Lint in Literature: The Hazards of Good Breeding

I've been reading the novel The Hazards of Good Breeding by Jessica Shattuck. It's not really holding my interest but I'm plod through it since I'm more than one-third of the way in. But I sat up when I came across this nugget last night while reading:

"Caroline rolls her head in Rock's direction and looks up at his face, which from this angle, looks once again less familiar--a little weary, older, and sharper. She can see the stubble along his jawline. 'No, you won't,' she says, brushing a piece of lint off his tuxedo jacket. 'You'll be cool.'"

Lint in Literature: The Last Secret

I can't believe it's been such a long time since I posted about lint. A month. Dang. Life is so busy but we must remember:  There's always time for lint.

I finished reading Mary McGarry Morris's novel The Last Secret last night. It was a good book, but sort of dark. If you've read any of her books, you'll know what I mean:



Anyway, the other day, I read this passage (about Nora, who is feeling down and out, lousy, taken advantage of), and I grabbed a piece of paper to mark the page so I could add it here:

Pathetic, this groveling, this being a woman, mother, wife, trying to hold everything together, she thinks with a tug on the sleeve, this fury of pulling, ripping, tearing to pieces. Rags. And he won't even notice. A storm of little consequence, lint and bits of thread drifting onto the counter. He won't even notice. Only she will. The keeper of rags.

I love her writing but like I said, it's dark. And linty. Do you have a favorite author? Do they ever write about lint?

Lint in Literature: City of Thieves

I'm reading City of Thieves by David Benioff (very good!) and last night read this passage:

Abruptly he released me, shoving his hands into my coat pockets, pulling out scraps of paper, a bit of string and lint, nothing close to money. Koyla sighed and turned to the vendor.

Do you ever watch for certain words in books you read? If so, what are they? Do you find them very often?

Lint Game

Long time, no lint.

I must admit I have not been using my dryer much (in the past few months). I have a clothes drying rack that I use for everything. Well, I hang clothes clothes on hangers to dry. Sometimes I fluff them in the dryer to get out some wrinkles but not lately. It's been too hot to go much of anywhere, and I stay in many days. Nightgowns really don't need to be de-wrinkled, do they?

But today I decided to add a lint blog post. I Googled "lint" and the top search results are for Lint software and the game Lint. Neither of these hold any interest for me.

So, I tried Amazon. Here are the top results for lint in All Departments at Amazon.com:

     

I'm familiar with lint rollers and that defuzzing thing (I even have one), but that last item is a novel called Lint about a character named Jordan Lint. From the Product Description:  "Jordan Wellington Lint, fifty-one, is chief executive officer of Lint Financial Products, a company he began serving in 1985 as assistant and adviser before working his way up its corporate ladder to record-setting innovation in the fields of finance and high-yield investment. "

Sounds fascinating.

Spelled Linty in Wordscraper

I joined Facebook several years ago. Not to keep in touch with friends or to network or any of that jazz. I joined because my daughter told me I could play Scrabble!

So, my favorite Scrabble game on Facebook is WordScraper. I just played the word "linty" against Stan. I scored 35 points but I'm still behind. Stan:  117, Me:  113. But I'm closing in!

And I do use Facebook now like a fool:  I update my status when I cook something (it's rare) or I watch a good movie (it's frequent) and use social networking so often that I wouldn't be surprised if several friends have hidden me by now.

Do you use Facebook? But more importantly, do you play WordScraper!?

Another Great Way to Use Lint!

I was reading some online articles today on reusing items around the house when what did my wandering eyes see?

Dryer Lint

Reuse Household Waste Ideas

Scroll down on this Squidoo article to find this heading.

I love the idea of using dryer lint around the house, and this article has several great ideas including as a fire starter, as seen here, in an earlier lint blog entry. I personally don't have a wood stove or fireplace but I like this recycling idea. I don't usually have a lot dryer lint since my drying rack is my good friend, but it's a great way to use what you have!

Do you reuse your dryer lint for anything? Please share!

Friendly Lint

I went to a friend's house the other day and we were talking about lint (among other things). She said she'd washed and dried a white cotton blanket that really had a lot of lint on it when it came out of the dryer. And it left a lot of lint in the lint filter.

See? That's the lint in her trash can. The brownish lint was already in the lint filter she said then she added the blanket. The white was all from the white blanket. I think it's interesting how different fabrics throw off more lint than others. It makes sense that natural fibers like cotton would offer up more lint. Because have you ever seen a  polyester lint wad? Me neither.

Have any lint stories to share? If so, please do!

Lint Dough

This is a new one to me. Have you ever made modeling dough using dryer lint? Me neither, but this cute feller was crafted from a lint (and a few more ingredients)! Yes sir, this cute elephant was made using dryer lint, water, flour, and vegetable oil.

To get the exact recipe, because if you're going to make a lint elephant, you really should get it right, go to RealSimple's page explaining the easy enough process.

When you think about it, elephants are gray, and dryer lint is gray, unless you just dried your son's orange Denver Broncos fleece blanket (then it is orange, very orange). Elephants are cute animals with nice features (trunk and big ears) that would lend themselves to be crafted out of a sticky lint mess.

So, the next time you have a wad of dryer lint in your hands, what are you going to do? Throw it in the trash? Toss it in the compost pile? Or maybe make a fun elephant?

Please share any stories of dryer lint dough. We'd also love to see pictures!

Photo credit:  Aimee Herring from RealSimple

Lint in Literature: The Widower's Tale by Julia Glass

I'm reading Julia Glass's latest novel The Widower's Tale and must say I'm loving it. She is an excellent writer, tells a good story with wonderful character development. If you haven't read any of her books, I'd suggest starting with The Whole World Over, my favorite.

Last night I was reading along in bed when this line made me tear off a piece of the crossword puzzle I was using as a bookmark to mark the page:

Yet divorce and stained-glass willows and gadabout NPR celebrities were relegated to the virtual lint filter of my consciousness as I focused on the lump I'd felt in Sarah's breast.

It's interesting to think that we have virtual lint filters for our consciousness, isn't it? But we each have one. That place we put aside the "stuff" we should be dealing with to think (worry)  about what's at the forefront of our minds. I know my virtual lint filter can get clogged, making me slog along. If my head clears, I usually write down a list of what I need to do. This is essentially like grabbing the lint, wadding it in a ball, and throwing it away because when my mind is clear, I may not actually get all those things done but at least I know there is a reminder of what they are. Then I can resume focusing.

Snopes and Lint: The Real Dirt

I did a quick search for "lint" on Google and didn't see much interesting but on the third page found info from Snopes regarding lint. Yes, Snopes, the Web site subtitled "Rumor Has It." Snopes verifies or nullifies gossip, emails, and the like.

The Snopes lint entry is regarding the claim of lint filters on clothes dryers getting clogged when you use dryer sheets. Turns out, it's true. Dryer sheets can clog the mesh screens on dryers with a film that causes the heating element on the dryer to overheat and go out.

I personally don't use dryer sheets, so I guess my dryer's good to go. Do you use dryer sheets?

A Copy of a Masterpiece Done in Lint

You won't find this medium at art supply stores. Lint. The versatile medium of choice for artists! Yes, that's right. According to NPR, a Michigan woman has re-created Da Vinci's Last Supper in lint from her clothes dryer.

A few facts about Laura Bell's linty project:

• It took Laura 7 months to collect enough lint to begin The Lint Supper, I mean The Last Supper.
• Laura bought towels all the same color, washed and dried them separately to get enough lint. 
• Orange towels the right shade were the hardest color to find to get lint the right shade.
• Laura's finished masterpiece is 14 by 4 inches and took her 200 hours to complete.
• Ripley's Believe It or Not bought Laura's finished lint painting for their collection!

Okay, so maybe I should start visiting laundromats, gathering up bags full of lint and selling it online. Think of all the Lint Elvis's there would be collecting dust in the rec room. At least the dust wouldn't show