Red Zinger's Profile

Vulgarity reminiscent of the late Roman Empire. Just add a personal slave to hold the platinum-plated bucket while you vomit up your lunch, and there you go.

A friend of mine went backpacking in Europe with a pretty full pack -- but he had stocked it with stuff he thought others might need. He made friends in every country he went to by having the band-aid/bottle opener/swiss army knife someone else needed. To give you an idea how far he thought this through, he even packed tampons, realizing some woman somewhere might need one! Sure enough, he saw a girl embarrassedly whispering to her friends at one hostel, and he came through.

They are now married. She said, "I knew we could talk about anything, after that!"

In other words, even though he took a lot with him, I think his backpack was light.

I'm on Team Window. Yeah, they're odd, but embrace the quirk. My inclination is to do nothing that dramatic in terms of window treatments.

I've moved to new cities as an adult three times now. Making new friends is indeed tough. A couple of extra tips:

1) Search for a book club (if you're a reader, obviously -- if not, some other organization built around a common interest.) No, you won't like everyone in the club/group, but chances are you'll click with SOMEBODY.

2) Take a class. I met great people in pottery and, now, in Spanish classes.

3) If there's a political issue you feel strongly about, this is the time to consider moving past mere voting and getting into activism. Not only will you help your good cause, but you will also get to know similarly committed people.

4) Don't hesitate to ASK for friend setups. Get on Facebook and say, Hey, I'm moving to/just moved to X City; do you know anybody here I should get to know? You'll be astonished how many suggestions you get, and mutual introductions almost always ensure at least a first meeting. One of my best friends in my current town is someone I was introduced to by a mutual friend -- honestly, somebody neither of us knew all that well, but who was happy to connect us.

I think this is one of those things that is going to look really dated in a few years. Some rooms leave few other options, but that's a design problem with the room. And this brings up a point I hate, hate, HATE about "staging" shows on HGTV, and a lot of decorator advice: They virtually NEVER stage a room with a TV in it. I suppose this is meant to make the room look bigger and/or classier. When I was shopping for a house, seeing rooms like that told me one thing: There is no room for a TV here.

Cool in concept, basically useless for this purpose. I can make my own mood-theme playlists perfectly well, and since that's a fun and creative thing to do, why would I want to automate it? Also, sometimes you want music in the exact opposite of your mood -- something cheery when you're feeling blue in the hopes it will lift your spirit, or relaxing stuff when you're feeling stressed. So this seems pointless to me.

I'd go with a lighter color if only because it is less likely to make your landlord sorry he let you paint. Also, in a room that small, you probably want to maximize the amount of light you have. (The blinds are down in the pic, so I'm not sure whether you have great natural light beyond them, or whether they are hiding a shadowy view of the alley.)

A very light blue would give you that aqua/chocolate look that's so trendy right now. Personally -- even though I gravitate toward brighter colors as a rule -- I'd go with a warmer neutral, like a sand color, and accent with some deeper tones, maybe a dark red. I think it would fight less with the cabinets, maximize the light, help the room feel bigger, and nonetheless look good.

I think framing it and/or displaying it vertically will look terrific. If you're worried about a color scheme, I would put it in a room that is otherwise very neutral -- lots of white/cream/espresso/etc. -- and allow it stand out as the one bold signature piece. (You could include a few touches of navy so it doesn't stand out as too starkly different.) Your boyfriend should love seeing it displayed with pride, especially when he looks at it while sitting on your new, more comfortable sofa.

Love: Laundry, dusting, shopping for groceries, cooking, dusting, making the bed

Neutral:scrubbing the bathroom, sweeping, vacuuming

Hate: Washing dishes, sorting mail, mopping, changing the sheets (I love making the rest of the bed, but this bit annoys me - don't know why.)

As long as I live in a dwelling more substantial than a yurt, I'm going to have a dishwasher. Washing the dishes is a chore I just hate. It doesn't have anything to do with logic - it's just one of those things I absolutely loathe doing. (Whereas I'll scrub out the toilet without a problem.) It saves me a lot of time, energy and annoyance.