Interesting tidbits

Some of my favorite sites for finding interesting articles on the web are:

Mirabilis dot ca. Great entries on archaeology, food, religion, language, environment, and generally interesting things. Plus Christine highlights "how-to" articles for those of us who are a little behind on this whole web technology thing, e.g., what is RSS and why might one want to put an RSS/XML feed on one's site.

dangerousmeta. For example, "The Monasteries Mean Business", an article from the Telegraph about how religious houses are taking advantage of people's desire for organic and natural products:

There are Monastic soaps and shampoos, body cleansers and herbal remedies. "Everyone wants natural products these days," says Brother Gérard, his eyes aglow at the commercial opportunities, "and we provide them."

The label - motto "Quality is not a mystery" - is applied only to products made by monks and nuns themselves.

The Cistercians of Begrolles sell apples from their orchards and produce fruit jellies. Among the 500 other products in the abbey shop are cheese made from sheep's milk by Dutch Benedictines, biscuits from La Joie de Notre Dame in the Morbihan, coffee from Cistercians in the Cameroon and embroidered pillows from Parisian Carmelites.

Finally, a long-time favorite, Rebecca's Pocket. I was intrigued by a site she linked to last week, Tumbleweed Tiny House Co., a company which builds houses from 50 to 500 square feet, some of which can be towed.