Beep beep

I forgot to mention a couple thoughts in my post yesterday, not that anyone's missing much.  When I go to places like the antique show I was at yesterday, it still surprises me a little that people are willing to deal with me on an adult level.  I'm saying this because I grew up going to antique collectors' swap meets and such, and my dad used to sell old toys at them, so I'm used to browsing on an epic level.  When you're a little kid and looking through Beatles memorabilia or 80-year-old teddy bears, no one expects you to have money in your pocket, but no one thinks you're going to steal either (which I never did, it's like cursing yourself) so I was pretty much ignored or indulged.  I usually had about five to ten bucks that my dad would give me but I would wait until the last minute to buy anything if I could afford it.  So when I go to these things now I still expect the same treatment.  It's a little weird when people aren't shocked that I'm going to try to bargain like an adult.  And I'm a little surprised that it's ok to do it, and that people don't act like I must be broke.

The other thing is I wanted a nun's bedroom more or less, it's funny but that's how I pictured it before I put it all together.  I just wanted the essentials back in it.  I once saw a picture of Marguerite Duras' (NOT a nun) bedroom and thought, that's what I want.  Just a bed and a chair and a dresser.  It's like what I mentioned before about my friend who didn't want anything in his room that didn't belong in it.  I've been waking up for years surrounded by stacks of CDs, books, clothes and furniture and I want no more noise in my visual field.

Fitzrovians' first book review

Today I'm reviewing Simpler Living : a back to basics guide to cleaning, furnishing, storing, decluttering, streamlining, organizing, and more by Jeff Davidson.  It's one of the books I took out of the library the other day to give me some hints and inspiration for my tidy-up procedures.

I'll start out by saying I don't consider myself a minimalist by any means.  I like stuff.  "Simpler" living is my goal, but I can't live the Shaker lifestyle.  And don't get me started on feng shui.  I think feng shui, according to the popular wisdom of modern interior design,  is like the unicorns I used to draw when I was in fifth grade.  Some of them had wings, some had rainbow horns, some had beards and some had tiny, dainty feet like ballerinas.  There is no one feng shui.  It has become a magical concept variously interpreted by contemporary weenies that was adapted from actual ancient lore.

That said, I think that Simpler Living isn't bad, but it's kind of overwhelming.  It has simplifying ideas for everything!!!!!  The title alone should be a hint that simplifying isn't so simple.  There are a massive amount of bullet points for every idea.  On a side note, I was also disturbed by the inclusion of a (non-captioned) photo of a basket of toys that included three teddy bears and two Gollywog dolls.  WTF?

I want to keep reading about this subject, for the same reasons as before.  I said once in a previous blog entry that this subject has become my version of porn.