Who Watches Over You?
Today, I had one of those days when I was inexplicably cranky. I don’t know if was the shock of being back to work after a relaxing long weekend, or the fact that we all totally forgot to buy King Cake for Fat Tuesday, or just general, non-specific orneriness, but I spent the whole day in a bad mood. It finally occurred to me after I wasted far too much time on grumpiness that what I needed to do was listen to the song that always cheers me up – “Birdhouse in Your Soul” by They Might Be Giants.
Seriously, for more than 20 years, this song has been my happy place – I absolutely cannot stay grumpy while listening to it. This is partially due to the song itself, because it’s infectious and perky and goofy, but also because it reminds me of people from college whom I hold very dear and thinking of them makes me happy, too.
Tonight, however, I discovered an added bonus to listening to this once I decided to post it here on the blog, because I had forgotten what a totally weird-ass video it had. Ah, the 1990s.
If I Were Redecorating…
I’ve been wracking my brain to come up with something to write about today and came up dry, so I finally turned to @plinkyprompts, which WordPress’ Daily Post site recommends for idea generation. Today’s prompt, “If you were going to redecorate your home, what would you change?” seems like something I can work with, so here goes…
(I am, by the way, assuming that this comes with the old “If money wasn’t an object…” caveat. It would be boring otherwise.)
First thing I’d do if I were redecorating is get new furniture. Most everything I have is either hand-me-downs or Ikea crap, and there’s little of it that I like or would miss. I’d keep a few pieces – the antiques, basically – but have them refinished nicely. Then, I’d build around them to make rooms that actually look like they go together. Oh, and I’d get a couch long enough for me to nap on and some kind of magical insomnia-curing bed.
After the furniture was all coordinated, I would finally decide what to do with my walls. Despite living in this place for nearly six years, I’ve hardly hung anything up. I might buy something cool, like the refurbished tin ceiling wall hangings they sell at Eastern Market, for the living room, but I’d also like to do something better with my travel photography. (I have one small area with pictures, but I haven’t updated them since I went to Thailand/Cambodia in 2006.)
Finally, I’d paint the entire kitchen – cabinets and all. It’s a super-small room, and the dark brown cabinets make it look even smaller. Because I rent, I can’t do anything with the configuration of the room, and I can’t do things like change the counters or flooring, so paint would be the only way to improve the room.
To be honest, with my place being as small as it is, “money is no object” probably isn’t even required. I could probably do all of this for $5000 or so… But alas, I don’t have that kind of cash laying around. I need to get a sponsor – “Sarah’s apartment brought to you by [Company X]” has a nice ring to it, yes?
