Anonymity, Take III

I received the following email, which I will quote in its entirety:

The problem with signing your blog is that reader’s (who are not blog-aware) say that it manifests a haughtiness, “Who does he think he is to publically comment on matters of which our Gedolim are asked to weigh in, or volunteer of themselves to do so?”

The disagreement which a blog-aware person will have with this, is that a blog is simply a personal diary, which is open for public perusal, not a public pronouncement. The antagonist will say, be it as it may, the diary also displays haughtiness.

Who’s correct?

Polyphasic Sleep and the Vilna Gaon

It is well-known that the Vilna Gaon only slept two hours in every twenty four, in half-hour increments. I believe that this is attributed to R' Chaim of Volozhin in his introduction to the Vilna Gaon's commentary on Safra D'Tzni'usa. I used to think that this was supernatural, but it appears that it isn't.
Look at this article, and at this website.
UPDATE: I misreported the source for the tradition about the Vilna Gaon. Please see the comments for the correct source. Thank you to Independent Frum Thinker!

Conspicuous Consumption

I drove past a local cul-de-sac that is in the process of being populated by extremely big and ostentatious new homes. I admit it - I felt a twinge of jealousy.
Then, I noticed that some of the homes were nicer than others (there were about eight, in all). It occurred to me that the poor fellow who decided to be cheap, and to spend $100,000 less than his neighbors, would forever regret it. Every morning, coming out of his single carved mahogany front door, and looking at his neighbor's double gilt-and-beveled-glass doors, he would feel a twinge of pain. When he stops to think of his neighbor's fourteen front windows vs. his own eight, he'll need an antacid. And he won't be able to face his kids, when they ask him, "Totty, why isn't our molding hand-carved?"
I felt a lot better.