You never know when an otherwise fairly useless piece of social media will serve as inspiration. In this case, it was a random post by the brilliant Connie Schultz, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, humorist and wife of Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio. 

Today Connie introduced her followers to a blog called SAD AND USELESS  which seems destined to become one of my new favorite places to visit when I need a laugh. In fact, a creative little video based on the Miley Cyrus twerking episode got me to laughing so hard, I had to post it on FaceBook myself.

Anyway, the  SAD AND USELESS post that is relevant to travel is called “Airplane Lavatory Self-Portraits,” created by Nina Katchadourian.

According to the blog, Nina “whiles away long plane journeys by locking herself in the lavatory and pretending to be a 15^th century Dutch painting.” She began her artistic journey during what must have been a particularly butt-numbing flight in March 2010 and continues to express herself a la Rembrandt and Vermeer when the muse calls.

It was impossible to actually choose a favorite among these masterpieces, but here are two I’m sure you’ll enjoy as much as I did:

To see the collection, go directly to the Airplane Lavatory Self-Portraits post.

On another travel-related note, our hero Rick Steves also posted on FaceBook today, announcing that he will receive the first-ever “Outstanding Friend of Europe” award from the European Union’s Ambassador to the United States. The presentation will take place this evening in Seattle and there’s a live podcast, if you’d like to see Rick Steves accept his much-deserved honor.

Rick will talk about the history behind his successful travel business, from his student back-packing days to the present, and discuss how “thoughtful travel can broaden every person’s perspectives, challenge outdated assumptions and create a force for peace in the world.”

Amen to that! Wish I could attend the ceremony. And since the flight from Cleveland to Seattle is so long, I could even devote a little time to making creative self-portraits in the bathroom on the way.

P.S. SAD AND USELESS also posted about a new trend of putting eyebrows on your dogs. Mick already has little tan eyebrows, but I think Richie might be a prime candidate for a makeover.