Light bulbs and tanorexia

Why, when light bulbs cost practically nothing, do I never have extras in the cupboard? A lamp goes out and it takes me about a week to remember to buy new bulbs when I am at the store, so why oh why don't I stock up on light bulbs? For some things I am great about keeping the cupboards full. We NEVER run out of juice because I always keep about 4 boxes each of orange, apple and grape UHT juice in the cupboard. I have an entire cabinet in the bathroom filled with toilet paper, so on average, atleast 18 rolls just in case. Toothpaste supplies are always high. Boullion. Trash bags. Canned tomatoes. Tape. Laundry detergent. Lentils (I am constantly buying lentils and we eat them about once a month. I could probably single handedly sponser a soup kitchen for a month on my lentil supplies alone). Basically, there is no rhyme or reason to my shopping. So today I was standing in front of the light bulb selection trying to figure out if I wanted 75 watt clear bulbs or 100 watt opal bulbs or maybe I should just get 60 and be economical about my electricity? It is one of the bains of modern existance that we spend countless hours of our lives making choices about things that we have absolutely no interest in. There are times when I think those old Soviet Bloc countries had something going for them. You need light bulbs, you have the choice between no bulbs or bulb X. Take it or leave it. There is a certain freedom in having no choices. I remember when I was reading The Dice Man and and the idea of how we make choices. Of course, the book was a bit more concerned about the idea of foregoing morals and exploring desires, but I suppose it could apply to the light bulb situation. Because doesn't it come down to the idea that I could care less which light bulb I buy, but I feel this pressure to choose the right one. Save energy, don't spend too much, find the right ambiance to not have the room look like a hospital waiting room. I should start caring some dice in my bag, give it a try.

On a lighter note, I fear that I am going to have to stage an intervention with my dear husband. I think he is suffering from Tanorexia. Before holiday, we were both going to the tanning salon in order to get enough of a base tan to not get sunburned in the first 24 hours on the beach. I actually think that there was a lot of sense in this. Naturally, we didn't use up all the points on our cards, so B asked if I thought he could keep going to the tanning bed to keep his tan. I said I definitely thought he could go once a week for this and then the money he spent wouldn't go to waste.That was just his subtle way of getting me to support his new habit. Since we have been back from holiday, he keeps going into work early and I discovered that it wasn't because he was so busy, it was to tan. And then, the other day, he changed his shirt before we left the house and when I asked why he told me it was because he thought he looked pale in that other shirt. He asks me constantly if I think that he is still brown and I have caught him in discreetly checking out his tan lines in the mirror. He is obsessed. I think he's tanning 3 or 4 times a week. I do like him with a tan- in winter, he gets so pale he looks ill. But I feel like I should do something before he comes home one day and his neck skin matches the leather on his jacket.

Oh- and guess who we bumped into (literally) on the street yesterday? Maaaaggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Saaaarsgaard and baaaaaby. (I give up trying to figure out where all the extra A's go). We were over by Luxembourg Gardens, fighting the crowds with our massive jogging stroller when we had a bit of a collision with their stroller. Luckily, it was gorgeous and sunny yesterday afternoon, so instead of my usual huffy exasperated "Excusez-nous!" that I shout out at the bad stroller drivers that take up all the sidewalk, I was very gracious. I didn't immediately realize who it was (although, I don't know what I would have said if I had recognized them immediately. The only movie of hers that comes immediately to mind is "The Secretary" and I can't think of anything for him. "Oh my god! Hi Maggie! I loved you in that S & M movie! I'm sure you are a good actor too Peter although I couldn't name a single movie you played in. Your baby's cute! Move your stroller! ") and then spent the next half hour trying to explain to B who they were.