Maxwell Valentine

“In another widely reported study, the Belly Button Biodiversity Project, conducted by researchers at North Carolina State University, sixty random Americans had their belly buttons swabbed to see what was lurking there microbially. The study found 2,368 species of bacteria, 1,458 of which were unknown to science.”
― Bill Bryson, The Body: A Guide for Occupants

“The only really reliable way to transfer cold germs is physically by touch.”
― Bill Bryson, The Body: A Guide for Occupants

“antique tinsel, silver and gold garlands, colored glass balls, and little angels tooting pasteboard trumpets,”
― Alan Bradley, I Am Half-Sick of Shadows

“Here is the thing about human teeth: they’re the only tissue we’ve got that doesn’t self-regenerate. You cut your skin, it heals, but your teeth just sit there getting covered in plaque (food particles, which are unavoidable if you eat food, which you have to do to live) until they decay. Ridiculous!”
― Ryan North, How to Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveler