Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Last Names

How to be equitable about last names without getting hyphenated names that are miles long (me and some friends figured this out over a decade ago, and I thought I'd share it):

This is best explained with an example. Amy Jones marries Mike Smith. They have two kids, Lisa Jones-Smith and Kyle Jones-Smith.  So far, so good. A two-name last name is a bit long, but worth it for gender equality.  But what happens when Lisa and Kyle grow up and want to marry people?

Let's imagine another family. Nora Johnson marries Ed Gibson. They have two kids, Ella Gibson-Johnson and Nate Gibson-Johnson.

The kids grow up and meet each other. Ella falls in love with Kyle. Coincidentally (to make our example easiest, without inventing more fake people), Nate falls in love with Lisa. What will their last names be?

The girls take the last name that originated with their mothers, and the boys take the last name that originated with their father, and they combine them. So we now have two couples, Ella and Kyle Johnson-Smith and Lisa and Nate Gibson-Jones. Easy!

Useful points:
  • Although they are taking either their mother's or father's name with them when they get married, they still have a name-link to BOTH their parents (since their parents hyphenated their names).
  • Although the brothers and sisters now have different last names than each other, this would be true if the traditional patriarchal naming structure was followed, as well, when the girls got married and changed to their new husband's name.
  • In the above examples, the order of the last names was decided simply by the alphabet. Couples could default to that, or decide which sounds best.
  • Gay and lesbian couples could decide which of their parents' names to take with them when they get married, or they could do a default alphabet scheme (for example, choosing the names that occur first and last in the alphabet, out of the four).
It's a plan that totally works! The only issue, of course, is that everybody, or at least most people, need to adopt it. Otherwise it falls apart. So consider it, people.

Monday, May 13, 2013

My Year Without Buying New Clothes--My First Failure

It's been tougher than I thought to not buy new clothes! I am happy with my wardrobe when I'm at home, but then if I'm in Target or somewhere, I'm filled with clothes-lust. "A beige sweater with little hot pink seahorses on it!" screams my brain, "I don't yet own a beige sweater with little hot pink seahorses on it! I must acquire it!"

Then I leave the store, and it mostly passes.

The intensity of my desire for clothes has been manageable, mostly. I went shopping with my mom and sister today, and was a little jealous as they tried on and bought some cute outfits, but the jealousy itself is sort of interesting. It's my experiment, my decision, after all, so I can monitor myself like a scientist and note "subject feels jealous of black flapper-style dress that sister is trying on. fascinating."

I DID actually break down and buy something, but it was for a different reason. Recently me and my friends were at a restaurant sitting outside. It had been a nice day, but had grown chillier as night approached. I hadn't thought to bring a jacket. I really wanted to be able to sit outside, though, and tried to tough it out. I got colder, and I noticed a little shop by the restaurant with a sale rack outside. I darted over to it, found a cute beige cardigan with red embroidery that was 50%, bought it, and ran back. (At which point the group as a whole decided it was too cold out, and we went inside.)

So I kind of wish I hadn't bought that sweater, but I am just trying to take it as a data point in my experiment, just take note of it without judgement. The fact that I was super cold at the time makes me feel a bit more justified, too.

Going to Europe for 2.5 weeks soon. Not sure how I'll do on my clothes ban there...

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

My Genius Dishwasher Move

I came up with this idea awhile ago, and thought I'd share it. It works AWESOMELY.

If you've ever lived with others (as I'm sure you have) and also have had a dishwasher, you've probably experienced the issue of not knowing whether the dishes in it are clean or dirty. You put away dirty dishes, or rewash clean ones. It's easy to screw it up.

My simple fix: I lodge a shot glass in a container in the silverware compartment. When the dishwasher runs, the shot glass fills up with water. When I empty the dishwasher, I dump the water out of the shot glass and replace it in the silverware container.

So it's a quick check! Shot glass is empty: dishes are dirty. Shot glass is full: dishes are clean.

You're welcome.

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Final Creme Egg Update

It's been weeks since Easter, and I've been meaning to post this since then. Here's the final number:



Way fewer than last year. (Last year was really a bit out of control.) Maybe next year I'll try one of those recipes, or, if I'm actually vegan at that point, try making my own vegan ones.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Cadbury Creme Egg Recipes

I recently became aware of recipes inspired by Cadbury Creme Eggs and/or using Cadbury Creme Eggs. These are amazing and ridiculous and inspiring. I'm so glad to see others are as obsessed with Creme Eggs as I am, or more so. Check these out!






There are more out there, too. I found the ones that use the creme eggs like real eggs to be the most endearing-looking and tempting, but there are also Cadbury Creme Eggs baked into donuts and put into s'mores.

Monday, March 18, 2013