The World of Tasks

  I love when you go to a hotel and there is ONLY the barest framework of furniture plus the stuff you brought to work on. (I looked up the exact hotel I am thinking of and one of the listed amenities is an electrical outlet. That is a level of simplicity I am not going to achieve in this lifetime.) First I'm setting out my receipts for the day with my notebook on the empty writing desk. Now I'm hanging my swimsuit on one of eight empty hangers permanently attached to the closet rod. Those are not things I ever do at home. I love reconciling my receipts. I use a crayon to highlight them so the thermo ink doesn't disappear. I pore over them. I have such a feeling of order and control. But, I might love this less than almost anything else I choose to do. So once they get wrinkled up in my purse I just let them go. As for the swimsuit- Instead of balling them up into a bag, I spread them out on the rear windshield in the car. Now they're dry and ready for next time, plus they are in the car already. 

For years and years I have tried to achieve this empty, open ended space at home through minimalism and I just don't think it is going to happen. There will never be a time when no laundry needs to be washed and the roomba has just been run but also just detail cleaned and the houseplants are all optimally placed, pruned, and watered and the donations bag has been dropped off and there are no more donations. I must not even really want that or I'd have achieved it with the work I've put in. 

I've found that going into VR has a similar feeling in my brain. Where's all the stuff I have to do? Where's the smudges on the outside of my en suite bathroom door from where I grab it to stop it swinging on my way to wash my hands? Where's the cell phone case I am glueing together one and a half inches at a time because I only have two binder clips? Well, they're not in the focus cave. They're not in the ski chalet with no door where I just sit and type. It doesn't sit perfectly with me that the alternative path to minimalism peace is a computer I strap to my head that is covered in cameras, plugs in as well as taking batteries, and won't work without wifi. 

                                                         

This is the same reason I like the gym- where are the jade plants I cut off the main jade plant so it could stand up straight? The ones that need little pots, soil, and a sunny place to live? And also the pots have to be heavy so they won't tip over? Well, they're not in the gym. 

I have found a new alternative to mentally get away from my visual to do list without doing away with it, while staying in this place and this reality. But, it only works at night. First thing in the morning, I don't put on any white lights or turn on my screens. I do anything I need to do, starting with working out, by the light of the salt lamp. It lets me keep from bumping into stuff but doesn't provide the corner-to-corner illumination of the overhead light or daylight. It doesn't even spotlight the glues I was trying on the phone case I am making one and a half inches at a time like my task lamp. After an hour hanging out in the dark with no external input except music, I am ready to go back to the World of Tasks. 

Urban Ore Ecopark

Urban Ore is largely just neat stuff torn out of homes and businesses. Theater seats, slides, sinks, doors. I thought I’d see what they had in the realm of glass-in-a-frame for a mini salt wall I am building. The last time I went we just stayed outdoors because I had the dog, so it's been forever since I've been inside. They still had great stuff! You even have to move great stuff out of the way to get to other great stuff. It's largely VERY inexpensive although in combing the store I did see three things priced like ebay. 

Urban Ore is part of a warehouse district in Berkeley. We live one town over so we bundled it with a trip to Aquatic Park to save driving. 

The super nice cabinet doors were heavy, and the light-n-cheap cabinet doors were not nice enough for my project. Still, taking a look will make it easier to pay TAP plastics for a custom cut piece of acrylic. 

I've been thinking the salt panel has to be as large as possible- which for me is around 3 feet by 4 feet- for an immersive feeling. Looking at these little doors though it seems like a salt panel that looks like a window would also create sort of a transporting, everyday magic feeling. 

I was very tempted by both of these doors. The one on the left is real wood but is so heavily laminated it doesn't look real. The one on the right is pretty close to workable but I need a lot of depth behind the window to fit my lights in. This one had maybe 8mm. I thought of flipping it. As you can see, the front has enough depth to work with. But the interior trim was just flat so didn't give a nice effect. 

While I was there I had a look around for some of the things on my long term wishlist. I don't need to find them today. I'm looking for the perfect kayak- which would cost around $80, fit in the car or a regular luggage, and be perhaps twice as long as the tucktec. I'm also looking for the perfect bike, which has almost identical specs to the perfect kayak except instead of being 20 feet long, it has tires that never go flat and doesn't look egregiously silly when riding. I didn't find those things but Urban Ore was a perfect place to look. 

I did find this wonderful thing. It's so joyous. We do already have a stationary bike or this might have come home with me. I gave it a try, and, the handlebars also move around so you can work out your arms and core. Sort of like an elliptical but for biking. 

I also took a look at their vintage tech. I am very into vintage tech right now- see how it does ONE THING in ONE PLACE? Although I couldn’t tell what the Philco, here, does. Based on the things around it I suppose it controls theater lights. Another of my long term wish lists is a record player. Or, maybe, a CD player. I'd like to turn it on without screens, without seeing my notifications, and listen to one set of songs straight through. Then when it was over I would know it had been an hour, or however long that record or CD ran. The advantage of a CD player would be that it would be smaller, and I would get the model I grew up with so I know it works well. I found out this week that even my purchased music is not on my phone. It just shows me the song and when I click on it, it streams it to me. I do have the option to download them onto my phone one by one. 

I checked out the typewriters- even though I am not buying another typewriter. What if they had cool stuff, like ink erasing pencils, or another typewriter? Well, they did, but luckily they were the less desirable kind that plugs into the wall, so I wasn't tempted. One said it had "5000 character memory." It has been a long time since that was a selling point for consumer electronics. 

Urban Ore has literal tons of cool stuff for great prices. It also has the advantage over flea markets and garage sales that no one is eagerly watching and talking to you to try and make a sale. However, if you do want to talk the staff is happy to. I put my headphones on so I wouldn't look available. My process of imagining the life I would have that would necessitate a "universal" 7 hole punch from probably the 1940s complete with green felt pad and gray powder coated swing arm, is hindered by someone talking to me. 

My purchases are in the car, getting passively heat treated by the sun so I don't bring anything unexpected home. I can't wait to get them.