Living Alone

Yesterday, I had a conversation with a friend who has never lived with a significant other.  He said that he would find it hard to give up the privacy of living alone.  I commented that, to my mind, the biggest change is always having to take the other person's needs into account.  As in, it's no longer just about when you're hungry, bored, sleepy, busy, sad, etc. -- you have to factor in if/when the other person is hungry, bored, sleepy, busy, sad, etc. as well.  "That's it," said my friend.  "I'm never moving in with someone else."

By pure coincidence, I stumbled over this article today.  Apparently living alone is a big topic right now.  The article itself, though, was kind of silly -- as many of the commenters point out, the "quirks" mentioned are not particularly quirky.  I get the convenience points (it's true that living together probably makes for more regular mealtimes and sharing a bed with the other person), but it's a bit sad that the article implies that habits like, say, talking to your cat, or singing Journey songs in the shower, are unfit for another person's presence.  How much do these people think you have to censor yourself around your nearest and dearest?  In particular, I read the bit about standing naked in the kitchen and eating peanut butter out of the jar, and thought, "I'm sure I've done that before -- and S hasn't batted an eyelid."  And why should he??

Quilled paper

Today I learned a new word: quilling.

(Being more crafty than me, you may already be familiar with this.)

When I See You Smile

A friend sent me this link today.  This led to a question of whether dogs smile.  After some brief research, it appears that the short answer is: no, not like humans do.  Although this dog may disagree.

Standing on one foot

I read something about how it's really good for you physically to stand on one foot. So whenever I think of it, when I'm brushing my teeth, or reviewing a contract, or doing the dishes or whatever, I've been standing on one foot.

I like it. It makes me concentrate on whatever I'm doing, and I feel like I'm helping my balance.

If the End Is Right, It Justifies the Beans

What's a good thing to do with black beans and/or garbanzo beans?  We just got a ton of both in our farmshare box.  We hardly ever cook with legumes, so I'm at a loss.

Junk drawer

I hate this junk drawer photo. What really bothers me about it is the plastic bags or plastic wrap sitting on top. I'm not saying this to trash the photo as art, I just have a visceral negative reaction to it. I'm always trying to organize, and I would hate having a reminder on my wall about the junk we have stashed away. Maybe I've spent too much time looking at pictures of perfectly put away rooms and I can no longer tolerate reality.

Elevenses

This article says that the ideal of an eight-consecutive-hour chunk of sleep is relatively new, and suggests that people naturally tend towards a pattern of "first sleep" and "second sleep" separated by an hour or two.  Kind of like hobbits' first breakfast and second breakfast.