SpotOnEarth's Profile

This is really nice, and a beautiful home, but I don't understand why such a big deal is being made of the fact that this family lives together. "Three generations living together..." basically translates to Molly, her husband and their kids sharing a house with her mother. That doesn't seem all that unusual. If Molly's grandparents (the original owners of the house) were still living there, too, or if they were sharing with additional siblings and their respective families, then it might warrant a focused mention. But as it is, it seems like a pretty common scenario. Am I missing something of this story?

Here's something funny/interesting -- An article in the trade publication Earnshaws Infants’ Department in 1918 said “...generally accepted rule is pink for the boys and blue for the girls. The reason being that pink, being the stronger colour, is more suitable for a boy. While blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for a girl...”

http://strictlypinkstuff.blogspot.com/2011_07_01_archive.html

Forget the bed, I want that DOG!

Wow. Are you serious? The word "ethics" itself can be either positive or negative (definition of ethics: that branch of philosophy dealing with values relating to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such actions.).

As you can see, it completely depends on the person and/or culture. Now, as you've noticed, it IS my PERSONAL opinion that people (especially Americans) could stand to question the ethic of "bigger = better." But it could just as easily be someone else's opinion that people should question the ethic of "smaller = better" (some posters here obviously think so, and I would imagine that anyone keeping animals or anyone with a large family or whatever would definitely want to question the "smaller = better" ethic, for example.).

When I initially posted I was doing what EVERYONE else here does. I was stating my opinion. When someone jumped on me and accused me of "generalizing," I responded that I wasn't generalizing -- I explained that I believe my opinion is justified (which I think is how most people feel about their opinions). And I went even further to offer that the reason I think my opinion is justified is because of statistics. (definition of justified: to defend or uphold as warranted or well-grounded).

Since I'm so busy explaining words to you I might as well do some homework for you, too, here are some stats and interesting articles:

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/ene_oil_con-energy-oil-consumption

http://knol.google.com/k/u-s-energy-consumption-the-big-picture#

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2029899,00.html

and here's the link you need the most:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/webster

Miklak:

Here's what I said: "In America people use more of everything (more energy, more oil/gas, more space). And I would venture to guess that the reason for that is probably because we feel we deserve it and feel entitled to it..."

Then you asked for PROOF that Americans think they deserve more space. You combined my two statements -- I never said there were statistics to back up my guess. That's what it means to say "I would venture to guess." Statistics for the first part of my statement (about American over-consumption of resources) are everywhere and it's really not my job to find those for you.

Zenezie - I wasn't being snarky -- just a little flippant. I'm pretty sure it wasn't a generalization, though. I meant it pretty literally and I'm fairly confident that what I said can be backed up by statistics and facts. In America people use more of everything (more energy, more oil/gas, more space). And I would venture to guess that the reason for that is probably because we feel we deserve it and feel entitled to it (or to put it less flippantly -- we feel we "need" it, and haven't really thought it through because culturally we are not conditioned to question the ethics of "bigger=better"). Hopefully the trend towards downsizing is not just a trend but a true change in our value systems and thought processes.

Yeah Americans are totally delusional when it comes to how much space they think they deserve. No offense. Born in Sweden, but grew up in the states. Seen and lived both sides. Am completely thrilled to see the trend towards downsizing on this side of the pond. Let IKEA and AP light the way.

Amazing worktable. Perfect for spreading out supplies, cutting fabrics, making patterns, sewing, gluing, painting, making flower arrangements, wrapping gifts... You could probably even break out a saw on that thing if you felt so inclined. The clean-up wouldn't even be that bad on that tile floor. This is a completely useful room for a lot of different types of crafting endeavors. I imagine that being able to access the worktable from all sides is convenient, too.

I love that the black and white stripes are kind of random.

Hyzen -- I like your idea to leave a few panel boards in the natural wood. I think that would've looked really cool, too.

SherryBinNH Well, I don't know that you have higher standards, but I do think that because you went to art school you have been taught to quantify art, even though art is not quantifiable. You said yourself "If you look at art as the quality expression of an individual person's vision, skill, talent, imagination, voice, etc." Well, here's a secret: That's exactly how I've always looked at art despite the fact that I've managed to avoid going to art school. You see, no one had to teach me that. So I still say "what does size have to do with it?" The things that matter are emotion, vision, communication, love and how a work of art makes someone feel. It's about our responses to it. Big, small, triangular, square, costs a lot to make? Art simply can't be reduced to size or cost of materials or other attributes like those. If it could, we'd all be able to afford that Picasso sketch on a napkin.

I guess I don't see what size has to do with it.