•Amy and I come from completely different shoe cultures. I come from a family that took their shoes off as soon as they walked in the door. There might be slippers or something for around the house, but for the most part we went unshod while indoors. The only exception to this rule was the basement of our house where wearing shoes was prudent due to the random screw or nail that might be lying unseen on the bare concrete floor. Amy's family on the other hand wore shoes at all times indoors except when sleeping. While this freed Amy's Dad to leave nails and screws just about anywhere he so chose, it likely had an impact on the cleanliness of his carpets (the primary reason I suspect my family kept their shoes off). Either way, it's been a struggle between Amy and me that is ongoing. Curiously our habits have rubbed off on one another. There has been no dominant personality in this. Slowly, but surely, we are coming to a neutral stance where sometimes the shoes are on, while other times they're casually scattered about the place, waiting to be tripped upon.
•Last night our refrigerator started making a funny noise. It reminded me of the sound made when you stick a baseball card in the spokes of a bicycle wheel. I figured it had to be something interfering with the fan blades and thus should be an easy fix. I was right. But to my astonishment, the access panel for all of the fridge's mechanisms was made of cardboard. You'd think that such a thing would be far more substantial given the cost of the appliance. While clearly not a top of the line model, I think it still deserves better than the equivalent of cardboard underpants.
•This coming Monday is the Boston Marathon and also Patriots' Day here in Massachusetts. This being my first April in Massachusetts, I was completely unfamiliar with the holiday — all I knew was that Amy had the day off. Turns out it's a state holiday that commemorates the Revolutionary War battles of Lexington and Concord. What I think it's really about is people not wanting to deal with the huge traffic issues that would invariably be created if they actually had to go to work during the marathon. Either that, or it's just another excuse to get drunk.
The Work and Musings of Illustrator Steven Belledin
Thanks for enlightening me on Patriot's Day! I didn't know what it was either, and one of my classmates was asking me if we had class Monday because it was a holiday, and I said "ummm, no. April 18th? c'mon." Well, I stand corrected.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I never thought of this before, but I always considered our "shoes on" rule as a way to keep our feet warm in a chilly house. But, slippers would have been a better option. It's official: we are weird.
No problem on the Patriots' Day clarification. Interestingly enough, Maine is pretty much the only other state that has it, only there it's Patriot's Day. For some reason the apostrophe needed to be different there... 'Cause it's Maine.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, regarding the cold house theory, having witnessed it to a certain extent, myself, I think you have a point. Still, your Dad has always had a thing for foot protection above all, lest another tetanus shot be necessary... or something.
sb