November 3, 2009

Do you hate the dark, cold days that are upon us?

Or do you love the time inside, perhaps because you've got a great man cave?

38 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm very happy with the time change. Because I leave the house at 6:30 am to get the train, the end of Daylight Savings Time also means the end of a several-week stretch of getting up and leaving before dawn.

Peter

David said...

It's 70 degrees and sunny in Beaufort, S.C. Come visit.

Hoosier Daddy said...

When I moved to Indianapolis from The Region, I found out that Indy never switched times. Then a few years back My Man Mitch pushed the DST here and we finally got it. Thank God. Driving to work in the dark and driving home in the dark was quite depressing.

MadisonMan said...

What Peter said. Standard time should start at Columbus Day. The past few weeks have been way too dark in the morning.

The beauty of the early end to daylight is I have to leave work "early" on my bike to get home before dark.

ricpic said...

Great as a man cave can be it doesn't cure winter fatigue when February rolls around.

MadisonMan said...

...and now that I've read the linked-to article, I will add: Oh Dear God. A garage with a big screen TV in it so you can watch from your car?

If it's that horrifying to set foot in your house, wouldn't divorce be easier?

kjbe said...

I prefer the light in the morning, to what it's been, lately. It also feels safer driving by the grade school bus stops on the way to work.

AllenS said...

I just came back into the house after splitting wood for my wood stove in the Man's Man Workshop. It's nicer than a cave. I usually get up at 4:00 am, but since the time change it's around 3:00 am that I awake.

Tyrone Slothrop said...

If we were saving daylight all summer, where the hell is it?

Joaquin said...

In the 70s and sunny here in NC.
It gets dark earlier, but not COLD!

Synova said...

I think that hiring a decorator for your "man cave" immediately disqualifies it as both "man" and "cave."

Just saying.

Salamandyr said...

I don't have a "man cave". I have a library. It's a library with deep red walls, and dark wood bookshelves, lined with the accumulation of a lifetime of collecting. There's a gold chaise where my lady love reclines by the window.

But yes, I do like spending time there.

former law student said...

I was wondering the other day: the Althouse having been a girlhouse for so long (but not a frou-frou place), has some space been carved out for Meade to use and to personalize?

In my experience men start needing their own space in their forties, whether for woodworking, metalworking, building radio controlled airplanes, or simply smoking cigars in a battered leather armchair. My theory is that so much of men's lives is beyond their control, that they need a space to work undisturbed. Or they could just have a household with teenagers.

Tibore said...

1. Didn't they used to call those "dens"?

2. When you're a bachelor, your whole place is a man cave. :D

Hoosier Daddy said...

If it's that horrifying to set foot in your house, wouldn't divorce be easier?

Cheaper to keep her.

Wally Kalbacken said...

From Boca Raton I sez:

What dark cold days?

Triangle Man said...

I'm with Tibore on this one. A "man cave" is a den. Don't mess with tradition. Next thing you know they will start calling the traditional child-beating parlor a "time-out nook" or something.

former law student said...

In the terms of the article, a man cave can be a workshop or a garage as well as a den. It's just a defined space for the man of the house.

Meade said...

@fls, She has her closet, her bath, her chair, and her pillows. Beyond those, the entire house and gardens constitute my domain. After all, even the most divine divas need their lords and masters.

ps: I don't employ interior decorators. I hire movers, workers, and craftsmen.

Balfegor said...

...and now that I've read the linked-to article, I will add: Oh Dear God. A garage with a big screen TV in it so you can watch from your car?

Yes, why would even do that? There must a more interesting story there that the journalist decided not pursue.

Hoosier Daddy said...

My man cave is my finished basement which I also refer to as The Bunker along with a sign that says Estrogen Free Zone.

Wince said...

Didn't they used to call those "dens"?

Yea, but Ward Cleaver's den, even thought it had double pocket doors, was right off the main foyer.

Unacceptable.

Now, here's how to make room for your new man cave.

rhhardin said...

The old computers get fired up 24/7 to work on this or that problem, since their operation is free, owing to their heating the house at the same cost as the furnace, but doing something useful first.

AllenS said...

I'm sorry, I forgot to mention that my workshop has a refrigerator full of beer.

Jim Howard said...

I first thought you were referring to our collapsing economy, eroding freedoms, and reduced security.

That's probably because I live in Austin Texas, where its warm and sunny.

bagoh20 said...

In L.A. It's mid 70's and sunny...pretty much always.

Everything else in the state has changed dramatically for the worse in the last 20 years. Because, everything else is considered government business. The weather is the next target of government control and soon it will be like Madison in winter year round.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

My man cave is my finished basement which I also refer to as The Bunker along with a sign that says Estrogen Free Zone.

OMG....you just confirmed the sterotype of the basement dwelling World of Warcraft nerd.

Not that there is anything wrong with that.

:-)

Anthony said...

I think that hiring a decorator for your "man cave" immediately disqualifies it as both "man" and "cave."

Bingo.

My cave, such as it is (as an archaeologist, I prefer to call it a 'rockshelter'), is more a library wherein I have, like Salamandy, dark red walls and bookcases filled with crusty old archaeology books. And my computer which the ArchaeoWife often uses, so it's kind of a multi-sexual kinda thing.

I also share it with the cat box so I occasionally have to deal with the pungent aromas left by our bevy of fierce felines.

Hoosier Daddy said...

OMG....you just confirmed the sterotype of the basement dwelling World of Warcraft nerd.

Except I substitute Sam Adams and pistachios for Mountain Dew and Twinkies.

Unknown said...

Meade said...

@fls, She has her closet, her bath, her chair, and her pillows. Beyond those, the entire house and gardens constitute my domain. After all, even the most divine divas need their lords and masters.

As Peter Sellers said to Peter O'Toole in the original Casino Royale, "You're the finest man that ever breathed".

You, sir, have tamed the Mighty Althouse. Your visage belongs on Mount Rushmore, in the Pantheon of the Great American Heroes.

I shall endeavor to pattern my humble life after yours.

Methadras said...

Can we all agree once and for all that daylight savings hasn't done anything at all?

I'd prefer a bat cave. Batman has cool shit.

traditionalguy said...

It's great to have a room that the children cannot play in for your Safes, gun storage cabinets, special things that are personally the man's. Other male guests can join you there to talkwhile the wives talk all about the latest interests of the social world of the women. But no TVs in there.

Phil 314 said...

Do you hate the dark, cold days that are upon us? Or do you love the time inside

Today's high in Phoenix, 85. sunny too. and besides, we don't do daylight saving time.

Freeman Hunt said...

If you click on the "multimedia" part, you'll see pictures of a bunch of frou frou man things. These things include a $250 Best Made axe.

"This is like so my MAN space--I mean CAVE! Like look at this bitchin' axe! I bought it at this sweet boutique up in Chelsea. Oh, and you totally have to visit Mantiques. Omigod, Fresnel lens from an old thing mounted up so nice--LOVE it! Sooo MANLY!"

These guys don't need man caves. They need to watch Gran Torino.

veni vidi vici said...

The term "man cave" has always had a vaguely rectal ring to it, at least to these ears. Perhaps they have man caves up on Uranus.

I have a studio, as in, recording. It houses my synths, guitars, drums and recording gear, as well as my exceptionally tasteful record collection and badassed DJ rig. There are four pairs of speakers in there, each with a specific forte, soundwise, including an old pair of Bose 601 mk2's that are capable of filling a much larger space than I've got with earth-shattering bombast, mainly for listening to "Royal Orleans" and watching the occasional movie. It's not a pantywaist endeavor; the decor is augmented with one of those "tit creamer" mugs (as seen on Redd Foxx's "Video in a plain brown wrapper") that I use for picks, capo and pens.

To anyone who hires a decorator for their man cave, I say you've got rings around uranus. That kind of wanker probably needs to hire someone to get him a hobby too.

Somewhat unrelatedly, can I just say that having now started dating a bit again, I'm really not into wasting any time or money on women with body/self-image issues? Seriously, even if it never gets that far for *us*, a gal should at least be comfortable with the idea of hanging around naked in the privacy of her own space.

That is the litmus test and like nothing else speaks truth to the cliche of being "comfortable in one's own skin". Anything less and you're asking for trouble down the road.



wv: "ussil" -- a pustular inflammation of the man cave.

veni vidi vici said...

To clarify, I don't need to convince someone to hang around naked in her or my apartment (well, maybe I do...); the whole thing is a pretty easy "reveal" once you've broken the ice and are comfortable ranging out the convo, and can ask the question about nakedness. The squirmers aren't the ones you want; they can be nice as friends, but if you want to have a truly fun sex life (which bleeds into and from the rest of the relationship, no doubt), you're wasting your time.

At this age, people, like leopards, don't change. And why should they?


wv: "rosip" -- the art of drinking rose hip tea.

Freeman Hunt said...

I'm really not into wasting any time or money on women with body/self-image issues? Seriously, even if it never gets that far for *us*, a gal should at least be comfortable with the idea of hanging around naked in the privacy of her own space.

How does that work in regards to dating? I assume you don't just ask, "Hey, so do you walk around your place naked?"

Freeman Hunt said...

Maybe they're only squirming because they're thinking, "I just broke the ice with the guy, maybe I shouldn't be sharing about my nakedness habits just yet." I wouldn't read too much into any answers about nakedness that you get at that point.