I haven't download and read this yet, but the one you excerpted sure bears a strong resemblance to Terry Bisson's classic They're Made of Meat.

I've followed this series with great interest since he first started it. It's really wonderful stuff.

Great series - I've been reading them as they're added. And yes, the one quoted is certainly a reference to "They're Made Out of Meat".

Swanwick, who doesn't seem to need sleep, has another series of shorts going at:

http://infinitematrix.net/stories/swanwick/sleep_of_reason.html

...these ones based on illustrations from Goya. He's done 24 out of 80 so far.

Also - a better url is:

http://www.scifi.com/scifiction/periodictable.html

There's some good stuff on scifi.com, but it's a horrible site to try to navigate around.

Has anyone read Primo Levi's "The Periodic Table?" It's a series of short story-like autobiographical sketches; each is based on an element from the table. An amazing book. (Background: Levi was a holocaust survivor, chemist and author.)