'Nothing smaller than your elbow should be inserted into your ear' - Is what my audiologist says... then again she's dealt with patients who accidentally poked a q-tip through their eardrum...   I used to use q-tips on the daily... actually I would go MAD if I didn't use them after getting...

Levitin's book is a great way to get into it! Great book for the daily commute, pick up and read anytime. Although, you can skip the first few chapters on music theory if you're already familiar with it... otherwise IMHO there are better sources for that too.   Here's another one I just...