dwelling

i've had the urge to fill out one of those irksome questionnaires (sp?), but no one i read has posted one lately. (just as well.) since most of my focus this week has been on getting the apartment up to solo-summer standards, i'll take a tip from the NYT mag's "domains" column. why i love my ratty old building: years ago, i used to drive by this very building every day on the way home from work, and i told myself i'd one day live in it. (i didn't necessarily believe myself, but luckily not all results in life come of conscious effort.) i liked the blue color, the balconies on the front... mostly it was just a visceral, intuitive pull. the paint was peeling, but there was just something about it that called to me-- and i'm not one to hear voices from structures. when i came back to richmond, i initially roomed with a friend in a horrible brick mini-complex that was boxy, filled with smoke, and generally depressing as hell. when he moved, and i put the word out to friends, voila: a friend of a friend lived in my longed-for blue building and was looking for a roomie. since then, i've grown to both love the building more AND hate it a little bit, but mostly i love it, despite it's quirks and nutty landlady. i can't see myself living anywhere else in richmond, unless i move to a house. comfort vs style: i strive for a 50/50 mix, but if forced to make a choice (which my cheapskate habits often compel), comfort wins 99% of the time. favorite clothing item: this changes often, due to my horrible luck with clothing shrinkage despite my best cold-water efforts. currently, and appropriately given my love of not leaving the house, it is the light blue velour-ish track pants that i am wearing as i type. soft, comfy, and my favorite color. better yet, they cost me only one dollar. pet peeve about apartment living: the fact that everyone's stereo system seems to be as good as mine. cut the bass, please! and my upstairs neighbor has very heavy feet. i dare not complain, though, as i wish to reserve the right to make noise myself. what i collect: old suitcases and other containers & boxes. favorite found object: since most of my favorite stuff is secondhand, it's all sort of "found." most of my favorite objects are things i've gotten on trips: cool ashtrays & a votive holder in the shape of a mayan sweat lodge from mexico, and all the little boxes from everywhere that contain, among other things: bones, dried flowers, rocks, butterfly wings, and ticket stubs from planes, trains, museums, baseball games, etc, all along the road. old object i can't part with: too many to list-- i was raised by pack rats. ("pack of wolves" is sexier, i know, but the truth is too obvious to deny.) a few highlights: the lamp my mom made for me when i was a child out of disney building blocks, in which an alternate "version" of my name (one that i used to abhor and refuse to answer to) is spelled out on one side, i suppose because it was shorter and fit on the diagonal; a moth-eaten sweater that belonged to my best friend in high school; and a toy box that as a child i thought was a gun box, that was made by my (great?)grandfather for my dad. favorite recent gifts: ahem. here's where i get to point out (as i have done nowhere else, not even to the obvious galpal who would appreciate this fact, and then proceed to beat my bf about the head and other more sensitive regions) that for my birthday this year, the only gift i got that i did not purchase for myself was a pack of playing cards that arrived in the mail from marlboro. bf gave me two gift options to choose from, both of which were thoughtful and desirable, but then failed to follow through on either. now, i don't really expect gifts or mail much anymore, because i don't really give either anymore, slack friend that i am. (though i gave him half a dozen gifts for his bday, two months before mine, but hey, i'm not bitter!) so, to answer this, i'll say, the plane ticket to LA that roomie gave me, though technically it wasn't a gift, as it was given in exchange for ferrying her cat. however, it gave me the opportunity to give myself a trip to vegas, and for that i am very grateful. photographs: i LOVE digital cameras, but i hate the lack of "automatic" physical prints. yes, i can put them on a disk and take them to the store and have them printed out, or i could buy a photo printer, but alas, i don't actually own a digital camera, so that seems a silly expenditure. bf got one for christmas, and i've asked him to print out a nice pic of us for my apartment... and he's yet to oblige. i'm sure it's some sort of psychological barrier that keeps him from doing me that favor-- if i put a pic of us in a prominent place, it will feel too official for him, etc... though after christmas, he gave me a floating frame with several pics of us, mostly separately. i love the idea of having photos of friends and family all over the apartment, and i have started framing some, but they're all dated, pre-all my friends going digital. my favorite, which i've had in a cheap little frame for years and which visitors frequently comment on, is of the favorite ex-bf and i at the grand canyon. perhaps tomorrow will be the day that i collect up all the good pics from my hard drive and take them somewhere to be transformed into decor.