In which a screen makes an appearance

[katiefoolery]

One of the main sources of delight in moving to this three bedroomed house was that I was finally going to have a writing study.  I’d be able to vanish to the other end of the house and sequester myself in a little room all of my own, complete with a rather boring view of the clothesline.  There I’d sit, surrounded by books and writing my little heart out.

In theory.

In reality, it didn’t quite work that way.  It started off promisingly but when Bindi moved in, a good deal of the boxes that were in the other spare room were shifted into mine.  And that seemed to start a trend.  The minute something was surplus to requirements, it ended up in my study.  Boxes of books, defunct air-conditioners, the cat...  And in Winter, the clothes horse over the heating vent is in constant use, making my study more of a laundry than anything else.

It’s not a big room and it ends up feeling a little cluttered and overwhelming and not at all conducive to sitting down and doing some writing.  Here’s a visual aid:

You can see a lovely display of laundry, a pointless air-conditioner (at least until Summer rolls around again), the boxes of books (which I’ve covered in a red tablecloth in a vain attempt to disguise them) and a bonus shot of the rear end of Pickle.  My ‘study’ is always kept shut, so she takes advantage of every opportunity to sneak in and sniff things.

Oh, and there’s my desk.  If I sit down at said desk, this is what I’ll see:

Inspiring, isn’t it?  I know they say that a nice view is more of a distraction than anything else, but surely a messy one is just as bad.

Nevertheless, I love escaping to my study.  My laptop isn’t connected to the internet, so I’m free from that temptation.  And it really is at the other end of the house, meaning I’m not distracted by the TV that always seems to be on.  I was sitting at this very desk the other day, pondering my dilemma, when I suddenly realised that there was a ridiculously simple solution to everything.  If I couldn’t get rid of the boxes and the laundry, then why didn’t I just block them out with a screen?

Thus, last Saturday, I set off on my quest to find a screen.  It proved harder than I’d thought, but I eventually managed to track one down.  It arrived today and I must say that it’s doing an admirable job so far.  Let’s have a look at the evidence...

Now, if we peek into my study, we’ll see that it’s been neatly divided in two.  One on side is the laundry slash junk room.  On the other is my study.  (Complete with the original of the fanart the good flippyfrog drew for me.  It’s on the far right-hand side, above my chair.  Eeee!  Fanart!!)

And if I sit down at my desk to begin writing, what do I see?  Why, the very image you see below: a screen.  A screen, blocking the view of the stupid boxes of books and annoying laundry.  It’s wonderful!

I finally feel as though I have a little writing nook at last.

Comments

[the-kaytinator.livejournal.com]

Ooh! It's gorgeous!

Such a simple and convenient solution, too!

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

I can't believe I didn't think of it earlier, to be honest. But then, I was always fond of whinging rather than doing things.

It's fragrant, too. A bit like camphor-wood. 'Tis lovely.

[flippyfrog.livejournal.com]

it really feels nookish, doesn't it? Like you're trying to hide from everyone. BTW i want all of your manga :P

FMA raw is out and she claims it's nearly translated.... :D:D

[flippyfrog.livejournal.com]

and squee about the fanart! Please tell me you haven't left it still attached to the colorado shoebox back and the tissue paper over it? :P Maybe i should have sent it down with a frame :P by NYE if you haven't got it out of the packaging, i'm coming over to your house and do it for you :P you have no other excuse

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Um, yes, it's still in its protective stuff. I had a look for a frame yesterday but I couldn't find anything. It'll definitely go into a frame once I find one. :)

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

I know! I saw all of the links to the raw but I didn't know the translation was almost done. We might get this one quite quickly.

[flippyfrog.livejournal.com]

well, i think i might have got over excited about the translation front, but still, it's nice to hear they're working pretty fast,in comparrison to how it looked last time.

Mind you, all this waiting is making me want to learn Japanese. I have gone to download that raw so many times.... but i know i'll spoil it for myself getting all lost without the translation. Curse my not carrying on learning Japanese after year 7! i wasn't into manga then... *grumbles*

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

We didn't even have a chance to learn Japanese. It was either French or Italian and I chose French. I'd have leapt at the opportunity to learn Japanese.

*sulks*

[flippyfrog.livejournal.com]

i've been tempted to take up some night school lessons, or do a few courses at uni while i'm still there... but i was looking over my friend's notes who did the uni japanese and i think that's a little too much for me. CIT (TAFE) is looking better... i just have to get up the energy :P

if you see this in time, come bother us on msn ;D

[rigel-7.livejournal.com]

very nice!!

It's very conducive to writing *pokes*

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

It is! I feel all snuggled up and safe in my little nook.

*rubs bruise from the poke*

That was hard!

[charliemc.livejournal.com]

I love it! The screen is fabulous! (In fact, I had to make a brand new icon just for this comment!)

(smile)

It really makes an enormous difference. I hope you enjoy!!! It should help inspire lots of future writing...

(I've seen some lovely screens, but never one quite like that. Very special...)

Congrats, Katie!

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

It's gorgeous, isn't it? Just what I was looking for. It makes me feel all secure and snuggly in my little writing nook.

The icon's beautiful. I'm glad my post inspired such a lovely thing. :)

[crazedturkey.livejournal.com]

Squeee!! What a bewdiful screen!


And we have the same laptop :D

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

I told you! Now you have proof. :)

'Tis a lovely screen, isn't it? It was exactly what I was hoping for!

[snarkymonkey.livejournal.com]

Lovely! I'm finally taking steps to ensure that I can get some writing done these days. Namely removing the demon known as cable from my house. XD

Such a lovely little writing den, Katie. =3

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Wow - you're going to get rid of the internet altogether? I couldn't do that. I think a little bit of me would die if I tried that.

I do love my little writing nook. :)

[naelany.livejournal.com]

There you go! Simple, but highly effective ^_^. Enjoy your writing ^_~

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Indeed! And I shall. I intend to finish of that Jane letter this weekend.

[naelany.livejournal.com]

woohoo!!!!! By the way, I'm typing up something now that might make you cringe a bit ^_~

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Are you talking about the post on JKR? That didn't make me cringe. :)

[naelany.livejournal.com]

yeah I was lol. Well, I thought it might a bit, with the reading part ^_~

[seagull-fred.livejournal.com]

Oh, a *screen*!!! I didn't get wot you were talking about when you mentioned it!!! But that really does look great. Must remember that trick :)

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

I can't believe it took me so long to think of it! Ah well, I have it now and 'tis lovely.

[talmina.livejournal.com]

That screen is a brilliant idea, before Grant moved in and when I was thinking I had a much larger room I was going to do something like this with either a screen or a heavyish mosquito net to keep me from feeling like my room was my work/study place too much. Though Grant and I have discussed the making of a screen for me when we move out, originally for the screening of people coming over for fittings when I make them clothes (I felt rather uncomfortable changing in front of my SIL's mum and sister when getting dress fittings for the wedding last year)

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

It really is an all-purpose thing and it would be perfect for changing behind. It'd be nice to make your own, though. I was lucky that the one I found was exactly what I was looking for but it would be fun to decorate one, too.

[frohike.livejournal.com]

Not to poke a hole in the wonderfl-ness of your screen, but it's always been my opinion that such things look prettier when extended out flat, it you know what I mean. Sadly that generally results in the screen falling over.

Oh, idea! If you for some reason get sick of looking at the screen, get some fabric you aren't sick of looking at, and hang it over the screen for a while.

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Oh, I wondered where that hole came from. ;) Yes, there would be much falling-over of screens if I were to stretch it out.

Good idea on the fabric. I shall keep that in mind if I feel I need a little change.

[elfie-chan.livejournal.com]

Perfection! The screen is lovely, and it does block out all of those nasty distractions. Congratulations!

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

I am now distraction-free! Well, apart from the bit where I have to prise myself away from the internet with a crowbar... But when I do, things are much cosier in my study than they used to be.

[elfie-chan.livejournal.com]

Hee hee...I have the internet on my writing machine, as it is my primary computer...but I generally use it for research when I'm writing. No, really! I do! Stop laughing!