The Raven's Roost

Since I'm having one of my "throw out all the things" fits, I thought I would take some time to look at practical re-arrangement ideas for my room.

I have a few different ideas going here so bear with me. First up, I have an almost-walk-in closet. It's narrow, but long, probably about six or seven feet long, so there is actually a lot of under-utilized space there. I'm considering a few things with it.

Once I have my futon, I can roll the mattress and pad up each morning and stow them in the closet. The closet also has enough room that if I were to build or acquire some drawers or shelves, I could empty the contents of my dresser and get the dresser out of my room. I don't have a ton of clothes, either hanging or folded since I have a somewhat spare wardrobe. I already have a hanging shoe rack that would hold my two pairs of boots and four pairs of Chucks. So, bed gone. Dresser gone.

I can move the book case into the studio, since it mostly contains books about art and illustration, manga, comics anthologies, and the like. Book case gone. Significant floor space remains.

Now it can be a yoga and meditation space. I have always kind of wanted this. Right now I have all my yoga stuff in the rec room, but that's a problematic place for me because if Fox is napping, I don't like to go in there and disturb him. And in summer it can be really uncomfortable, as that end of the house isn't well shaded. Moving all that into the bedroom not only gives me that space, but it allows me to shut the door if I wish (so I can try to meditate while cats dig at the bottom of the door and meow) and be out of everyone's way.

And the final element of all this is one I kind of hate to admit, but sometimes when things have lost their usefulness to you, you have to let them go. I might get rid of my collage and assemblage stuff - my shrine making materials. I don't know where or how, but I haven't made a box in four years now. I barely touch the cartons of items, and the files of paper and cloth are just shuffled around from one place to another. Question is, where to take this stuff - it's not trash, so someone somewhere will be able to use it, I just need to find out what to do with it. Making shrines was a big deal for me for a long time, and it helped me work through a lot of things going on in my life, but I think I'm done with that now. So I need to re-home the supplies, preferably with someone who'll use them. And yes, if you're reading this and thinking you'd like some of this stuff, drop me a comment. I'll be happy to describe or take photos for you.

The more I think about it, the more I like the idea. Of course I still have a desk, which I don't see much reason to get rid of, as it's actually very useful as a spot to write, use my laptop, etc. I might grab some bookends to prop up the journals I'm currently writing in, and I have a small "accidental" Ganesh shrine going on one side. Weirdly, I have like ... three or four Ganesh statues around the house. When did Ganesh make himself at home here? *scratches head*

So yeah, if you know some artsy person who wants a whole giant crapload of assemblage items (think Joseph Cornell type stuff) let me know. And if you have seen any cool home yoga studio ideas, hit me up with links or photos. Meantime I'm going to go measure the closet.

It's 39 here this morning. Finally, some proper cold weather. But it should be near 70 today, then get cold again tonight, so it's a layer-up kind of day. Fox is coming with me on errands and to the eye doc (assuming that happens, but I think they will actually be able to see me today, miracle of miracles) and grocery shopping.

I was vaguely considering Lasik surgery, but having read up on it, that's a big fucking NOPE from me. No damn way. Nah.

I'm going to spend some time this week assessing my 2019 Minimalism Project and see where to go from here. My general feeling is it went well. I still have items to get rid of but I think I did a good job of not bringing new clutter into the house. I have been able to identify spending triggers, and need to work on mediating that somehow. I did several "low buy" months during the year and I think I'm ready to try out a full "no buy" period. I'm saving up for a specific thing, but other than that no. I've started drafting a set of guidelines for it and can share that if anyone's interested.

I'm looking forward to a more subdued week here. I've got two art requests I can probably knock out in an afternoon, then I can get back to the comic. I also have some "winter chores" I can do. We obviously don't use the ceiling fans much, so this is when I typically clean them. Fox likes to go out on Black Friday to watch people act crazy over shitty consumer goods, and I may or may not go with him. I can usually be bribed with a coffee and donut stop. Getting out into the shopping frenzy goes very strongly against my hermit nature, but if I'm running out of cat litter, I'll do what I have to. Besides, there aren't normally fights breaking out in the pet supply aisle, LOL.

And - I know chai spices are typically added to tea. "Chai" itself is a word meaning "tea," but I am considering adding chai spice to coffee. Make a good, strong black coffee from a milder roast, like a blonde, then add almond milk and chai spices. Although the more I talk about it the more that seems like it would make an amazing ice cream. I wonder if I should get an ice cream attachment for my stand mixer. I WONDER IF THERE'S A BLACK FRIDAY DEAL!