Navel Gazing and Belly Button Lint

I know I've been neglectful of my lint blog, but I've been busy. I have not, as the title of this blog post might suggestion, been doing any navel gazing and no, I don't have belly button lint but in an attempt to write a new blog post, I searched for "belly button lint" because it's always a fun topic to spend a few minutes on.

I came across this article by the Huffington Post called This Is What Your Belly Button Says About You. It's chockfull of information about what the shape of our belly buttons say about us, touches on a few people who do not have belly buttons (they were removed in surgeries; they are not aliens), and the ever-popular belly button lint. So take a few minutes to read some of those strange facts, if you like. 

And if that's not enough, there's a book out called Re:  Belly Button Lint by Brooke West. I have a feeling it's not entirely about navel fluff, but I found it interesting that there's a book with belly button lint in the title!

Lint in Literature: The Writing Circle by Corinne Demas

I was reading the tail end of The Writing Circle by Corinne Demas last night and spotted some lint:

Under her tutelage he flossed, he cleaned his ears with Q-Tips, in the shower he spread the cheeks of his buttocks and washed with soap, he filed his fingernails, clipped his toenails, spread petroleum jelly between his littlest toes, where the skin had a tendency to flake, and removed lint from his belly button.

~*~

Is that a lovely description of tidying up?

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.'"

A Man and His Navel Lint...

Yes, you read right. An Australian librarian has been collecting the "navel fluff," as he calls it, from his belly button since 1984.Thanks go to my niece, Trista, for sharing this tale with me to share with you.

Collecting navel lint.

Saving belly button fuzz.

What a gross hobby, you may say. Yep, I'd say. But Graham Barker has picked himself the honor of a Guinness World Record. How much navel lint has he collected in 26 years? Just 22.1 grams, that's .77 ounce. Not even 1 measly ounce. Graham may not be the only person to have had this much navel lint, but he is the one who saved it for all to see. And he was brave enough to admit he saved it. And from what I understand, admitting you have a problem is the first step....

Check out the jars by decade of his navel fluff here. 

What I thought of when I first saw the three jars lined up was did he wear the same shirt the entire time? I mean look at the colors. Weird. And here is picture of the Navel Lint King and his jars.

Do you have belly button lint? Do you save it? We'll have our own poll and see who among us plays on Barker's team.

Belly Button Lint Bears, Oh My!

Etsy is a great marketplace for buying and selling. In fact, it is "Your place to buy & sell all things handmade."

All things homemade, like Teddy bears made of belly button lint. Okay, maybe they're not actually made from belly button lint, but it is LINT! And bettyraecase sells these cute critters in her Etsy shop.

Check out bettyraecase here.

These little fellers are adorable with a capital A! Rachel, the brains behind bettyraecase, describes these guys thusly:

These charming, tiny teddys are made of lint and even have eyes and a nose! They come in a 2.5" glass jar with a cork and label. Each teddy-in-a-jar comes in a black satin satchel to keep them safe and precious.

A great small gag gift for just about anyone who likes to laugh! Wonderful for curiosity collectors! Never fails to start a conversation!

Mice and rabbits coming soon!
~~~
I ask you, what have you made with lint today?