Everybody Loves Saturday Night

here's a question you don't hear every day

How weird would it be to have a piano in the bedroom?

It would certainly shift the craft nook into a more "artistic retreat" aesthetic.

*TV fantasy swirls*

Picture it: lounging on a divan, sipping a summery white wine, knitting lace, crisp linen curtains stirring ever so slightly in the warm summer afternoon breeze, a tuxedoed man providing the Debussy (my fantasy. In your fantasy, you may choose to have a tuxedoed woman, or a naked man, or a naked woman, or I don't know, Nora. Totally up to you.)

(Wait a minute. It's my fantasy. Clive Owen is providing the Debussy.)

And after hours, there's a piano bar in my bedroom and everyone's invited.

*back to reality swirls*

Long-time readers may remember that I entered Brooklyn with a piano. It's really a spinet, like the one here. I lived for about four years in a large/cheap/scary apartment that accommodated the piano, but when I moved to Fort Greene (I realize I have lost many readers by now, because they're still up there with the image of Clive Owen playing the piano. Thank you, those of you who followed me down here) it was to a cohabitational situation wherein the piano would not fit. Michael's mom graciously and generously accepted the piano into her apartment, but obviously that's no longer appropriate.

I am left with these options:

1. Move the piano here. This is my first choice, provided it will fit up the stairs.

2. Find someone else willing to house a piano for the next few years. As I know so few people in the city who are truly settled, whom I also trust, and who have the room, this is becoming less of an option. Unfortunately no one in my immediate family has the room for it.

3. Put the piano in storage. It's an option, but at $60-100/month, a costly one.

4. Sell the piano. The piano was left to me by my grandfather, and though I haven't played in quite a while it means more to me than I could ever express. I am on board with living a less cluttered life, I understand the logic involved in disposing of things that one has been holding on to solely for sentimental value, but the piano is off the table unless the situation becomes absolutely desperate. Even then, I think I'd rather suck it up and dip into the money that I should be saving in order to pay for storage.

I should know whether the piano will fit through the stairwell within the next few days. Keep your fingers crossed, for that and for an inexpensive move (two flights of stairs? Ouch), and hopefully soon I'll be asking for your drink orders and song requests.

follow ups are hard

Feels disingenuous to write some sort of "hey, I finished a sock!" post today. (Even though I did.)

Feels a little like I should write more in navel-gazing vein, just for continuity.

At the same time, the loudest thing in my head right now is "I can keep the bathroom door open now."

Well, second loudest. The loudest keeps distracting me with furniture and other decor that will go towards converting the empty bedroom space into (friends, say it with me) a craft nook. I am going to need a table for my sewing machine. I'm thinking minimalist, preferably wood but metal OK, and cheap. Cheapy cheap. Like, free or close too. I wonder if I should just get a folding table or something, wait to invest in a "real" table until I'm more situated. I could wrap fabric around the edge of the table, secure with elastic, disguise its folding-ness. Thoughts?

Also need a comfy chair. I have to admit, I have been fantasizing about putting a comfy chair by the window in the bedroom ever since I moved in. Sharing the apartment was an acceptable compromise, sure, but now I can have my comfy chair. I've already found a couple storage ottomans, on clearance ($19!) that will serve as a window bench and extra yarn storage (so I can free up closet space, woo). The comfy chair may need to wait until after I get new dining room chairs, which I have needed to do...forever. (The link goes to chairs that are very like the ones that need replacing. Question is do I do the stain myself to save a couple bucks? Do I forgo the matchy match inclination and paint the chairs green?)

And I'm just enamored of this wall decal--definitely within my budget as well. I'm thinking in either turquoise or apple green. But I also may paint. Or I may do both. This will require more thinking. Fortunately I have time before my blood money tax rebate comes in. (Much as I loathe the fact that I'm getting one, I can't help but admit that it's going to come in rather handy.)

It's a little bit of retail therapy (which I have already indulged in, as much as I could, by buying more lace-knitting needles) and a little bit of symbolic redecorating (I also have new bed linens on the way). Truth be told, the apartment was already 80-95% mine: my furniture, my work, my legwork in finding it in the first place. Which is not to say that it need have remained so (I remember having a heated discussion over a certain person's lack of involvement in making the apartment "ours"). But it does make the transition a bit easier--there is less space to be filled.

every day should be earth day

alternate title: there must be 50 ways to save the planet

Scout thanks all of you for the birthday wishes, by the way. He feels very loved. Well, it's probably more accurate to say that he feels very entitled to your love, but I think underneath that he is genuinely moved and happy to have it.

So anyway, yesterday was Earth Day. And while it's a good thing to have a day where everyone's consciousness is theoretically raised and the odds of persuading just one person to do just one thing to help save, preserve, or reverse what we have here are higher on this day, really, it's like Christmas being the one day a year everyone is supposed to be nice. Shouldn't it be that way every day?

So with that, today, the day after Earth Day, the day a lot of people are going to go back to doing whatever it is that they've been doing, I'm going to share with you a site I found via...I think Apartment Therapy.

I scored myself on this list and came out better than I expected. Highlights:

1. Change regular light bulbs to CF bulbs. Already in progress, but I'm with Maryse on this one--I'm also using the "bad" bulbs I already bought. Unless someone can come up with an idea for how to repurpose them? But at any rate, the two rooms in which lights are on the most, the kitchen and the living room, have the CF bulbs, with more on the way. The kitchen light was already CF when I moved in, two years ago. Hasn't needed replacing yet.

2. Turn off computers at night. I admit, I am really bad at remembering to do this. I've gotten better, and gotten to the point where I sometimes remember to unplug the laptop as well. What I also need to remember on a more regular basis is to unplug the TV and DVD player when they're not in use. My new DVD player has a "standby" light...is that really necessary?

 8. Go veggie at least once a week. This fact surprised me: 2500 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of beef? Yikes! I don't buy a lot of red meat, but in general the chicken/beef/lamb consumption could go down a bit.

10. Use one less paper napkin. You know, I would really like to have this one posted at the take-out places I go to, because those guys always grab like 10 napkins to shove in the bag I've already said I didn't need.

12. Recycle newspaper. Better yet, get yer news online.

14. Rethink bottled water. Yes, I really should. I buy a lot of bottled water--like, 3-4 times a week. It has gotten to the point where I feel a little guilty when I do, because although I recycle the bottles, it's still an unnecessary convenience, when I have a Brita pitcher at home. I don't think it's going to be hard to not buy bottled water on such a regular basis, plus I'll save between $3-8 a week.

 18. Take shorter showers. Done. When I was younger, I could spend 20 minutes in the shower, easy. Now it's zip zip zip and dry off. It helps that my hair is significantly shorter than it used to be and I don't wash it every day. (Saving a bundle on shampoo and conditioner in the process!)

22. Buy local. I've really been on board with this for the last few months. I love that I live so close to a year-round farmer's market.

23. Adjust thermostat. I have little control over this during the winter months, but I am looking forward to having control over the A/C this summer. I pledge to not have it set any lower than 75 degrees F and not have it run 24/7.

 26. Turn off lights. Oh, is this a big one for me. I grew up with grandparents who lived through the Depression, you know, and they'd learned to live this one for saving money purposes more than saving environment purposes. "Turn off the light if you're not using it" was a frequent refrain in my house, and I have lived by that ever since. There are times I will leave one light on if I'm going out and coming back very late at night, but I should really look into getting a light timer. For that and for the bedside lamp that stays on after I've fallen asleep while reading.

29. Recycle old cell phones. I just did that, two weeks ago! After two years I traded in my Samsung blecchy phone for an awesomely cool Blackberry, and it came with a "All Postage Paid" envelope for my old phone. Thanks for making that easy, T-Mobile!

(Also, the Blackberry reduces the amount of time I spend on my computer, since I can access the internet through my phone. Double score!)

31. Recycle unwanted wire hangers. Most dry cleaners will take them back? Really? That's so simple, yet I never would've guessed. It's amazing how much junk we simply accept into our lives, isn't it?

35. Cut down on junk mail. Aha. Yes. Bane of my existence, and yet I haven't done anything about it--until now. Did you know there's a number you can call that's connected to all the credit report agencies, and by calling this number you can--in theory--reduce the amount of mail you get from credit card companies? 1-888-5-OPT-OUT. Also check out Eco-Cycle's list of tips for reducing junk mail.

38. Give it away. Freecycle!

40. Plastic bags suck. Oh boy, do they. Right now I have a sizable collection, which at some point this summer will be converted into a welcome mat, using this tutorial for converting the bags into "plarn." I have my purple crocheted bag and a couple other reusable bags for shopping--I just need to be better at remembering to always have one handy.

50. Share! Go on, help make every day Earth Day! 

whoops

Did I say tomorrow? I meant "by the end of the week." It's been a flurry of organization and work here, and I've noticed that when I am getting physical things organized (like clothes, yarn, shoes, books) my capacity for mental organization, viz-a-viz getting thoughts down on paper in some sensible way . . . is somehow lessened. So focused am I on getting shit done that my thoughts tend to come out as "shelf together now" and "where put drawers."

Before I left for Minnesota I bought a bunch of organizing aids. A few shelving units, a cheap yet nice wire frame 5-drawer thingy that was the easiest thing I have ever put together, and a set of cloth boxes that will fit into the shelf units and preserve that which is inside from the dust of Brooklyn.

This is the dustiest city I have ever known. Seriously.

Half of my broken dining room chairs are now gone. I've been putting one out with each trash pick up. I'm thinking of starting with just two new chairs, because the ones I want are going to be a little pricey for me right now, if I get them stained to match the table and hutch. And really...what would be the point of an unmatched set? Gothic Cabinet Craft has chairs that closely resemble the ones I have to discard:

I'll have to bring in a broken part of chair to have them match the stain. Ideally I would have the chairs ready by the beginning of the new year, if I can find the time to order them.

In other news, I went to see I'm Not There with Jackie the other night. I agree with a lot of what Carolyn says about it here. Thought Cate Blanchett was absolutely brilliant. Liked Christian Bale a lot as well, and give him major props for appearing not only as the dazzling young Dylan but also the pudgy afroed born-again Dylan. I didn't even mind the Richard Gere segments--it reminded me a little bit of those Fellini films I never saw. Also liked the young boy segments. I thought the scene in the hospital with Woody Guthrie was a bit heavy-handed, but I really liked the scene with the one family at the beginning, where the boy is going on and on about experiencing stuff that happened like 20 years ago, and the mom of the family looks at him and says, "Live in your own time." To me, that matched up well with the Richard Gere part, where he's also bizarrely not living in his own time. But then, no one is. I don't know...it worked for me. It's movies like this that make me love movies.