I accept.
Oh, I seem to have skipped ahead. Allow me to fill in the gaps.
It begins with a lamp.
Actually, no wait. It begins with a brother.
First, I have only one brother. His name is Jeff, and while he is occasionally a brat, jerk, or messy houseguest (very frequently that last), he is generally an awesome guy and I love him very much. Jeff currently goes to college in NoVA at George Mason University, or GMU as the acronym-lovers say. He's working on his undergrad degree there and while he seems pretty content to live up that way, he does make his way back to the old hometown every so often.
It was on a trip here just after the ill-fated Saturday snowstorm of my last blog that he proposed the challenge to me.
After spending a boring Sunday here, he began with "Brian."
"Yes?"
"I want you to turn this apartment into a place," he continued very seriously and paused.
I nodded, indicating he continue.
"That you'd bring a woman."
Another pause. I bet the next part has something to do with sex.
"Who you would have sex with."
Kinda saw where that was going.
"That is my challenge to you."
... what is this? A challenge? To me?!?! Baha. Ahahahaha.
After the bemused internal laughter subsided, I simply explained that yes, improving my living surroundings was indeed part of the plan all along. I had worked myself to insanity doing overtime last year in an attempt to pick up extra funds for a car. With that money now in the bank, I was rationing it until after the purchase. Then, I would begin buying furnishings for my apartment in earnest.
Flashforward to today. I wake bright and early, a smile on my face, the congestion that plagued me for the past week and a half finally beaten back, and my apartment a mess.
It's easy to understand how it got to that point. I was plastered-to-the-bed-ill for three days, snowed in for three days, and spent the remaining half of last week getting my job's workload under some control. I did just enough nightly chores to get through the week, knowing that I usually pick up the slack Sunday.
After the morning repast, I set about straightening and cleaning - not a fun task by any means but I was at least taking care of business. As I did so, a curious dissatisfaction crept into my mood. For some reason, just getting things back to normal wasn't enough.
My favorite author Timothy Zahn once wrote: "Examine all obstacles carefully. With a little ingenuity they can often be turned into levers." When this bit of perspective popped into my head, I realized I had not the beginnings of a problem, but an opportunity. As I cleaned today, I focused not on simply putting things back where they had been in a neater fashion. Instead, I shifted them around into new and better places. My eye went towards a reorganization of the parts, rather than a bit of polish to a gear here and there. I focused on my room, the heart of it all, and did a hefty reorganization of my random clutter. I'm not finished, but things are looking very different just from the things I've shifted.
I even added to the decor just a bit.
What you see in the picture above is my new Captain's Lamp (with which it does indeed begin). It replaces the old and cheap Banker's Lamp for my desk that fell apart on me. My intent is to make it the first of many changes; I have, after all, accepted my brother's challenge.
So for those of you who find yourselves in old surroundings you've tired of, or perhaps new ones, I challenge you to make an opportunity out of it. Don't just maintain the rut. Take the time and make some beneficial changes.
Also, here's a quick shout-out to my friends Danika and Heather who provided me some ornaments I used in the reorganization of my desk. Dani, the "flying monkeys" plaque has a place of prominence right behind the keyboard (as you can see in the pic above). Heather, although you can't see it the lucky hug I got from you sits at the base of my computer monitor so it's right there when I find myself in need. Smooches to both of you for helping make my room a bit more Brian-friendly!
Next week: the Valentine's Day edition.
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