Onely Eats February 9, 2009
Posted by Onely in "Against Love"...?, Food for Thought, Your Responses Requested!.Tags: annie's mac and cheese, eating healthy and being single, meals for one, michael pollan, omnivore's dilemma
11 comments
For the last week or so, I have been RAVENOUS. I don’t know why. I have been consuming way too many carbs, as I know I shouldn’t, but those don’t fill me up either. Since I live alone, I don’t have anyone to cook for me or to share my food with. Sometimes, this means I don’t eat well, or at all, or at the right times, or in the right quantities. A lot of times I don’t get the nutrients I need. And when I do cook, it’s difficult to know how much to cook — usually I prepare more food than I need for a single meal and freeze everything that’s extra. I find myself wasting perishable food that can’t be frozen (like dairy), because I can’t eat it all before it spoils.
For Rent: Spouse or Cat January 25, 2009
Posted by Onely in Food for Thought, Honorary Onely Awards.Tags: hagemashi tai, japan, rent a pet, rent a spouse, single services
7 comments
Recently I got an invitation, to a rather large formal party, addressed to a curlyquey “Christina C. and Spouse”.
Turns out, while I’ve been wasting time joking with my friends about needing a rent-a-boyfriend for just such awkward occasions, the Japanese have actually gone and created such a service.
Such services appear to be much less about sex and more about creating an image for the customer. You can rent relatives to bulk up the crowd at funerals, or play-act with you as a mother, or father, or spouse–either to give you practice for interacting with your real relatives, or just to give you the experience of what it’s like to fight with your father, or flirt with your husband. (more…)
The Oneliness of the Long Distance Writer January 22, 2009
Posted by Onely in Dating, Food for Thought, Great Onely Activities.Tags: alan sillitoe, joyce carol oates, single writers, singlewriters.com, slow writer, solitary, writing is hard
13 comments
I’ve been thinking about how writing is so solitary. And about how writing is such a slow process. Solitary plus slow equals lots of time spent by myself, perhaps–perhaps!–even more than suits my introverted nature.
‘Course maybe my writing goes slowly because I spend so much time staring at the screen thinking about how my writing goes slowly. When I’m working on a particularly grueling, stubborn, stiff-dictioned story, I sometimes wonder if it’s worth the effort. Writing one polished page may take hours (Joyce Carol Oates, bite me) before it’s ready to be submitted to some publication that may or may not want it, more likely the latter.
Would my time be more wisely spent going out with my friends? Sometimes I wonder this, when I’m sitting wedged between my laptop and my massage chair (I know, poor me), typing at an average rate of one click per minute–and that’s if you include all my backspaces. (more…)
Priesthood, Celibacy, and Being Onely January 14, 2009
Posted by Onely in "Against Love"...?, Food for Thought, Heteronormativity, single and happy, Your Responses Requested!.Tags: catholicism, compulsory heterosexuality, Heteronormativity, marriage as sacrament, priesthood, single and awesome
13 comments
Christina recently pointed me to this very interesting article from the BBC about a priest reflecting on his choice to remain single. Father John Abberton explains that his decision to become a priest was a “positive thing not a negative thing.” In fact,
When I was sixteen and was thinking ahead to what my future would be, I certainly had images of myself as a married man with children. I don’t remember ever struggling with the denial of that. It was a progression into an attitude where I saw myself as being available to as many people as I could be available to and giving myself to the church.
Like many single people, Father John has chosen an admirable occupation and has devoted himself to work that he is passionate about and through which he can enhance the world around him in some very positive ways.
But then Father John’s tone changes slightly, as he compares himself to others who are single (but, ostensibly, not priests?):
I am single for a purpose and my feeling is in someway or another everyone who is single should be single for a purpose. I know there are some people who remain single because they say that is what they want. Although I don’t want to judge people, I think there is a worrying trend in some quarters of society towards a selfish single state.
Thoughts on Singelringen, Anyone? January 12, 2009
Posted by Onely in Dating, Food for Thought, Great Onely Activities.Tags: engagement ring, engagement ring sexist, marriage, multiple translations, proud to be single, Singelringen, wedding ring, weddings
13 comments
We are intriged by the idea of Singelringen, a ring that single people buy to support the mantra that,
“I am not alone. I am Single.”
We think it’s a great core concept. At first glance, Singelringen represents a healthy commitment to and acceptance of one’s self, even when single in a coupled world. The ring
“Reminds the single man or woman that they are already complete while open to possibilities.”
However (and there’s always a however, isn’t there?),
(more…)
Stop the Madness! Onely’s Top Ten Reasons NOT to Get Married… January 9, 2009
Posted by Onely in "Against Love"...?, As If!, Food for Thought, Heteronormativity, single and happy.Tags: bunko, matrimania, single and happy, stop the madness!, weddings
17 comments
Hi everyone,
As I mentioned in my previous post about heteronormative wedding cards, part of my holiday madness included attending and participating in the wedding of one of my good friends. Every time I go to a wedding, I can’t help but count the many reasons why I never want to get married (and/or have a wedding). This one was no different — and because my friend IS a close friend who also happens to like to control everything in her life, the reasons I normally have against weddings seemed magnified in this case.
So, in the spirit of all of us who feel justified never wanting a wedding of our own, Onely presents … “Stop the Madness! Top Ten Reasons We Never Want to Get Married”: (more…)
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