Risaplata's Profile

Here's what got me into trouble on my last date- he turned all the lights off to watch a movie. Guys may think the dark is just part of the movie-watching experience, but it sets a level of intimacy that was WAY too high for where we were at.

I like how the man says a turntable is a must and the woman assumes he may not have toilet paper. Which just means she's dated more slobs than he has, which makes sense, but is hysterical.

jmorey- pipes don't freeze in Los Angeles. In fact, I haven't had to turn my heat on yet. Probably next weekend.

I've never considered unplugging electronics. I don't have many electronics that need unplugging, but I guess at least turning off the power strip my computer is connected to is a good idea. And definitely take out the trash- especially if you have cats that get mad you're gone and tip over trash cans to get even. My friends stop by once a day to feed and scoop them, but they shouldn't feel obligated to clean my cats' temper tantrums too.

My great-aunt gave all us kids hand-painted piggy banks when I was 7. Maybe it wasn't the best present I've ever gotten, but 22 years later, I still have it. And this year I'm painting piggy banks for all my cousin's kids.

Last year I did a photo collage for my mother. I picked different photos from our family reunion and arranged them in 12 squares (one big photo as background and a couple smaller photos over it) and printed out each square for a 9x9 glass frame from Ikea. It's hard to explain, but it came out really cool.

A couple years ago, working on my first show, I gave my father a script signed by the whole cast. It was sort of an afterthought on my part, but he cried when he opened it and saw his name and "best wishes" by all these famous people. I don't think I'll ever be able to top that.

Being poor. Bad economy and all. Every time I leave the house, it costs me money. It's rather depressing, really.

I turned a mirror from gold to silver. Twice, because the first time the whole leaf n' glue mess fell right off the metal frame, and I had to do it again. The second time, I sanded the frame first to give the glue something to hold to.

I've also used the paint, and it's very effective but you have to be very careful. It will stick to anything and it will not come off. It's not like regular paint that if you drip somewhere you can just wipe up right away.

Rodents in particular love to eat electrical cords. And by rodents I don't just mean mice and rats, I mean guinea pigs and rabbits, too. When I was growing up, we'd litter-box trained our rabbit and let him run around the house. But we had to put all cables in PVC pipes where he couldn't get them. It's worse than baby-proofing because the bunny could get under the couch. We also had a guinea pig that ruined a couple of video game controllers in about thirty seconds by chewing through the cords.

Also, I guarantee if you were there and able to measure, the end of the bed is exactly 18" from the back of that couch, and the front of that couch is 18" from that tiny glass table. Betcha.

I'll clean, but because my friends come over to feed and water my cats and I don't want them to know the filth I live in. And I have to take out the garbage, or one of the cats will knock it over because she's mad I'm gone. So dishes, some laundry, floors. It's not like anyone's going to be looking under the bed while I'm gone.

So many messes, it's hard to pick the worst one. When I was a kid, I spilled a bowl of soupy ice cream on the rocking chair, carpet and dog. The dog smelled like ice cream for a week. It was kind of nice, actually. As a college student, I moved in with a boyfriend who had two roommates. They owned no paper towels or kitchen towels. If something spilled, they would wait until it congealed and then scrape it off the floor. More recently, I broke a glass vase. I had it earthquake-waxed to the shelf, but then I hit the shelf from below with a chair and the whole thing fell to the ground- and the vase was full of decorative stones and peacock feathers. I had to lock the cats out of the room while I very carefully made sure every speck of glass was picked up. I'm sure as soon as I hit "submit" I'll think of something truly outrageous.

I watch Clean Sweep on TLC sometimes- those people are ruthless! They'll teach you a new way to look at your things. Telling people that they're trying to keep all their stuff at the expense of their relationships or family always leads to tears.

I'm bad at getting rid of clothes. I get emotionally attached. What works for me is to once a year go through my closets and drawers and put everything I don't or shouldn't wear into a box. After a year, I bring the box to charity <I>without opening it</I>. That's the trick. If I open it, I'll remember what's in there and how much I loved it. If I don't open it, I'll know that I don't need it. And I don't have to worry about whether it's all actually junk or worth anything, because the thrift store will go through it and decide that for me.