Ewwww

Boy#3 and I were watching Mythbusters this week during a break in the chaos. Do girls (and parents of girls) enjoy this fabulous show as much as the Boys and their parents do? It seems like this fascinating combination of science and bodily noises and fluids is a testosterone-driven phenomenon, but I could be wrong.

As it turned out, the episode we were watching was a re-run, from March 2007. The episode explored dog myths, including one described thusly: Will running a zig-zag pattern and doubling back really throw off a bloodhound's legendary nose?

Fine, sounds interesting. But as Adam and Jamie were conspiring to throw off the legendary nose, they offhandedly threw out the fact that a bloodhound doesn't follow the smell of perspiration, as one might think would be the case considering the adrenaline and mileage involved in fleeing a broken-out-of prison. No, the bloodhound follows the smell of skin.

A human being sheds a million dead skin cells a day, they said, and the bloodhound is simply picking up the scent of these cells that trail behind the runner. It's kind of like Hansel and Gretel, but with body components rather than bread crumbs.

As I ran the dustmop this morning, I couldn't get this fact out of my mind. That means that in addition to the two ornament hangers, the life-sized dust bunnies, and a DARNING NEEDLE (what the heck?) my dustmop accumulated, I also was sweeping up the cast-off outer layer of my family.

Ick. I haven't been so grossed out since I found out that Soylent Green is people.