Monday, November 20, 2006

gee, look what comes up when...

you google "messy room"

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So my friend came over yesterday and helped me clean up the condo. I guess I have been kind of sloppy of late, unmotivated in a way. In a couple hours we had not only cleaned, vacuumed, mopped, scrubbed and polished everything in it, but had also completely changed the look of my living room. I should have taken pictures. I can't explain it but there is nothing (well almost) as exhilarating as having your home in perfect order. Basically it was to prepare for my mother's upcoming visit. She would tear me apart (verbally) if she saw what it looked like just yesterday morning. She always uses the " you weren't raised to live like that" line (it really wasn't that bad, she's on the dramatic side), and then I have to remind her that she never really taught me the proper way to clean because we had cleaning ladies when I was growing up (she was a businesswoman with little time). As a matter of fact I was told to be out of the house on Mondays and Thursdays when they were there so I couldn't even learn from them!

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Now a lot of you might say well "my mother didn't teach me either" I just learned, but seriously I went from my mother's home at 20 to my ex-wife, and then back to my mother's and then very quickly had two back to back live in 3 year relationships with guys who had been on their own for a long time and sort of just did those things (I had my own "chores" of course). This is the first time in my life I am single and living alone (which makes it even more sad and pathetic). I never had to really do the domestic thing (cleaning, ironing, etc - although I was always great in the kitchen) and now it's pretty hard at my age to just walk into a store and know what to buy for the bathroom, what to get for the kitchen, what is best to clean the oven with, how often to dust etc. Laugh all you want these things are not always simple common sense! :) In all fairness I have always vacuumed and cleaned windows, it's just the more detailed stuff.

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It reminds me of my grandfather. When my grandmother died (you could eat off her floors) and left him alone so to speak, my grandfather had no clue. Soon his house looked like something out of an episode of Sanford & Son, piles of things everywhere, clutter, dust, grunge. My mother was of course mortified to see her childhood home transformed from shining chrome to rusty nails in a matter of only a couple months. It was because he had no idea how to clean, never having had to do it. So they moved in my mother's cousin Doris to take care of those things. That's when it got ugly. Within a year she had become his concubine (to use my mother's word). Of course I just got all kinds of grossed out from that point on, rarely visiting them. But anyway, I guess I lost focus..

and did you know........
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Your stomach has to produce a new layer of mucus every two weeks otherwise it will digest itself.

The way to get more mules is to mate a male donkey with a female horse.

A donkey will sink in quicksand but a mule won't.

Crickets hear through their knees.

Martha's Vineyard once had its own dialect of Sign Language. One deaf person arrived in 1692 and after that there was a relatively large genetically deaf population that had their own particular dialect of sign language. From 1692-1910 nearly all hearing people on the island were bilingual in sign language and English.

Most of the little schoolhouses in the U.S. of yesteryear were painted red because red was the least expensive paint color.

Elizabeth I of England suffered from anthophobia, a fear of roses.

Almost half the bones in your body are in your hands and feet.

The average person falls asleep in seven minutes.

An elephant can be pregnant for up to two years.

Your left lung is smaller than your right lung to make room for your heart.

Cranberry Jello is the only jello flavor that comes from real fruit, not artificial flavoring.

The oldest exposed surface on earth is New Zealand's south island.

The Declaration of Independence was written on hemp paper.

When a giraffe's baby is born it falls from a height of six feet, normally without being hurt.

The tango originated as a dance between two men (for partnering practice).

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oh and I have linked a few Videos of myself to the sidebar, the first one is pretty goofy, but at least you can see me (very) animated. I wish more bloggers would do this, it adds another dimension I think. Speaking of which, I am sooo jealous of you Mac users. The quality of your videos is so much better than what I can create using Windows Movie Maker. Does anyone know of reasonably priced Video capturing/editing software which creates something in high resolution and yet smallish size? I have an incredible digital video camera with much potential.

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Middle Eastern Monday
Pick your favorite Persian
Round 3
(In case you are wondering what this is all about,
each of these men are Engineering students
attending a certain college in Iran.
They range in age between 19 and 30 something
their birthdates are listed on the official site)

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Written at 7:04 AM by The Persian.

16 comments

16 Comments:

Spider said...

It IS a nice feeling to have a clean house isn't it...

My vote goes to #1...

Mon Nov 20, 07:00:00 AM EST

Tay Hota said...

are they the cleaning nija's I've heard so much about? wish they'd knock on my door... we'd get to cleaning eventually...

I can't decide b/w 2 &4.. you're still cuter than anyone I've seen you post...

Mon Nov 20, 08:13:00 AM EST

Polt said...

I vote for #3.

A clean house, to me, is overrated. As long as you're comfortable with what you're living in, and friends and family do NOT refuse to come over, then who cares if there's a little dust, or a bit of clutter under your coffee table?

Course, I am a slob, so bear that in mind. Unfortunately, I never had three cute shirtless guys in any of MY messy rooms....

Mon Nov 20, 09:06:00 AM EST

Polt said...

Wait wait wait, I want to change my vote! No to # 3, yes to Number 2. I got my number messed up. Musta been thinking about the topless messy room guys...

Mon Nov 20, 09:07:00 AM EST

Monogram Queen said...

The real eye candy is KILLING me!

Mon Nov 20, 09:45:00 AM EST

john said...

I love the clean house feeling. I usually put aside my Sundays to scrub the house down.

Mon Nov 20, 11:20:00 AM EST

TigerYogi said...

I vote for #1!

P.S. The Hubby is a cleaning fanatic, so, I never learned how to clean certain things either...

Mon Nov 20, 12:30:00 PM EST

dirk.mancuso said...

There's no shame in not knowing how to clean like a professional. Mama Mancuso was a clutter nut so I sort of learned my own version of neat and tidy (not perfect but not bad either).

Mon Nov 20, 02:44:00 PM EST

vuboq said...

#2

I hate cleaning. Necessary evil, though. bah.

Mon Nov 20, 04:38:00 PM EST

Mikey said...

#2

I wish I fell asleep in 7 minutes!! Yeah for Hemp paper!!

Mon Nov 20, 05:38:00 PM EST

steve'swhirlyworld said...

#2

Very fun post today...lots of info! You're gay, you should know how to clean already; it's part of your genetic makeup :)

Mon Nov 20, 08:11:00 PM EST

steve'swhirlyworld said...

Oh, and I fall asleep in about 30 seconds...I bring the average down.

Mon Nov 20, 08:12:00 PM EST

madamerouge said...

I swear to god, some nights it takes me seven hours to fall asleep.

Mon Nov 20, 09:02:00 PM EST

Ur-spo said...

i wish they would smile too.
There is far too much seriousness going on these days.

Mon Nov 20, 11:09:00 PM EST

Doug said...

I'm not a neat freak (nothing like Monica on Friends), but I get into my moods where I'll clean everything. I also get into moods where I don't clean and don't organize, so the state of my house generally reflects my moods. Yes, I am a moody bitch. ;)

Mon Nov 20, 11:18:00 PM EST

Tom said...

I agree, the state of my space reflects my mood. I'm usually pretty tidy. If the place gets trashed I immediately start to figure out what's really wrong.

Tue Nov 21, 01:25:00 AM EST