Steve Steinberg (BoingBoing guest blogger) tries to sequence his own DNA:
Which brings me to the final dénouement: pulling out the protocol's instructions, pipette in hand. Immediately, I was overcome with the same terror that cookbooks instill in me. "Mix gently," the instructions began. Gently? How about a RPM on that, please? Newtons per cubic mm? Something? "Aspirate until clear", it continued. Clear like "totally transparent", or clear like "I can see the DNA goop"? I stumbled along, undoubtedly compounding errors at each step.