I wonder if Newton and Franklin ever did such fucked up things in their youth.
As a nipper, watching a boy play with melted plastic on a pole thrust into a bonfire. Quite amusing until he flung the molten glob into the air and promptly caught it on the back of his right hand. The mound of plastic was enormous and the damage severe. I remember hearing from his brother he was lucky to escape with skin grafts, any worse and he'd be writing, wiping and wanking with the left one for the rest of his life.

Not connected but I did an experiment myself a few years ago where I wanted to become ambidextrous and started to write only with my left hand. It progressed nicely until one day when I tried to go back to writing normally and found all my words coming out backwards, I really thought I'd broken my brain.

And also the great sleep deprevation experiment, where after getting used to working alternating shifts and watching a programme on the subject, I tried to find out how long I could go without suffering a total breakdown. Seven days. At the end of which I honestly believed I had the power to stop time by snapping my fingers. I finally fell asleep standing in line at the supermarket. I don't remember getting myself home afterwards but once in bed I slept for 24 hours straight. Woke up feeling absolutely amazing.
(Suddenly, zebras Safe and sound for eternity, Fri 25 Jul 2008, 15:20, Reply)