Watch it, kid.

It’s alway informative to note how the reactions of the children to various stimuli change over time.  Number One Son, for example, has seen this kind of thing before:

Cooking with Dad

Cooking with Dad

But the last time he’d noticed that sort of thing, he had a somewhat different reaction.    The sunlight used to be a miracle in our house.  Today, he looks at the living room and says, “Oh.  Must be time for dinner.”

Yeah.  But not for you, punk.  Kids these days, I tell ya.

ManFAQ Friday: Heavy-Lidded Longings

It’s Friday, and that means answer time! For those of you who have commented with questions from previous ManFAQs, thank you. I’m adding yours to the list of questions women have asked about men over the years, and I will answer them all in turn – to continue to demystify the more malodorous gender for those of the gentler.  Actual questions, posed by real women, and answered by a REAL man. What could go wrong?


Question:   Lids up, or lids down?  Is there etiquette here? 

Answer:   This is an age-old question, and few topics more adroitly highlight the differences between the genders.  How many times did Uga turn to Ug in the back of their cave, in the dawn of time, and say “Dammit, you left the rock off again!”  You know she did.

Is there an etiquette to be found here?  I think so.  Speaking for my gender, I will say that we should leave the lids down.  All the time.  As a matter of course.  This adds two things to life.  First, it adds a sense of equity, since you have to lift the lid and we have to lift the lid.  Everybody lifts the lid.  It’s what we do, and if we all do it, it’s fair.  As long as it’s not a fuzzy lid, we’re all good with that.  Second, it adds the element of surprise.  If the lid’s up when you walk in, you never have to guess the state of the union down there, do you?  This way, unless the nose knows, you get that excited anticipatory feeling that anything could be lurking down there, and you’re about to lift that lid – with no backup, just you and the can – and find out!  Isn’t it exciting?

Oh yeah, and keeping the lid down helps keep the dog from drinking your punch bowl surprise.  You know, the dog that slobbers bit wet kisses all over you when you come home?  Why do you think that nose is so cold?   Yeah.  Lids down, folks. 


Now you know.  Please, feel free to comment!  Also, forward any questions you’d like answered to BUMD – at – biguglymandoll.com!

ManFAQ Friday: Like Green on Grass

It’s Friday, and that means answer time! For those of you who have commented with questions from previous ManFAQs, thank you. I’m adding yours to the list of questions women have asked about men over the years, and I will answer them all in turn – to continue to demystify the more malodorous gender for those of the gentler.  Actual questions, posed by real women, and answered by a REAL man. What could go wrong?


Question:   What is it with you and the lawn?  Why is it OK if the basement looks like a free-fire zone, but you have to cut the grass and hedges six times a month?

Answer:   This gets back to our roots.  Our home is our castle, our cave, a safe haven.  To protect that, deep in the recesses of our fuzzy little brains, we feel the need to project an image of strength, of determination through organization and show.  The nicer we keep our lawns, we think, the more some enemy will think, “Ah, better not invade that castle – he probably knows where his weapons are at all times, and keeps them near to hand!”

The fact that no one thinks like that anymore has not, in fact, caught up to our collective subcortex. 

The other reason he keeps the outside neat is simple force of habit, from back when he was trying to wow potential mates with his landscaping prowess.  If he had to bring a date home, she might not want to come inside if the outside was a disorderly mess.  Once she’s inside, he can just keep the lights low so she won’t notice the dirt.   The lawn became a moat, and keeping it trimmed and neat helped to lower the drawbridge to Hey Hey. 

Besides, cutting the grass makes us feel like we have some control over our lives.  We don’t, but we like to think that.  And hey, I’m sure he was going to clean the basement Real Soon Now. 


Now you know.  Please, feel free to comment!  Also, forward any questions you’d like answered to BUMD – at – biguglymandoll.com!

And Happy St Patrick’s Day!

Today, I received an official missive from Her Royal Highness, the Queen Mother of Pink.

QMOP

A Notice From the Queen Mother of Pink

I felt that it was important enough to share with you, dear friend, fond relation, and gentle reader – the Queen Mother has spoken, and today has been graced by royal decree as a day of fun, laughter, and other such good things. 

So there!

… And we now return to our regularly scheduled program!

Update on LiveJournal’s Own HonorH, mentioned here on Friday:  Those who know her IRL have reported that she has been in contact with the US Embassy officials and is in a shelter in her city, safe and accounted for!   Despite tsunamis and earthquakes and right bad weather, she has evidently survived, and we are glad.  I’m sure when we get the whole story, it will turn out to have something to do with some guy who looks a lot like Christopher Eccleston, floating along in a blue box. 

My thoughts and hopes now diffuse from the specific to the general, that the thousands around her fared as well; it looks like the definition of a disaster over there.