Moving Days

That is my living room. Yes that is a queen sized bed.

Sometimes I want to lie down, and not on the couch, when I happen to be in the living room. And don't feel like going to the bedroom.

Just kidding - this is Frinnefreid's "stuff". I could use other terms to describe this array of collected objects, but we'll just use stuff. F has stuff from 82, and I don't mean a high school yearbook, I mean Rollerblades.

One of the first things that F brought over was a large rotisserie oven, suitable for roasting several birds at once. He said that we didn't have to keep it if I didn't care for it. I asked if he was joking. I had already planned, like, a dozen things that I was going to roast and eat the moment I saw it. I noticed that he seemed less than enthusiastic. "What's wrong, dear", I asked. F went on to explain that it's just that he's not into "stuff", that he's a simple man and he doesn't need "things". The truth was that this was a gift from his parents, along with some very nice, solid-wood TV trays, and an array of glasses and dishware.

He explained with some regret that, although he was a simple man, needing and wanting few material goods, he had occasionally been forced to acquire these useless objects. Cups, plates, a kitchen appliance. Clearly his parents just don't understand.

"Why are you smiling?" F asks.

At that moment I had been imagining F's parents watching him suck water directly out of his sink faucet for want of a cup, in between taking bites from the pile of Mushu Chicken he is holding (no plate).

While wearing Rollerblades from 1982.

I can also hear him giving his parents the "I'm a simple man" speech that I have heard on many occasions.

Other things I now cohabit with:

7345 twisty ties

4 empty blue empty glass water bottles - no lids

Circa 1972 desk lamp with desk-specific, attached hardware. Unfortunately, no desk.

Medium-sized collection of Mardi Gras beads

Large bike tire pump - sadly, no bike

5x8x2 ft black, wire shelf-stand that definitely does not match the decor of my place

etc.

What's also notable is that almost everything still has the original box/packaging/shipping container that it came in. Which, in essence, makes twice as much STUFF.

He has also dragged back the television I gave him about a year ago. Complete with remote control, which he keeps ON a folder paper towel. At all times. No, I don't ask.

I gave him the TV when I lived a few hours away and would stay at his pace for a few days while he went to work during the day. I like the news. And, F had extended cable, courtesy of his landlord, which he only used for Internet.

When I brought the thing in, F gave me a disappointed look. It's one thing, apparently, to bring functional, useful things into his living space, like 10,000 rubber bands or a kite string, but a television set? It was clearly an insult. I explained to F that I would leave the TV in the corner behind the chair and only use it when he wasn't home.

F eventually warmed up to the idea. When his city was burning down and during the recent presidential primary, he has used it to watch the news. He takes it out, plugs it in, attaches the cable and watches his program. Then he unplugs it, unhooks the cable, returns the remote to its paper towel home and puts it back behind the chair. Where it belongs.

What was the point of all this? Oh yes. Now that my office and living room have reached maximum capacity, I can feel him encroaching on my bedroom. My pink, girly, feminine space. Where it's nice and pretty and totally lacks random old, boy-objects in green and grey and mustard-yellow. None of his stuff matches; he doesn't really have a decor. Which I understand, because I have a decor and that happened because I *planned* to get more stuff that looked like the stuff I already had.

Not F. See, if you're not planning on getting anything, you can't control the color/design of the things that show up. But, of course, this is why I love F. He's quirky, but he doesn't compromise his ideals. Even if it means having a house of random, assorted odds and ends spanning the last 3 decades.