Saturday, March 08, 2008

In Search of a Nice Place to Sit


It's been Round Robin time for nearly six hours, Mountain Standard time, and I'm just now getting this posted. See, I've been up all night updating the database of all the wonderful Robins who have participated over the past several years, and I'm barely into 2007! I'm pretty sure we're going to crack the 100 participant mark by the time I get my spreadsheet filled in. Wow!

Meanwhile, let's get this entry posted. The topic, "A Nice Place to Sit," was suggested by Tammie Jean, of the blog Long Drives To Nowhere. You may be surprised to learn it's a bit of a challenge for me. There really isn't a really nice place to sit in this entire house! No , really! The chair in my office is just okay (I'm sore right now from my all-nighter in it), and the kitchen chairs are slightly uncomfortable, and sit at a table that's always full of papers. I don't think we currently own a recliner or lounge chair. We have a pair of vintage divans or chaises longue or something, but they're covered with vinyl and the vinyl is split at the edge. I like them a lot anyway, but they're in storage so I can't sit on them. Our new couch would be comfortable except that the undersized throw covers fall off the moment we sit down, so it's a constant struggle to keep the upholstery protected.

Still, I'm sure I can come up with something! First off: almost the opposite of a nice place to sit, to make us all grateful for what we have:


I pass this intersection nearly every day coming home from work. Normally there's at least one homeless person begging or selling newspapers there, usually standing or walking up and down the berm despite the folding metal chair. A few days ago I noticed the signs and the flowers. The sign at the lower right is a close-up of one of the signs on the pole.



This is the newest chair in the Museum of the Weird. John bought it at Pier One a couple of days ago. He says it's comfortable to sit in, but I haven't tried it yet. Still, I like the vintage tropical rattan style, which goes really well with our vintage curtains, worn out burnt orange carpeting and potted green plants.



Thursday night I drove to Peking Palace for a to-go order. When I arrived, the host of a local jazz radio show was playing the original cast version of the title song from Hair, of all things. Not having heard the stage version in many years, I sat in the car (a 1994 Eagle Vision) until it was over, and gladly so. The driver's seat of my car is probably the most comfortable place I have to sit during the average week. Back when I was in college the first time, thirty years ago, I was suffering from a chronic backache due to stress from my parents' divorce, a feud with my mom and the lack of a decent place to sit in my dorm room. The only place my back felt better during that period was behind the wheel of my 1967 Dodge Coronet wagon.

Just inside Peking Palace there are a couple red bench seats, where people can wait for their to-go orders. I had a great time chatting with a man who was there with his daughter or granddaughter, dissecting the terms "blog" and "Wi-Fi." I'd have loved to have photographed him on his bench in his paint-stained jeans, with his little girl squeezed (by her own choice) between him and the wall. They were extremely photogenic together. But it would have sounded strange to ask to photograph them, so I didn't.

Now let's see where everyone else likes to sit!

Karen

Linking List

Tammie Jean
Long Drives To Nowhere
http://tammiejean.blogspot.com

Karen - POSTED!
Outpost Mâvarin
http://outmavarin.blogspot.com

Carly - POSTED!
Ellipsis
http://ellipsissuddenlycarly.blogspot.com

Kiva - POSTED!
Eclectic Granny
http://eclecticgranny.blogspot.com

Gattina - POSTED!
Keyhole Pictures
http://gattina-keyholepictures.blogspot.com

Jill - POSTED!
Letting Crazy Take a Spin
http://lettingcrazytakeaspin.blogspot.com/

Sandra - POSTED!
Strong Chemistry
http://strongchemistry.blogspot.com

Jan, AKA Wammy - POSTED!
The Ellis Family Cincinnati
http://theellisfamilycincinnati.blogspot.com

Lisa Marie - POSTED!
Lisa's Chaos
http://lisaschaos.blog-city.com

Nancy - POSTED!
Nancy Luvs Pix
http://journals.aol.com/nhd106/Nancyluvspix/

Vicki - POSTED!
Maraca
http://mymaracas.blogspot.com/

Sarah
Charish-me
http://charish-me.blogspot.com

Martha - POSTED!
Perception
http://journals.aol.com/lifes2odd/perception/

Suzanne R - POSTED!
Living . . . Suzanne R's Life
http://newsuzannerslife.blogspot.com

Sandy
Myanderings
http://myanderings-myanderings.blogspot.com

Momma - POSTED!
Sandcastle Momma
http://sandcastlemomma.blogspot.com

Jan - POSTED!
The Prytz Family
http://theprytzfamily.blogspot.com/

Chrissie - POSTED!
Chrisseas-Corner
http://chrisseas-corner.tripod.com

Old Dog - POSTED!
Wise Old Dog
http://wiseoledog.blogspot.com/

Teena - POSTED!
It's all about me!
http://purple4mee.blogspot.com

Celeste - POSTED!
Ragracers
http://ragracers.blogspot.com

Becky - POSTED!
Where Life Takes You...
http://ryanagi.blogspot.com

Vicki - POSTED! Welcome New Member!
Visions By Vicki
http://journals.aol.com/cmishvicki/visionsbyvicki/

Jama Hameed - POSTED!
Sweet Memories
http://mummyjam.blogspot.com

Janet - POSTED! 3/10/08
Fond of Snape
http://fondofsnape.com

(tons of typos exterminated Sat 3:30 PM)

16 comments:

Sandcastle Momma said...

That first picture really does make me appreciate having a home and a comfortable chair to sit in. I love the car seat picture. For years I had the most uncomfortable van in the world and sitting in it always gave me a backache. Now I have the most comfortable van I've ever owned and could sit in it for hours (and do sometimes to escape the kids LOL) It's funny how important a nice place to sit is but yet it's not something we pay much attention to. This challenge gave me a chance to really look at where I sit and to appreciate every minute of it. Thanks!

Jan said...

I'm with you, got to have a comfortable seat in the car. I love to drive, it would be miserable with an uncomfortable car seat.

Suzanne R said...

What exactly is Wi-Fi? I haven't been able to figure that out yet. As for all-nighters, I didn't exactly do that last night but I did get up at 4:30 to post my entry. I figured that way my Pacific Standard Time post would be there for the Eastern Time folks to read when they got going in the morning. ;-) I like your chair and seat photos. Interesting post!

Celeste said...

The rattan chair looks looks nice, but I like the seating that one can SINK into. NOt good for those bad backs, though.

Sandra said...

I just saw that chair in the Pier 1 catalog today! I love the vintage curtains, they look in good shape too. Homeless chair sober reminder of reality. Thanks for chairing...

Teena in Toronto said...

That chair is so cute!

Mine's up too!

Wise Old Dog said...

I like that chair and that booth doesn't look like a bad place to wait if the food is good.

Gattina said...

I doubt very much that these are nice places to sit, lol !! at least for my bottom !

Becky said...

I LOVE that chair from Pier 1! Hmm. Maybe I'll get one like that instead of the vintage looking wood office chair I got for downstairs. It's not very cumfy.

Carly said...

Hi Karen :)

That is a cute little chair your hubby found. :) That one picture is so sad... I wish we could do something about the homeless situation. :(

Always, Carly

Nancy said...

Karen,
You always do such wonderfully thought out and thorough entries!

Nancy

Anonymous said...

I like the new chair, matches great with everything too. I'm sorry about Daniel (AKA Bob), that's sad :-(

MyMaracas said...

Love the rattan chair, and it does go well with the curtains. The photo of that folding chair on the street corner is wonderful; so poignant and real. Your entries are always a great read.

Thanks for all the work you do keeping the Robins up and running! Things have been a little difficult for me lately, and these projects are a very welcome bit of fun.

Unknown said...

I like your new chair! I too had trouble figuring our a good spot to sit. I generally sit on my bed or on the step watching birds. :)

I too have trouble asking people if I can take their photo, we need to get more brave. I know if someone asked me I'd probably say ok, what's the worst they could do really? Say no and think we're weird. Well, I am weird so let 'em think it, right. :)

Kiva said...

Your car seat looks much more comfy than mine, although I do like to nap when I'm in the passenger seat because the back goes all the way down. Thank you for bringing us back to reality with Daniel (AKA Bob)'s memorial chair.

Janet said...

I LOVE that rattan chair!!! Might have to go check that out...