Category Archives: Domestic Life

Online Review Systems and the Service Economy

I’ve already had a couple of recommendations to look at Angie’s List and Checkbook Magazine since posting earlier today about my homeowner blues. There have been some interesting discussions about Angie’s List in the past six months, particularly at Greg … Continue reading

Posted in Consumerism, Advertising, Commodities, Domestic Life, Information Technology and Information Literacy | 11 Comments

Money Pit

Pardon my banality, but what is it with expensive home repairs that causes them to come in waves? Within a week, we’ve found that our water heater needs replacement, we need a termite treatment (they’re not inside the house, thank … Continue reading

Posted in Domestic Life, Information Technology and Information Literacy | 5 Comments

Things Change

My grandfather died today. I’m sorry largely for those of us who knew him, as he was a very interesting and charming person, pretty much the definition of a class act. We will all miss his steady presence. Like his … Continue reading

Posted in Domestic Life | 8 Comments

Bad Daddy

When I was 6, watching George Pal’s The Time Machine on TV provided the fuel for a nightmare or two, populated by Morlocks. When my daughter was 6, watching Guillermo del Toro’s Hellboy led her to remark that a hideous … Continue reading

Posted in Domestic Life, Popular Culture | 1 Comment

Homework: The Argument Clinic Edition

With a child just starting kindergarten, I’ve been engaging in that popular pastime of parents and old fogeys: sitting around with other parents and old fogeys and saying, “Well, in my day, we didn’t have all this new-fangled educational stuff, … Continue reading

Posted in Academia, Blogging, Domestic Life | 16 Comments

Dangerously Beautiful Days

Weekends are weird once you have a house. A secondary labor regime takes over: there are weeds to kill, stumps to remove, bathtubs to re-caulk, closets to clean, bookshelves to make and so on. A beautiful day like today is … Continue reading

Posted in Domestic Life | 5 Comments

Chainsaw Music

When I was a surly teenager, one of my certainties was that wherever I lived as an adult, it wasn’t going to be a suburb. The city or the country, but not a suburb. I think that’s a common affectation … Continue reading

Posted in Domestic Life | 10 Comments

Twenty Years

Off to celebrate my 20th wedding anniversary. You can overlook in the day-in, day-out hustle of life what a mighty and lasting thing you’re building with someone and then wake up one day breathlessly startled at the cumulation of your … Continue reading

Posted in Domestic Life | 9 Comments

Seers of Suburbia

The double-irony of the Atlantic Monthly’s April 2006 letters page replies to Caitlin Flanagan’s take on the alleged “oral sex epidemic” among America’s teenagers was pretty intense when I got around to reading it this week. I didn’t comment directly … Continue reading

Posted in Domestic Life, Politics, Popular Culture | 24 Comments

Theirs, Not Mine

So I’ve been wrapped up in family life, grading and a persistent cold since about the 22nd. One thing I did have a chance to do is take my daughter down to Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, Betsy Ross’ house … Continue reading

Posted in Domestic Life, Politics | 5 Comments