Domestic Case Study No. 1

by Leah Sottile


Name: Ben Bradley


Age: 32


By day: Barista at the Shop, drummer


His weakness: He's likes to dabble in the natural stuff -- particularly the veggies from his backyard garden.


How he got the habit: "For the first two years that I lived there, there were these poorly put-together raised beds that just overgrew with weeds. Two years I watched these things grow this ugly grass. I thought, 'Why don't I plant something?' So I started, and even though it was a ton of work, I'm not the kind of person that would stop halfway through. I'm lousy at quitting."


But how'd he do it?: "It's certainly not organic soil. I pulled out a hatchet head, nails, lead pipes -- a Batmobile! But it turned out really well, and all I used was cow manure and some used coffee grounds from [the Shop]. I enjoyed crawling around and pulling the weeds out. It invigorated me that I was growing my own food."


Note: Gardens make girlfriends happy: "My girlfriend, I found out, really likes pea salad -- so I wanted to grow peas to make her pea salad."


Guys should cut the B.S. and get domestic: "Our society has so many crappy hang-ups that don't matter. I think most cultures have that though. It's only recently that I started taking yoga classes with my girlfriend. I do know guys who knit -- I wouldn't because I don't have the patience -- but I think it's cool. I just wish people thought less about that stuff -- they are all hang-ups about homophobia, I think. If a guy wants to knit or a woman wants to weld, whatever! I just think stuff like that is great. I wish the lines were more blurred. I wish there were fewer men who were so hung up on it. The fact that thinking is in place, that we're raised with that just bugs me. I just try to release that from my awareness -- 'try' being the key word there."





Publication date: 1/27/05