Introduction

When I went off to college for the first time, one of the books I made sure to bring with me was an old, well-loved volume that had previously been my mother's, called "The I Hate to Housekeep Book." It was published in 1965, and despite a few dated references, the advice Peg Bracken gives about the lively art of housewifery is timeless. The first time I read it, I knew I had found someone who Understood me. I finally had a name for what I am: a random housekeeper. I am the kind of person who will get the cleaning bug at exactly the least convenient time to do so, and will be dead tired when I have hours to do little else but clean. I start things and then leave them unfinished. I know the value of keeping the house neat, but just can't seem to care enough to keep it that way for long. Peg Bracken understands this. She is this way herself. Her book is full of advice on how to avoid doing chores, and how to psych yourself up to doing the ones you absolutely have to. It completely changed the way I approach housework, and the only drawback I can find is that the last edition was published sometime in the 1970's, meaning we are stuck with cryptic references to something called sal soda, and the opinion that dishwashers are overrated. (I currently live in an apartment without one, and I can tell you that this is simply not true.) I pulled the book out recently and the need for a modern Peg Bracken hit me again, harder this time. Who am I to resist inspiration when is hits me upside the head? I decided to start this blog (for what could be more modern than a blog?) and write according to the spirit of Saint Peg, as she shall be called hereafter. In addition to occasionally quoting the Master, I shall give my own advice, which is even more amateurish than the self-avowed-and-proud-of-it amateur Herself, but the purpose of putting it into blog form is so that I can get feedback. I really don't know what the best way to clean a keyboard is, but if you do, feel free to let me know, so we can all share in the knowledge. We random housekeepers need to stick together, don't we?