicles, which are very nice. :-)

[enismirdal.livejournal.com]

Oooh, that sounds like a rather cunning plan *resolves to try this at some point*

[refractions.livejournal.com]

I eat my kiwi fruit like that... if its soft enough you just slice it down the middle and eat the inside with a teaspoon like you'd eat a yogurt. yum :-)

[http://users.livejournal.com/fishyz9_/]

o_o *whimpers* that cartoon thing...scared the SHIT out of me!!! What the hell was that?!! *shivers* nightmares for weeks to come now! Shit that was scary! *runs and hides*
Fishy*

[enismirdal.livejournal.com]

They are deeply disturbing, aren't they? I mean, really really messed-up. That's just the 5th in the series - there are the 4 other ones! My ex-bf showed the first one to me, and I showed it to my brother, and then we ended up watching out way through the whole series...

Sorry for traumatising you! *huggles*

[melime.livejournal.com]

1) Congrats on your one year! I didn't know that you had only been on LJ for a year. :)

2) Thank you for the slang link. I have learned many a new thing today. :)

3) I have never ever heard of a physalis. Or a satsuma. You're eating all kinds of crazy fruit! Anyway, fruit isn't really designed to be ergonomic; quite the opposite, isn't it? I had always thought that fruit was designed to be obnoxious to prevent little creatures from eating at it and preventing it from dropping its seeds and all that. Or at least designed to prevent the actual seeds from being damaged by animals.

[enismirdal.livejournal.com]

1) Thank you! It's been a great year!

2) No problem!

3) Perhaps we are! Maybe they sell satsumas in the US as another kind of tangerine or clementine. That's basically what they are, anyway.

I like physalis. They are quite nice but they can be a little bitter on the outside sometimes.

You have a point about fruit not really being meant to be ergonomic, I guess - after all, getting eaten by the wrong thing wouldn't do, and I imagine humans are usually the wrong thing. But most fruit that are remotely edible are designed for something to eat them, I suppose, and they would want to be designed to be easy for that thing to eat. I will rue the fact that the orange did not evolve with human consumption in mind! Bad oranges!

[melime.livejournal.com]

Agreed on the fruit. Something is meant to eat them, and usually meant to pass them later in a different location. Forgot about that.

Don't know about bananas being so ergonomic, though. Do you ever get the banana where the top will just not snap, and then you have try twisting, and the top of the banana just gets mushier and mushier until finally you take a knife to it? Hate that. It always happens to me. I must not have teh mad banana skillz.

Also, an interesting Anthropology note on bananas -- did you know that in some cultures, what we consider the bottom of the banana is considered the top of it? I think that's really cool, 'cause I can't ever imagine the stick part to be the bottom, but they probably wonder how on earth we can think of the stick part to be the top.

Okay, enough musing on bananas. ;)

[tienelle.livejournal.com]

Bananas are best eaten when they're heavily spotted with brown. They peel more easily, the top snaps with little effort, *and* they taste nicer.

I realize that waiting for them to reach this state may not satisfy your present craving for bananas, but that's an engineering problem.

[chess]

The 'top not snapping' problem can usually be solved by making a horizontal incision with fingernails just below the bit where it starts to have banana underneath; that cuts through some of the fibres holding it in place, making it much easier to snap backwards from there.

[http://users.livejournal.com/fishyz9_/]

*Giggles at fishy warning*
*hugs*

[enismirdal.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

[hairyears.livejournal.com]

Happy Birthday to your LJ!

Why no mention of kumquats?

[enismirdal.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

And I suppose they are indeed ergonomic fruits.

Someone remind me - aren't they weird special citrus fruits where you don't need to take the skin off? It must actually be about 10 years since I last had one!

[hairyears.livejournal.com]

Kumquats are used as a decorative touch in posh buffets and fruit salads, so I see eat a lot of them. They are tiny sweet oranges with a very thin skin that has a strong 'orange zest' flavour.

Some people find them too bitter, but I love them. Bite-sized, no packaging to remove, very ergonomic indeed.

On the topic of bananas... Some of the more er, you know memes ask if you can 'eat a banana in one go'. Ergonomic? Actually, lets not go there.

[enismirdal.livejournal.com]

*nods* That would seem to agree with my vague recollections.

LOL - better ask Gandalf about that one...;)

[girlofthemirror.livejournal.com]

That cartton is so fucked up. I am quite distubed. Nice to have known youfor a year though, that is rather fun.

[enismirdal.livejournal.com]

Indeed, it's lovely having known you all that time. You are a good person to know!

It really is weird. Have you seen episodes 1-4 as well?

[mr-ricarno.livejournal.com]

I didn't know people still listened to Alisha's Attic.

Oh them were the days...

[enismirdal.livejournal.com]

*has Now 36 and 44 and ripped the songs she liked - about 2 per CD*

And that one was among them. :D

[ilanin.livejournal.com]

You realise you've given me an I Am, I Feel earworm now? (Alisha's Attic, as far as I'm aware, produced two singles - that one and the one I've just mentioned, and one album. I Am, I Feel got an incredibly large amount of radio airtime, and I can remember it even now. Grrrr.)

[enismirdal.livejournal.com]

I think they released a second album later on, but it wasn't as good. And I think they made Alisha Rules the World into a single too...although I might just be lost and confused.

[emperor]

Have you considered Getting Out More? :)

*giggles*

[lifes-a-dream.livejournal.com]

Omg, I watched the first and second episodes of Salad Fingers the other day, and that was enough to traumatise me for life!!! The description "fucked up" doesn't even cover it.....*shudders*...

[jaiden-s.livejournal.com]

Do strawberry Jolly Ranchers count as fruit?