It’s cliché to quote Jesus St. Paul to the affianced or newly married never to let the sun go down on their anger. It’s generally sound advice. Most fights aren’t so serious that they can’t be settled after an hour or two of shouting and glaring. But if you’re like me and you have a habit of starting fights at bedtime, it’s ridiculous to be a literalist about it. Better in such cases to stare at the wall or ceiling as if it were a hypnotist until exhaustion, then go to sleep. Your mood will usually soften by morning.
Not unrelated, I’ve been trying to convince K to let me buy a pulpit. Last I saw, our local consignment store had one that was large and three-tiered, made of oak or stained pine, with crosses engraved in the front. Sure, it would take up most of our small apartment, but the formal use we could put it to would more than make up for the inconvenience. Rather than preach to each other ad hoc, we could schedule times to take the stand, then swap out so neither of us could use it as a bully pulpit. Having a pulpit in the home is a simple and elegant solution to the problem of disagreement.
uuuhhh, I believe that was Paul
and he might’ve been quoting Plutarch, unless it was Qumranic texts, or both, and if he was also quoting Jesus that makes three
by Balthasar Gracián—Aug 11, 09:00 AM
Oops!—So corrected. Now, putting pedantry aside…
If you were to say you never wanted a pulpit, I would call you a liar.
by greg—Aug 11, 09:55 PM
If there was some way you could fold it up or something when you weren’t using it, it’d be perfect.
by JH—Aug 12, 02:16 PM
Surely you could employ it as a lampstand or something in the few minutes a day one of you wouldn’t be standing behind it? As newlyweds, A and I find enticing the prospects of a designated (consecrated?) space for pontification/spleen-venting. But I think we’d settle for a comfortable bed large enough for two + cat.
by Martin—Aug 12, 03:09 PM
Good luck with that. We’re 6 years in, and only just last month got a bed with a mattress that wasn’t originally intended to be on a futon. Fortunately, we are small people with small(ish) and do not require large beds.
by greg—Aug 13, 07:48 AM
i am now extremely curious as to what the second small modifies….
by Balthasar Gracián—Aug 13, 08:14 AM
It’s supposed to modify cats, but if you wanted to imagine goiters there, it would be just as fitting.
by greg—Aug 13, 08:16 AM
There is no such thing as a bed big enough when cats are involved. Cats will always manage to occupy as much of the geographic center of the bed as possible.
That said, when I used to go home to take care of my mother’s three cats, I finally started sleeping in her full bed instead of my twin, since all three insisted on sleeping with me—or on me, as the case may be.
by Laura—Aug 13, 08:46 PM
the same can be said for Labrador Retrievers. our dog’s favorite position is captured perfectly by this person’s picture of their own dog…
by Balthasar Gracián—Aug 14, 06:48 AM