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Jan. 28th, 2005 11:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickI got new dishtowels the other day. I have about four styles of dishtowel at my house -- three styles of blue-and-white and one pair of linen in horrible 1950's shades of orange that my aunt Linda wove for me with her own hands. The linen ones are not up for discussion as I will not give them up until they fall apart.
In my kitchen, I use dishtowels for many things -- drying dishes is not the primary function of dishtowels at my house. Probably drying my hands during the OCD levels of handwashing I do while cooking is the primary function of dishtowels at my house. Second most common function is wiping up stuff I've spilled, much of it stain-worthy. Third most common function for a dishtowel is being-a-hotpad. If I don't use dishtowels for it, how do I dry the dishes? I put them in the dish drainer and wait a suitable interval of time. D'oh.
Anyway. The first set of terry blue-and-white dishtowels that I got from my friend Julie when I moved in are pretty shitted up now -- they're coming up on nine years old and they don't wash white anymore. They have holes. The fringe has been burned off of some of them because I've used 'em as hotpads. The first set of terry dishtowels has gotten yucky and I am tired of looking at their grey, holey, shabby selves. Almost all of these are ready to meet their maker.
I also have blue-and-white non-terry dishtowels, which are really nice and which I got from my friend![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ladyivy for xmas one year. These are a little newer than the others and they've held up better partly because they don't have fringe and are not made of terry. They can't get the fringe burned off and they don't go "bald" like old terrycloth does. But some of those are also crudded up beyond repair and a few of them have holes that... did you know that if you put a dishtowel on one piece of metal, like, say, the top of a splitting wedge, and then you strike it with another blunt piece of metal, like, say, a splitting maul, you can pulverize the fabric in a blunt-injury way that makes a hole? You can. (I did not find this out on purpose. It was an accidental discovery, but the dishtowel paid the price just the same. It's not easy being a dishtowel in my house.) Some of these dishtowels, about half of them, are ready to shuffle off this mortal coil.
Finally, I have two waffle-weave blue-and-white towels from my grandmother, but they're several years newer still and not in horrible shape yet. They can stay.
So I got new dishtowels to replace those who didn't make it through the great purge. Actually, the employee Ed got me new dishtowels, from Sam's Club. Now I have twenty-four dishtowels. That's rather a lot. There's just me in the house. Twenty-four dishtowels is probably too many, but that's what happens when you buy in bulk. They're kind of terry and they're blue and white. This is all to the good. (My kitchen counters are forest green. I am not sure that blue and white dishtowels really fit in but I like 'em and color coordination isn't particuarly a concern for me.) Trouble is, I don't really NEED that many. I think I'll use eight and put the rest in the linen closet until the first eight are shitted up beyond repair. If I figure a dishtowel lifespan of about eight years, this means I will not need to purchase dishtowels until I'm closing in on sixty.
Does anyone besides me see this as absurd? I have a stockpile of dishtowels that will last me through six presidential elections. I have a stockpile of dishtowels that will last until my brother's baby girl gets out of college. It's entirely possible that she will live her youth out under the impression that I have an infinite supply of identical blue and white dishtowels.
It's absurd. I love it. I am having entirely too much fun for my money.
In my kitchen, I use dishtowels for many things -- drying dishes is not the primary function of dishtowels at my house. Probably drying my hands during the OCD levels of handwashing I do while cooking is the primary function of dishtowels at my house. Second most common function is wiping up stuff I've spilled, much of it stain-worthy. Third most common function for a dishtowel is being-a-hotpad. If I don't use dishtowels for it, how do I dry the dishes? I put them in the dish drainer and wait a suitable interval of time. D'oh.
Anyway. The first set of terry blue-and-white dishtowels that I got from my friend Julie when I moved in are pretty shitted up now -- they're coming up on nine years old and they don't wash white anymore. They have holes. The fringe has been burned off of some of them because I've used 'em as hotpads. The first set of terry dishtowels has gotten yucky and I am tired of looking at their grey, holey, shabby selves. Almost all of these are ready to meet their maker.
I also have blue-and-white non-terry dishtowels, which are really nice and which I got from my friend
ladyivy for xmas one year. These are a little newer than the others and they've held up better partly because they don't have fringe and are not made of terry. They can't get the fringe burned off and they don't go "bald" like old terrycloth does. But some of those are also crudded up beyond repair and a few of them have holes that... did you know that if you put a dishtowel on one piece of metal, like, say, the top of a splitting wedge, and then you strike it with another blunt piece of metal, like, say, a splitting maul, you can pulverize the fabric in a blunt-injury way that makes a hole? You can. (I did not find this out on purpose. It was an accidental discovery, but the dishtowel paid the price just the same. It's not easy being a dishtowel in my house.) Some of these dishtowels, about half of them, are ready to shuffle off this mortal coil.Finally, I have two waffle-weave blue-and-white towels from my grandmother, but they're several years newer still and not in horrible shape yet. They can stay.
So I got new dishtowels to replace those who didn't make it through the great purge. Actually, the employee Ed got me new dishtowels, from Sam's Club. Now I have twenty-four dishtowels. That's rather a lot. There's just me in the house. Twenty-four dishtowels is probably too many, but that's what happens when you buy in bulk. They're kind of terry and they're blue and white. This is all to the good. (My kitchen counters are forest green. I am not sure that blue and white dishtowels really fit in but I like 'em and color coordination isn't particuarly a concern for me.) Trouble is, I don't really NEED that many. I think I'll use eight and put the rest in the linen closet until the first eight are shitted up beyond repair. If I figure a dishtowel lifespan of about eight years, this means I will not need to purchase dishtowels until I'm closing in on sixty.
Does anyone besides me see this as absurd? I have a stockpile of dishtowels that will last me through six presidential elections. I have a stockpile of dishtowels that will last until my brother's baby girl gets out of college. It's entirely possible that she will live her youth out under the impression that I have an infinite supply of identical blue and white dishtowels.
It's absurd. I love it. I am having entirely too much fun for my money.
