This Relationship Corner: Indulge Each Other

A while back my wife flipped for a new book called The Art of Clean Up. It's by artist Ursus Wehrli, and the book is all about his efforts to put the world in order. He takes a normal scene and pulls it apart bit by bit, and organizes each component into separate categories. I wouldn't have given this book a second look, but this is in my wife's wheelhouse. Naturally, I got it for her.

Earlier this year my my wife and I were shopping and we happened upon some pajama pants. These were no ordinary pants, there were emblazoned with the face of Mario, of Super Mario Brothers fame, and my inner geek loved those pants. My wife was never a Mario devotee, but she knows how much money that plumber has taken from me over my lifetime. She got those pajama pants for me.

What is the point of these two anecdotes, besides the fact that my wife and I have eccentric and geeky tastes? It's that when we saw something that would make each other happy, we went for it. It might not be our taste, we might not quite understand it, but that doesn't mean we can't indulge one another. In fact, these small indulgences are part of maintaining a healthy relationship.

This Open Letter to Moral Crusaders

Dear Moral Crusaders,

I know you're busy, let's cut to the chase. We need each other. You need a villain to star in your next fund-raising newsletter, and I need the publicity. As they say in the business world, we could create some real synergy and shift our paradigms. (Most of my business expertise comes from Dilbert.)

I'm a struggling author trying to make it big, but not a lot of people are paying attention. Perhaps that's my fault, as I could be doing more to increase my brand. I could be doing a lot more internet-savvy things to generate attention, but marketing is a lot of work. I'm a writer. The entire point of being a writer is to do as little work as possible.