Bonne ecoute.

Dusting one's room is work of a rigorous variety. Everything off. I dust about once every two months. Terrible! Je sais. So today while moved by the spirit, I emptied the tops of everything. Came across some weird stuff. The pile of things I have collected over time smaller than the size of ones palm, is vast. It is no wonder I lose things. I also did a quick account of my things, my books. What would I reach for in the account of an emergency? Ma petite camera. Nikon Nancy. Why do I hold onto some things and let go of others? What constitutes nostalgia? So many categories of reasoning here. All from a dusting frenzy. My room is small, my time is my own at the moment (much appreciated), freedom abounds. I spend a lot of time at home.

Cleanliness goes hand in hand with progress, and Lord knows production is nil without an organized environment (I do say this picturing the basement of Martha Street Studio, well planned). To feel no shame in spending such an incredible amount of time at this desk, it is kept clean. I love the process of moving things around. My room is an ongoing 3D collage. Layers upon layers, applied and removed in no order.

I need to alphabetize my records because the chaos is confusing. But first, here is a list.

10 records at the front of the pile:

- Townes Van Zandt's Delta Momma Blues
- Baby Dee's A Book of Songs for Anne Marie
- Joanna Newsom's The Milk-Eyed Mender
- Abner Jay's True Story of Abner Jay
- Kurt Vile's God is Saying This to You...
- Cat Power's Jukebox
- Patti Smith's Horses
- Buffy Sainte Marie's Illuminations
- Brahms/ Gould's 10 Intermezzi for Piano
- Karen Dalton's In My Own Time


10 bedside books:

- Michael Ondaatje's Anil's Ghost
- Robert Hough's The Final Confession of Mabel Stark (my favorite novel)
- Stephanie Harrison's Adaptations: From Short Story to Big Screen
- The Broadview Anthology of Poetry
- Anne Michaels' The Wiinter Vault
- Miriam Toews' The Flying Troutmans 
- Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential
- Michael Ondaatje's In the Skin of a Lion
- Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude
- Anne Michael's Fugitive Pieces (top of the pile)


10 Small items lying about:

- a small hunk of Amethyst
- Covergirl 350 Eternal
- orange nailpolish
- a miniature chair from Lisa King
- a tin of nibs
- a shallow mug from A. Daryl filled with rubber bands.
- Annie Kroeker's shears (RIP little bird)
- rabbit parts, cut and ready
- stamps of a house, a crest and the date
- manilla tags