Here Comes the Bra May 15, 2009
Posted by Onely in As If!, Everyday Happenings, Look What Google Barfed Up.Tags: husband-hunting bra, marriage countdown, wierd japanese stuff
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Nobody does bizarre like the Japanese. We already covered Japan’s rent-a-spouse concept and are pleased to see that they have made further strides in the love industry with the husband-hunting aka “konkatsu” bra!
Triumph publicist Keiko Masuda said of the bra, which features a self-set counter: “First you decide your target time or deadline until marriage and the countdown clock will start.
“Once you find your life partner and get engaged, you have to insert the engagement ring into the slot and the clock stops and The Wedding March begins.”
I had to read that yahoo news snippet three times, plus several other iterations from different articles, before I understood the bra. Allow me to interpret for you: the bride-wannabe sets a timer on the bra for the date or time (unclear) when she wants her fiance to propose. The timer is a clock that ticks down like a bomb in a James Bond movie. If the guy proposes before the digits hit zero, he can take the ring and stick it in the pink slot (subtle, subtle) between the bra cups to cause the Wedding March song to play. Here’s a video with demo. As you would imagine, it’s completely unsexist and inoffensive.
“But what if he doesn’t propose?” you might well ask. “What if the time runs out? What happens then?” That’s the odd thing. None of the articles I read explained what the bra does if no one sticks a ring into it before the deadline. The yahoo piece said it “resets” automatically. But what song does it play? Or does a horrendous screeching buzzer go off like the sound of old maids screaming as their starving cats maul them? Does it reset for the same amount of time originally chosen, or shorter, putting on the pressure because you’re not getting any younger?
Kudos to any Copious Readers who can find out what happens if the man doesn’t propose! Other than that the woman turns into a pillar of cat food.
–Christina
Stay Married or Murder Mother Earth! May 13, 2009
Posted by Onely in As If!, Food for Thought, Just Saying..Tags: divorced households, group housing, jianguo liu, living alone, marriage good for environment, marriage mythology, realconcepts, singles bad for environment
17 comments
So apparently singles are bad for the environment, according to this AP article and this RealConcepts blog post.
Households with fewer people are simply not as efficient as those with more people sharing
says ecologist Jianguo Liu at Michigan State, who analyzed the environmental impact of divorce.
Per person, divorced households spent more per person per month for electricity, compared to a married household, as multiple people can be watching the same television, listening to the same radio, cooking on the same stove and or eating under the same lights.
Ok, so here are just some of the points that Liu doesn’t seem to consider:
Singles often generally use less space and smaller cars than married people. A married household may have one person doing laundry downstairs while another person watches TV upstairs. (If a single person can do laundry downstairs and watch TV upstairs at the same time, then their problems are way bigger than the dying planet’s.) Multi-person households need bigger microwaves, bigger laundry machines. Lisa points out that “a single person may be willing to be cold or hot to save energy, which they can do because it won’t affect anyone else in the household”. Moreover, a single person who keeps their heat at a decent temp and gets energy star windows is going to expend less energy than a couple living next door who doesn’t.
Onelers Gone Wild: Lisa Does Great Britain May 10, 2009
Posted by Onely in Bad Onely Activities, Everyday Happenings, Great Onely Activities, single and happy, solo travel, We like. . ..Tags: isle of man, london and cambridge, lost passport, lost wallet, singles travel, solo travel
13 comments
Copious Readers, Lisa posted via email from her solo travel adventure:
Hello from Cambridge, England!
So my first Onely international trip is going pretty well — except for one thing: My wallet got stolen. In the restroom (or toilet, as the Brits call it) of a London bus station during a two-hour layover between buses (from Liverpool, to Cambridge). It only took a few seconds — I left the bathroom and realized almost immediately that my wallet was not in my hands – and by the time I turned around, the wallet was gone. I lost my passport, my debit card, about $75 (US equivalent), my KY driver’s license, a UK-unlimited bus pass worth $160 or so, and 25 postcard stamps (worth £15 or about $25!) with which I was going to begin mailing postcards today.
Luckily I followed the advice of my Let’s Go! travel guide and had made a copy of my passport before I left, and also took along another credit card, as well as about $100 in traveler’s checks, all of which I kept separate from my wallet, and which are the only reason I was able to get to Cambridge and also did not have a complete breakdown in London.
The friend I am staying with here in Cambridge pointed out that it was probably because I was alone that I had the momentary lapse of concentration and left the wallet behind. The bus from Liverpool to London was overnight, and so I was drowsy and frazzled, ready to get to my next destination — not to mention that I had a gigantic bag to manage as I maneuvered the tiny bathroom stall! My friend travels internationally all the time, and says that this specific problem is the thing that bothers her the most about traveling alone — there’s no one you trust to wait outside the bathroom with your bags. 😦
Oh well. A trip to the American Embassy in London is now in order, bright and early Monday morning. Luckily I had plans to finish the last few days of my trip in London anyway — I just hope that this small excursion doesn’t detract from what will otherwise be a fun last few days of my holiday (also another UK phrase). Besides this rather upsetting glitch in the plans, my trip so far has been excellent — and I have only been truly alone a few days, thanks to having two friends to visit… I have been to the Isle of Man, all across Northern Ireland and parts of Ireland, and spent a very full and wonderful day in Liverpool.
I’ll be back soon to add my regular two cents to Onely — in the meantime, hope all is well!!!
Cheerio!
— L
P.S. Christina here. My stomach just plunged when I read this story. But Lisa handled the situtation so well! My version would have incorporated far more tears and swear words. (Maybe she edited those out; I don’t know.) I definitely agree with Lisa’s friend that having to haul all your bags into those bathroom stalls is soooo annoying, as well as a germophobe’s (me) nightmare. Does anyone else have travel horror stories? Were you travelling alone? How did your status as a solo traveller inform the incident?
Some Like It Single: QuirkyEconomist! May 8, 2009
Posted by Onely in blog reviews, Some Like It Single.Tags: children as investments, dating and the free market, happily single, like it single, quirky economist, quirkyeconomist, singles blogs
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Welcome to the latest installment in our new series, Some Like It Single, where we profile (relatively) small, independent blogs dedicated to exploring what it means to be “single” in American culture and, we hope, around the world.
Today we are looking at QuirkyEconomist. She describes herself as “a happily single woman simply informed, but not determined, by the fact that I am also an economist“. How do those two things intersect, you might ask? QE explains:
Economists see the world as a series of choices and we identify the costs and benefits of all the alternatives, but we try to remain neutral (i.e., non-judgmental) about the choices people actually make.
In one post QE provides a small compendium of links to other economists who link love with market fluctuations and even–be still my nerdish heart–game theory! She decries the image of economists as heartless number-crunchers (“children as investment goods”) and points out examples of how dating is not that different from the free market.
Although as of her 5 April post, she was not actually single in the “uncoupled” sense, she continues to embrace the Onely/QuirkyAlone/Singlutionary mindset. That means she won’t pursue a relationship just to be in a relationship, and also that she supports (to use QuirkyEconomist’s words)
“everyone’s right to be happy being whatever the heck they want to be, without other people making a bunch of assumptions about them.” (more…)
Men and Cats May 6, 2009
Posted by Onely in blog reviews, Food for Thought, We like. . ..Tags: adam fulrath, attractive men, men and cats, men with cats, menandcats.com, single mythology
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Studies have shown that women think pictures of attractive men holding babies are even sexier than pictures of the men alone. But what’s waaay sexier than a man with a baby? Yes, a man with a CAT! Thanks to Singular magazine for showing me the site Men and Cats. According to a New York Times article, Crazy Cat Men are the latest thing. One of them, John Scalzi, explains why: “If you’re feeling insecure about your space in the world, you get a dog because he will always back you up. . . (but a man with a cat) is secure with himself. He’s sharing his space with a predator.”
And what’s more attractive than someone who is confident about his space in the world?
The stereotypes of men with cats–that they’re effeminate or eternal bachelors or whatever–and the arguments cat-loving (non-effeminate, non-eternal bachelor) men use to counter these stereotypes remind me of the dynamic of singlism and singles. We singles are regularly forced to defend ourselves against, or make excuses for, a status that is not inherently bad in the first place and which can actually be pretty honorable. Same with men and their cats.
Full disclosure: I once briefly dated a friend who took care of my foster cat when I went on an extended trip. J soon decided that he didn’t want to see me anymore but oh, by the way, he’d like to permanently adopt Paws. A less noble foster mom might have said, “F no!” But the business of fostering is to find the kitties homes where they are loved. And so I have not seen Paws since then, except in fond memories. Nobility is overrated!
Copious Readers (except for our hetero male readers, sorry once again, Alan and Bobby), have you dated men with cats? Wish you had? Wish you hadn’t? Who wants to meet Adam Fulrath for a little midnight catnip? ME! ME!
–Christina
Who Matters? A Guest Post by THE SPECIAL K TREATMENT May 4, 2009
Posted by Onely in Food for Thought, Guest Bloggers.Tags: discrimination against singles, doing something right to find a husband, guest blog, singles bar scene, some people matter more than others, special k treatment
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Onely likes guest posts by other writers who think about singles’ issues. The views expressed in our guest posts may or may not reflect Onely’s views, but we are always interested to hear from other singles advocates. Today’s post is by Special K, who we previously profiled in our Some Like It Single series. Special K is an “over thirty, single, psychologist in need of a balanced breakfast” who in the below post ponders why singles “matter” less than non-singles, how some singles respond to this stigma, and what to do about it.
In general, in American society, single people matter less than those who are married, who matter less than those with are married with children, who matter less than those who are married with children and own property. Communities do exist where this is not the case: New York City, universities perhaps, Miami Beach. But for the most part, there is a pecking order of how much space is occupied equals social power.
“She must have done something right to get a husband” my co-worker (who happens to be a therapist even!) blurted out, when referring to an emotionally disturbed woman. “WHAT? That’s Crap!” I retorted out loud, and called him our on the fallacy of logic here. . . so she is automatically given some credit because she married? What about the man’s role in all of this? What about the fact that it was a very destructive union? (more…)
Single? Don’t Sweat It! May 1, 2009
Posted by Onely in Food for Thought, single and happy.Tags: benefits of being single, Dr. Howard LeWine, person smells like cheese
6 comments
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In this eye-opening Men’s Health article, Howard LeWine, M.D. advises and comforts a woman who says,
“My husband has started sweating profusely when he is asleep. His sweat has a strong cheesy smell and I can no longer tolerate it.”
I hope that poor man doesn’t have one of the serious conditions that LeWine mentions. But I am also sort of allowed to make fun of him, because I too went through a phase where I smelled of Muenster cheese. It emanated from my elpits–you know, the insides of your elbows. I couldn’t move my arms without catching whiffs. So having smelled Human Muenster myself, I know how terribly that poor woman must have suffered, inhaling the huge slag of sweaty cheese all night, with the odor pooling in particular under the sheets like a fart.
Copious Readers, what other exposures to terrible bodily emanations do we avoid by being single?
Christina
Onely Adventures! April 30, 2009
Posted by Onely in Great Onely Activities, Secret Lives of the Happily Single, single and happy.Tags: great britain travel, international travel, single adventures, single and happy, solo travel
10 comments
Hello copious readers,
Just wanted to write a quick hello to let ya’ll (we say ya’ll in Kentucky!) know that Christina’s going to be holding down the (hypothetical) fort for the next two weeks or so. I’m headed off on my first solo international adventure in a few short hours — to Great Britain! (more…)
Why Date When You Can Write? April 29, 2009
Posted by Onely in Dating, Great Onely Activities, single and happy, We like. . ..Tags: being single, finding a boyfriend, Microsoft Word, relationship priorities, time-consuming hobbies, writing is hard
8 comments
I realized why I have so little interest in finding a boyfriend. It’s because I am already in a relationship. His name is Mike Rosoft Word. Yes, I am dating my writing. It is an emotionally exhausting relationship. I often feel I don’t deserve to be with Mike. I sometimes think about breaking if off. But I can’t. When we get along, it’s wonderful. When we aren’t meshing, though, I cry and gnash my teeth. I spend chunks of every weekend and several weeknights with Mike. You see, the more time I spend with him, the greater the chance that we’ll have one of our rare good spells. Last Saturday I told my friend Jess I couldn’t meet her for a movie because I was already planning to be with Mike that evening–even though I had just seen him the night before, and the night before that, too. I want to learn to garden, but Mike doesn’t like that (grit gets in his cracks), so I stay inside with him. (more…)
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How to Crash the Pity Party: YOUR RESPONSES REQUESTED April 27, 2009
Posted by Onely in As If!, Everyday Happenings, Your Responses Requested!.Tags: annoying couples, annoying questions, are you dating anyone?, are you seeing anyone?, pity single people, rude comments to singles
25 comments
Back in March, Mishi commented on our post “Where’s your boyfriend? When are you getting married?”, but somehow Lisa and I didn’t see her great comment until just now. So we’re reposting it now and asking for our Copious Readership’s thoughts. She describes a scenario I have experienced many times over, and each time I’m equally befuddled:
Christina
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