The tree with the lights in it.

08 June 2007

A HISTORY OF BEDROOMS and apartments.

1. Vague memory of being really young (3? 4?) and sharing a room with my brother and sister Laura. Got in trouble for prying my brother's eyelids open while he was sleeping.
2. High hopes of building intricate pulley system to pass notes to my sister's upper bunk bed. Playing "human bridge" by walking across Laura's back to my bed when our beds were side by side. Dreaming of separating the room in two with a curtain or makeshift wall, tearing up the carpet on my side and setting up an easel so I could paint paint paint (real into Claude Monet at this point).
3. Moving into the basement den and covering the closet with 40(!) posters/photos of JTT.
4. Getting my own room (YESSSSSSS) and making it all Monet Punx (water lilies comforter, water lilies poster prints, Giverny TV trays, Giverny mugs, Monet books, etc.).
5. A little room in a building called Lebanon on Lake Michigan. I remember falling asleep to rain and waking up to rain on several occasions.
6. A dorm room shared with a roommate who owned one CD: a burnt copy of the Rent soundtrack.
6.5 (LAURA: How did I forget this one?!?) A 10x10' box of a room shared with Laura. Had to call 911 a couple times due to men peeking in/banging on the window in the middle of the night. Sharing an air mattress that we only inflated once at the beginning of the summer. Deep obsession with the housemates we never ever saw. Throwing cereal on the bed!!
7. Getting my own place (YESSSSSSS) and sitting on my bed while resting my feet on the roof just outside the window. Lots of late nights spent eating pasta and drinking cheap beer on this roof. Lots of chocolate chip cookies made at this apartment. Spider plants! Crazy dogs who lived in the mansion across the street! Scary man standing outside my door and not making a sound one night!! Creepy guy leaving candy outside my door all the time!! Smoking a pipe on the porch and talking to the crazy guy who lived downstairs! CRAZY DUDES were a theme at this place!!! Also vegan potluck parties, echocardiogram parties, and scary oil paintings and photo albums found in the cupboards!
8. A brown-walled bedroom with old mirrors and black and white photos on the walls. Plants hanging from the ceiling. A view of the backyard and mopeds.
9. My own place again (YESSSSSSS). A fort over my bed and drawings made by friends. Lots of mornings spent drinking coffee and reading in bed. Breakfast on the front stoop. Best friend living downstairs. Car ports and compost piles. Brightly painted walls! Indoor skateboarding accidents. A bell kit on the floor of the bathroom to encourage song-writing while pooping. BATHTUB!!! Herbs and pepper plants.
10. NOW: a little library of a room. Giant free bed from craigslist. A new fort over the bed. Drawings and letters and photos from friends. No windows. Polaroids of the sky. Two homemade dream catchers. Two cats!! Best friend sleeping upstairs. A map of Michigan pillow made by my mom. Shelves and shelves of books and records.