As the throngs of devoted readers of this blog who eagerly devour its every post and comment* may recall, last Sunday esteemed correspondent Elizabeth McClung informed me that she had run across the exact same product line with which I had been experimenting the Sunday before that. She reported, however, that the store in which she found this product line had achieved far greater success, and that the trick, per the clerk, was to leave the item in question in water not for a mere "several hours," as the package instructs, but for four or more days.
Never one to stand in the way of good science, I volunteered to start another experiment of my own at once. I agreed to re-dunk the replacement severed limb which had already failed to impress me and soak it until Hallowe'en to see if I could get it to grow any bigger.
For reasons I feel it best not to explain, I decided to try my retry using a different bowl, a very much smaller bowl. Improved though still unexciting results were immediately obvious, however I was busy on Hallowe'en, and could not find the time to photograph them. Today, however, I have this to show you:
Look at that! One week in a smaller bowl and the appendage has swollen quite out of the water.
To put the matter into perspective, here is the latest bowl placed inside the previous bowl:
Don't you want to see if I can make that thing grow bigger? So do I! I have relocated it back to the original bowl, and will report any further change as it happens.
Meanwhile, nice metatarsals, eh? And is it my imagination, or do I see another set of Jesus toes in the making?
__________
ha! you know, my sister gave me a grow-your-own severed hand a while back. It had been sitting on the mantel for years, next to the H is for Heroin postcard, the Last Supper lunchbox, and the shattered but legible MD 20/20 bottle fragment. And the Bleeding Heart Elvis picture my mother gave me, that says "for unto you is born this day in the city of Memphis a Presley, which is called Elvis the King." But I put it in my pocket while dusting a few months ago (it was just a phase, as it turns out, the dusting) intending to soak it and grow myself a spare hand. Wonder where I put it. Now I totally wanna know what happens.
Posted by: alphabitch | November 04, 2007 at 08:34 PM
What about BOILING water?
Posted by: TheQueen | November 04, 2007 at 08:46 PM
Alphabitch, we will find out together! Incidentally, speaking of bleeding hearts, this company also offers a heart model with semi-realistic looking veinage and stuff.
Your Majesty, I did wonder about hot water (though not specifically boiling water), but I must confess that I fear the smell -- and the potential for off-gassing -- of freshly cooked expanding plastic novelties from China. However, if you have a properly ventilated area in your own laboratory and a good respirator with anti-fume filters, please let me know if you try it yourself!
Posted by: Sara | November 04, 2007 at 09:02 PM
This really begs the question why you are not sitting in a tub of water for the next couple of weeks. Well, or me, for that matter. Clearly soaking does miracles for tiny store-bought limbs, why not for the rest of us?
Posted by: Kay | November 05, 2007 at 12:29 AM
Wow, so it does continue to grow! I do not recommend the hot water because Linda thinks it is some form of molded starch and if you put it in warm water wouldn't that mean you sort of....cook it? Limb pasta?
Thank you for the update, I can't wait for further editions!
Posted by: Elizabeth | November 05, 2007 at 01:19 AM
Kay, for myself, I find I get equal results from eating, which is a more portable activity than tub-soaking. Sadly, I have found neither to inspire parthenogenesis -- and honestly, I have really tried with the eating anyway -- hence my eagerness to attempt replacement limb cultivation.
Elizabeth, don't worry; I will keep you all apprised. This is Important Research, dammit, that could benefit countless others!
mwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
And I couldn't have gotten this far without your assistance. Thanks to this research, our names will go down in the archives of TypePad.
Posted by: Sara | November 05, 2007 at 08:09 AM
Oh. My. God. That last photo just freaks me out. And it takes a lot to freak me out LOL.
Posted by: TheAmpuT | November 05, 2007 at 01:32 PM
Heh -- yes, Miss Bloody Mannequin Leg, you are indeed the last person I would expect to be freaked out by any of this! Ha!
Posted by: Sara | November 05, 2007 at 02:06 PM
I just hope you keep a close eye on that thing so it doesn't end up taking over your house. I hear that water-logged limbs can pack a mean punch (especially when they're angry for being grown in a too-small bowl).
And I'm not trying to be a brown noser, but you, me, and Bloglines know each other *very* well.
Posted by: Michelle | Bleeding Espresso | November 06, 2007 at 02:23 PM
Is this your polite way of letting me know that I do indeed make too many edits when I get a good fit of obsessiveness going? heh heh -- Sorry.
If it's any consolation, now I'm afraid of taking a nap. The last time I looked in on the severed limb, it had flipped itself over in the bowl. Freaky.
Posted by: Sara | November 06, 2007 at 03:48 PM