Trust me, there is nothing in artist Alma Loveland's interpretation of laundry know-how that is going to get my teenager to do his own laundry from start to finish.
For one thing, it's way too complicated. Lint removal? The pretreating of stains? You may as well include the instructions for launching the space shuttle. Or loading the dishwasher.
But it's an inspired piece of artwork, commissioned as part of Blogher's Voices of the Year project, that captures perfectly the aspirations of parenthood: One day he will have his own children and they will leave wet towels all over his floors.
It could also help clean up a much bigger mess than the one in the laundry room. It's up for auction with all proceeds going to the The Nature Conservancy for the benefit of the Gulf of Mexico.
When my brother went to college, my OCD mom wrote out very detailed instructions on how to do laundry and stuck it in his suitcase. She fretted afterwards whether he might be mad/embarrassed about it. She cautiously asked him later if he found it. She was surprised when he said that it was GREAT! Not only did he use it, but all of the other guys in his dorm had made copies and were using it too. :D (Apparently their moms were not as OCD.)
Posted by: ladykay | August 26, 2010 at 02:01 PM
That is a beautiful story.
SK
Posted by: Suburban Kamikaze | August 26, 2010 at 03:44 PM
He will learn that unless he wants meaningful sex all of his pitiful days, he will need to know that Tide Original Scent and Bounce Original scent are the only paths to total ecstasy.
Please, feel free to quote me.
Posted by: Audubon Ron | August 26, 2010 at 07:36 PM
Yeah, Tide does it for me, too, Ron. Bounce, however, stops me cold. You now know my buttons.
Posted by: foolery | August 27, 2010 at 12:17 PM
We have done our best to warn him away from meaningful sex, but who knows how much gets through?
As for the laundry tips, I am overwhelmed at the quality of information/laundry porn being produced by our comments section. Not one, but TWO laundry connoisseurs.
If there is a better sourced sex and laundry blog on the Internet, I have yet to see it.
SK
Posted by: Suburban Kamikaze | August 27, 2010 at 04:04 PM