I feel like I’m allowed to call people nerds because I myself am a first rate nerd. I love Doctor Who (old and new) and Battlestar Galactica and, yes, Star Treks of all flavors. I will say, however, that I think I would stop far short of asking Tony Alleyne of 24th Century Interior Design to redo my house in sci-fi style. If a friend transformed their house into a tribute to Star Trek, I would certainly admire their dedication, but all-in-all, it’s just not for me. Perhaps it is for you?

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Oh, the jokes that come to mind. You might, for example, say that this house is kind of a dump. Novelty toilets in houses fascinate me already, so you can just imagine how tickled I am by this novelty toilet that IS a house.

The late Sim Jae-Duck, founder of the World Toilet Association, built the sanitary structure to mark the launch of said organization. The house is named Haewoojae, which a bit of Korean meaning “a place of sanctuary where one can solve one’s worries,” which I suppose does describe the potty to some extent. Unless, of course, one doesn’t have access to modern sanitation marvels like flush toilets.

That’s the World Toilet Association’s whole shtick… it was created to promote worldwide sustainable toilet and water management and to build and improve sanitation conditions on a sustainable basis. Sure it sounds a little silly — and the toilet shaped house is definitely a lot of silly — but if you’ve ever gone camping properly, you know that flush toilets (or composting toilets) are a wonderful thing.

If you’re interested in making sure that all of the stones in your home are sustainable, humanely grown, and environmentally friendly, try these from Tina Frey Designs:

Yes, you too can enjoy the natural beauty of rocks and pebbles without actually removing them from their natural habitats. In colors like light gray, dark gray, and frost, these stones appear to be made of hand-shaped glass (but are actually crafted from resin) and will remain beautiful for years to come.

A wonderful post over at Carpe Diem illustrates just how far we’ve progressed when it comes to the price of consumer goods. Of course, when I say progressed, I only mean that we can get just about any tool or accessory for the home (be it curtains, couches, or the old fashioned toaster) for much less than our grandparents would have paid. Relatively, that is. Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing is for the economists to decide. Being that one can buy a toaster for a mere $12, I’m just fascinated by the overall difference in price.

Observe… The cost of Sears Toaster in 1949 was $16.95, which doesn’t sound like much but adds up to a whopping 13.5 hours of work at the average hourly manufacturing wage of $1.26. Whereas the cost of a Sears toaster in 2009 is $19.99, or 1.1 hours of work at the average hourly manufacturing wage of $18.03. That explains a lot about why my grandfather will repair a toaster that’s on the fritz while my father will just toss the old one and go and buy a new one at Wal*Mart. Me? I don’t have a toaster; I just use the oven.