Tour: The Niche

Welcome to The Niche. The new writing room. To make myself come up here and work I decided to gather around me all the things that inspire me. 

The desk is an antique. It belonged to my great-great-grandmother and matches a dresser in our bedroom. It's quite beat up and does not have the width for a normal office chair but I love it. Buddy Holly keeps threatening to replace it with a proper computer desk and I won't let him. I will chain myself to this desk if I have to.

The oriental rug I got from Church. 

My Japanese calligraphy set and dishes.
There's a second dish off to the left.  

My Chinese tea cup.
This was bought from the tea house at the Summer Palace in Beijing.

I have no idea how to justify these trinkets. They were given to me and I love them.
The dog is carved from wood, my grandmother made it for my dollhouse,
styled after our family's golden retriever.

My Anastasia music box.

My parents gave us this frame.

I've never changed the original paper advertisement out of it.

My Japanese prints. A friend from Kobe gave them to me.

Fountains Abbey, Ripon, England - my favorite spot in the world.

My motto.

I set up two cork-boards to pin ideas too. But they were pretty bland, so I made them pretty.

The postcard is from the Opera Populaire,
better known as the opera belonging to one Phantom.

 Snur collected X-Men cards when we were kids. I don't know where they are now but, before they disappeared, I pilfered two cards. One is Domino and, of course, my idol, Shadowcat. 

All that's missing is a couch. And then the writing...of course.

My Tea Party

I am what my father refers to (in less than affectionate tones) as a "bleeding-heart liberal". I was the only one of the four children to attend a liberal arts college (Snur attended a private college but not liberal arts), I am the only one who votes predominantly Democrat (as far as I'm aware), and I avoid most social justice and political discussions with my family because I know it's not going to end well. I love my family, never doubt that, but I know I'm different and I'm happy about it. That being said here are some Tea Partiers and why they aren't invited to my tea party:
Lamar Smith: Imposing US law globally
Rick Scott: If it's not math and hard science, it's not worthy of funding
Feel free to debate, discuss, I'd prefer not arguing since that tends to get emotional. By all means, if you can provide me a solid reason why Science is more important than the Arts, that isn't financially based, be my guest.

People I am considering inviting to my tea party:
Britain
I'm not sure how to feel about this one. On the one hand, yes, go you for making a stand in social rights. On the other hand, people both homosexual and heterosexual will continue to struggle and the aid given by Britain may directly and positively impact their lives. If the support isn't there, well, that's no bueno. I suppose you have to do something though. Otherwise you are just funding a government that marginalizes and oppresses its people. Thoughts, comments, considerations?

A hot cuppa

When it comes to cooking, Betty Crocker is my go-to gal. Just this evening she gave me a fantastic recipe for sage potatoes. Many Christmases ago my brother, Snur, and wife gave me the vintage Betty Crocker cookbook, circa 1950. This is the coup of cookbooks, the climax of culinary compendiums! This is the Betty Crocker that provides not only recipes and a guide to setting your table but tips on how to maintain personal outlook  ("While children are napping, do something refreshing. Write, knit, or listen to pleasant music"), how to maintain health and posture during chores ("Alternate sitting down tasks and stranding up tasks. Don't be on your feet too long at one time"), and how to refresh your spirit ("Notice humorous and interesting incidents to relate at dinnertime") (pg. 431). It is only missing a page on how to mix hubby a cocktail before he gets home ("Remember Ladies, no man wants a slothful wife!") (the cookbook doesn't actually say that) (I kind of wish it did). This is my absolute favorite cookbook and I use it any chance I get, simply because it's vintage. I love anything old-fashioned. Buddy Holly would say that I'm actually just a hater, particularly of anything newer than 1965, which is factually incorrect because I love Back to the Future and have a deep affinity for Grooveshark, thank you very much.