Clean

A salesman came to our house today to demonstrate a water purifying system. The whole experience was estimated to last up to an hour, according to the guy who set it up and promised us a $20 gift card to Home Depot. We were 2 hours deep into this pitch before the guy even started talking about the cost... He had a lot to prove. Unfortunately for him, a lot of it relied on us being average, "hygienic" Americans. One part of our discussion sounded something not much unlike this:

Salesman: How much do you spend on groceries each week?
C: ...$75 a week?
Man: Ok [punching numbers into calculator]. 25% of that budget should be how much you spend on your "cleaning bill"... $18 per week...$80 each month
C & D: [confused looks]
C: Umm...
D: Noo...
C: We don't spend that much. Maybe... $10 each month.
D: Yeah. Ten...
Man: [puzzled] Oh, that includes your soaps, shampoos, bathroom and household cleaners, laundry detergent...?
C & D: [smirking]
D: We use a lot less of that stuff than the average household. We don't do a lot of laundry.
C: I don't wash my hair.
Man: [look of concern and abject horror] You don't wash your hair? It's because you don't like the feeling of the hard water--
C: No, I think it's 'cause I just don't care.
Man: [trying to save this] That's okay. We're all different.
--
The actual conversation was a lot funnier because it was longer and involved us fumbling over a padded description of our lifestyle, while he was trying to keep the ball rolling about his point about saving money. According to their literature, the average household spends $12-15/week on their "cleaning bill." I think we agreed that we spent $10 a month on cleaning products... I'm still convinced that is a liberal estimation...

I don't know if I should spend some time giving an explanation of our unusual/atypical habits. I guarantee this lifestyle would (will?) change dramatically if (when?!) a baby joins up and completes our nuclear family unit. Until then, we will wear most of our clothes multiple times before a wash, and showers will be on an as-needed basis.

garden, mud hole

tomatoeshot peppersyellow squashzucchchamomilezinniapurple coneflowersalvia...?hydrangeadaylilypatiopool party

Saturday

A glorious weekend to spend at home and nothing to do!

Granted, we can always find some stuff to get done; but, fortunately for me and my back, the earliest we can have patio stones and paver sand delivered is Monday. This means I was able to spend part of the morning pulling out an overgrown shrub from my backyard (sorry back), bike to the gym, run at the gym, and bike to lunch. Now I'm at home, soaking up air conditioning and reveling in the fact that I have nothing to do for the next few hours.

Moreover, Carlyn realized our friend Jordan (of Jordan O' Jordan) is playing at the Columbus Community Festival downtown, so hopefully we'll go see him tonight.
--

A well-earned chill

good work, photos

lamb's ear, sage

squash

sugar snap peas

lettuce

tomatoes

homegrown strawberries

deconstruction

Movies, garden

Watched "He's Just Not That Into You" last night. It was cute, and cool to see an "all-star" cast like that. Less of a movie, more of a public service announcement, but they were able to spin a few feel-good plots out. Not sure how it may have compared to any of the books of the same title. I guess there were some take home messages: dating sucks because most people suck...err, are inconsiderate and self-centered; Ben Affleck is dreamy, but not as dreamy as I; I am not too dreamy and wish I was both more creative and assertive...

It was leagues better than "New In Town."

Big ups to Red Box and $1.09 DVD rentals. I've definitely been enjoying hanging with C (and Alden) on the couch for a couple hours in front of a movie--something we never really did much before dollar rentals. And honestly, it's better than watching TV which can be pretty redundant if not pointless, especially with all the same commercials.
--
Lots of (not-sweet) strawberries coming out of the garden, starting last week. Also, sugar snap peas are about full on. Unfortunately they have grown about 1.5' beyond the crappy trellises I built and are starting to completely bend over--not the plants, the trellises. Lettuce is super happy. Spinach is spent and going to seed. Tomatoes are getting huge, and so are all three squash plants. My jalapeno pepper is slowly getting established. Chamomile is starting to take off also.

Old Old-School

I was thinking about how some of the stuff that I think is cool is basically just regressive and nostalgic in essence. You know? I don't mean like mustaches or aviator sunglasses or popped collars or whatever. I mean like bigger scale, not-ironic kind-of stuff. For example, organic agriculture and small, family farms: like I said before, these are throw-backs to pre-War farming methods. What else? Cycling: essentially unchanged since it's invention in the 1800's (unlike the automobile which was developed around the same time). Environmentalism: basically a way of life before Industrialism. Whole foods: came before mass-production, processing, and packaging.

Strangely, all these things tend to connect, I guess under the umbrella of pre-Industrialism environmentalism. Straight up conservatism. 'Ism for shizzim.