times are such...

One of my favorite artworks gets a spongebath
"The marks on 'David' recount much of the statue's life story, starting with an 18-foot-high marble bloc from Carrara that had been exposed to the elements for 40 years before Michelangelo began transforming it. 'It is very poor quality marble,' Ms. Parnigoni said after working inches from its surface for months on end. Even Michelangelo had to spend four months polishing the marble before it was presented in public in 1504."

That (in)famous omelet...
"$1,000 will get you a six-egg frittata with lobster, cream and 10 ounces of sevruga caviar. The restaurant staff rings a cowbell when the egg dish is served, lest other diners miss the event. With that tab — more than $1,200 with tax and tip — trumpets might be expected."

Big City, Big Dogs
"In a city defined by small spaces - cabs, elevators, cramped apartments and crowded sidewalks - it is often cause for bewilderment that New Yorkers would willingly choose to live with Great Danes, Newfoundlands, St. Bernards and Irish wolfhounds. Everything is outsize: the hair, the smell, the pull of a passing squirrel, the grooming bills, the food intake and its inevitable digestive exit, which can summon spectators like some kind of street show."

Q & A
Why do my fingers wrinkle after I swim for an hour when my friend's fingers don't?
Since cells of the lower layers of the skin do not absorb water and do not change shape, the usual explanation for puckered fingers and toes is that the expanding stratum corneum ends up pleating like corrugated cardboard.