I was sitting here this morning staring at the chair next to my desk trying to come up with a good blog topic. I’d set up the prompt post over at MOTE this morning, and I was beginning to wonder if I need prompts for non-fiction writing, as well. You see jokes on social media about ‘thank you for coming to my TED talk,’ which are usually short, topical speeches. Or ‘if you had thirty minutes with no preparation to talk about something, what would that be?’ and my thought on that last is always… so many things. So many, many things!
But then I sit down in front of the computer to write a blog essay and I find myself staring into thin air… ok, at the chair this morning. My brain has been wiped blank. Some of this is that I’m normally doing this in the very early morning. Doing it at night doesn’t help, though. I’m not awake yet in the now, and I’ll be tired and drain in the then. Besides which, I’m disctractible (shush autorcorrect, it’s a word now). I need to go pack my lunch – leftover cauliflower crust pizza my son made for me last night. Storebought cauliflower crust with lots of herbs in it, was very tasty if somewhat crumbly. And I should empty the dishwasher. Because when teen boys cook, they somehow manage to use almost every dish in the kitchen. And I should clear off this chair next to my desk. It’s not my chair. It belongs to the First Reader.
Fighting clutter is a constant. Cluttered house, cluttered brain. I can’t do anything about the latter, usually. The former at least I have a modicum of control over. And then, when unexpected guests turn up, I can sit down and have a lovely chat without stressing over the condition of the house. Which is why I didn’t get much done last night. The guests were my daughters, come over to pick up a couple of things and also ask me questions about making pickles. Moments of great satisfaction in small domestic ways.
But the chair still needs to be cleaned off. I’ve got a stack of books (D&D Monster Manual, Tanager’s Fledglings, and, er, several new sketchbooks I just got) there, a tape measure, headphones, a bag of yarn… yeah, it’s all mine. Better than my desk, really. Which is a neverending battle. There’s a reason I currently have three desks! Well, will when we move the monitor wall mount into the office/guest room. Which! Anyone know how best to attach one of those to drywall? I can’t promise myself I’ll find a stud in that wall.
And now, to go throw food in a bag and call it lunch.
Maybe later I’ll come up with an essay idea.
Comments
5 responses to “Stuff and Nonsense”
Clutter – ah, the eternal enemy to clear thinking and clean house. You are not alone in this fight! And every now and then the small victories – when my darling man notices that the fridge is “looking empty”, as in there’s so little on the back shelves that it’s actually bright enough to see the items on the lower shelves.
(I’m trying to cook and eat it empty enough, and not refill with groceries, that carpal tunnel or no, I can finally get the drawers pulled out and it all washed as a couple-hour project instead of an all-day project.)
…just don’t ask about the laundry pile.
This will sound like I’m joking, but have you considered making a fake wall to attach the monitor to?
Decently heavy plywood, or an H-frame (maybe double-crossbar, depending on mount size) with L-braces at the bottom. Bonus, you can move the thing, and even mount speakers.
I have. Not necessarily a wall, but a support board between studs. Although the wall would work too! I’ll have to take a look at the desk for best attachments.
“Belongings expand to overfill any newly created storage area.”
I used to state that as a theory, but I realized it’s a fact.
“Disctractible.” I wonder if it’s less being open to distractions, and more of not really wanting to be doing what ever it is that you are supposed to be doing.
I have to think about that.
It is a fact. I’m working on not being such a clutterbug. And I really enjoy when the house is clean and peacefully uncluttered.
Oooh! Shiny! is the internet meme of that word.