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.

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...

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.

"Turn the Beat Around" (homophone edition)

Homophone: 

Each of two or more words having the same pronunciation but different meanings, origins, or spelling, e.g., new and knew. I think you should watch my youtube video now. The less explanation, the better.

Restaurant, Book

Another idea: A Japanese/Mexican fusion restaurant called Tako Taco. (Tako is Japanese for octopus.)  Perhaps a cute cartoon octopus wearing a sombrero as the mascot?

Also, I am halfway through the book The City and The City by Chica Mieville.  I am absolutely fascinated by it.  I started it for a brand new book club a friend started, and I'm so glad I did.

Before I started reading it, I didn't realize that it was sort of sci-fi.  Sci-fi isn't quite the right word... There are two cities in Eastern Europe that are made up, where the action takes place, but otherwise the rest of the world is the same. The two cities, Beszel and Ul Quoma, are intermingled, geographically, but their citizens ignore ("unsee") each other.  There's some great made-up language, like "topologanger."

Ideas

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I keep a notebook in my purse that I use to write down all the ridiculous ideas I have, among other things. (Other things include stuff like the titles of books I want to read, drawings of expensive dresses I want but can't afford, haikus I've written about my softball team or Cadbury Creme Eggs, and encoded messages.)  I thought I'd share some of my ideas (which range from insane and impossible to just goofy) here from time to time.  A sampling:

• A tattoo of an accordion on a woman's stomach.  Why? Well, one concern with tattoos is that, depending on where you get them, that body part might not look as good as you age.  But think about this: the woman gets pregnant or fat, the accordion stretches out.  She gets stretch marks, the accordion looks 3D. It's perfect!  It's also just about the ugliest thing I can imagine, but that's not the point.
• Cinnabon Tower.  Build a narrow tower with a Cinnabon at the top.  Make it the right height so that by the time you get to the top, you've burned off all the calories in one of their giant cinnamon rolls.  
• Cup-holder bracelets.  Don't you hate when you go to a show or sporting event, and you want to clap but you can't because you're holding your drink? If you have a bracelet that can convert into a temporary cup holder, you can set your drink in there, free up your hand, and cheer away!

There's lots more.  

As a bonus, here's a haiku:

sweet milk chocolate shell

thick to guard precious contents

white and yellow creme