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Daniel is living alone for the first time in his life. So I’m compiling some advice to him.

Take care of yourself. This means more than just pampering yourself. Make sure you eat healthily. Buy fresh vegetables. Eat them.

Clean sometimes. This is not for your guests, although they will appreciate it. This is for you. You deserve a nice environment.

Cook a nice dinner for yourself once in a while. Eat it not in front of the computer. Pretend you are trying to impress someone. Make it tasty and beautiful.

Don’t forget multivitamins.

Enjoy time by yourself, but don’t forget other people -- for their sake and your own. Even hermits need human contact.

Fresh air. Fresh air. Fresh air.

Do something you love every day.

Keep up with world events. Read a newspaper or check cnn every day. Seriously. I’m not sure if the Daily Show counts, but I won’t quibble.


Hm. These are pretty good. I should make sure I’m following them all myself.

Comments

John said…
How I live alone:

Take care of yourself. Those vending machine Pop Tarts will go bad if you don't eat them now.

Buy fresh vegetables. Throw them away before the mold spores take over the next room.

Clean sometimes. Proper cleaning must be preceded by tidying, which will expose you to newspaper clippings from your mother that you haven't read yet. If you don't actually get to the cleaning, who can blame you?

Cook a nice dinner for yourself once in a while. Yes, that means washing the skillet from the last time.

Don't eat in front of the computer, but if the meal is beautiful enough, blog a pic on lj's foodporn group.

'Even hermits need human contact.' I know you don't believe that :-)

Do something you love every day. For me, it's turning off the alarm clock and going back to sleep.

Don't ignre your mother.
4:45 PM
Zinnia said…
haHA!

My tips for living 'alone':

Always always have at least three sources of chocolate. One should be icecream and one should be something, oh I dunno, like chocolate mousse cake. The other? Surprise yourself.

DON'T buy fresh veges too often or you'll just feel guilty when you throw them away because black juice is oozing from the bottom of the refrigerator.

Ignre everyone. DON'T by any stretch ever answer your phone. Pesky people just want to include you in their lives or soemthing. Or they want money.

Cleaning tools you should own: huge black plastic leaf bags. Shovel.

Own as little as possible. Don't collect anything or you will end up one of those lonely people with 8000 macdolads toys displayed behind glass.
11:06 AM
John said…
I could really go for a macdolads muffin this morning.

Tell you what: I'll get a dozen and bring them up to share with you and all those critters you live 'alone' with.

Cuz, you know, I'd like to include you in my life.
11:32 AM
Zinnia said…
they are a little high in cholesterol but OK! you can help me tame the inlaws!

PS-- the word verification for today is:
wwmfdmk

This seems like an acronym for something along the lines of WTF. But much more serious. Hmmmmmm
9:02 PM
Zinnia said…
I am ignring people while eating mcdolads food.
9:03 PM
Anonymous said…
Who? What? Marsh figures dinner: Mcdolads' ketchup?

Or, perhaps:

Whoever wins must foot da mcdolads' ketchup....

Or, then again:

Whoa. Wait. My filthy digs misjudged, kin!
10:28 PM
Anonymous said…
You're just one of those people, ya kno, that seems like they in general know what they're talking about. To me, this is a HUGE compliment, because i think people stumble through life most of the time trying to grab on to what they can. You seem like one of the few people that has an idea of what life IS. Your advice for Dan is interesting... some obvious mom things mixed in with random things that only you would say, just enough that we know ur serious. I've seen you following some of them, at least decently, maybe not as much as you could, but it seems about as much as you should. Mixed in with the funny snippets of your life (like the centipede) are things that when i finish reading, i say THAT is what life is about.
10:30 PM
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