Spring cleaning

"I rearranged the place a hundred times today, but the ordering of objects couldn't hide what's missing." - The Submarines

Before.

After.

I had to leave Brisbane for about two months plus to come back to Penang. Thus, there is some serious cleaning up to do before I head out. The cleaning for the rest of the house was pretty gruesome, but let us not get visual on that. In the meantime, I provide you with the tiniest corner in my house, my bedroom. My desk.

From the looks of it, there was not much to clean up. I merely dusted off the surfaces and tidied up the loose ends. I still have my tag from the Brisbane Writers Festival where it usually is. And I have grown a habit of using two cups. One for my tea. One for my normal drinks. Oh shush.

It is really a mild coincidence that this corner seems so colour coordinated. Or is it?

This be my top bookshelf. If you look really closely, you will see that the collection of books are different. Well, it is simple really. I just put away the books I brought from Penang and replaced the shelf with the ones I recently bought in Brisbane. The rejects are hidden in my wardrobe. It is not rocket science, really.

#1 are my photo albums, which I painstakingly lugged all the way from Penang. I am a person of memorable past. I like to look at pictures. And I am also quite OCD. I would much prefer 3R sized photo albums instead of the popularised - yet mostly not understood - 4R sized photo albums. And. My albums have to be of the same size. Hey, it is already a good thing that I am not looking for those with similar covers. I still have a stack of pictures I have yet to find an album for. Bummer. And I foresee more pictures to come.

#2 is my updated book collection. And some other paper-binded books. Hidden right at that little corner is my Bible. Yeah. It is nothing, really. Just some. Oh, nevermind. It is nothing. I have got The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, one of the few hardcovers I got and the only I took to Brisbane. And The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan. I have not gotten to read it yet so I shall leave it on the she;f and wait for that fateful day. 1984 by George Orwell, the one I bought during my winter trip to Melbourne. The Bell Jar by Silvia Plath, a birthday present. The ones I bought during the Brisbane Writers Festival: The Girl Most Likely by Rebecca Sparrow, Pig City by Andrew Stafford and Metro by Alasdair Duncan. The ones I bought during Dymock's recent warehouse sale: The Bride Stripped Bare by Anonymous and Specimen Days by Michael Cunningham. And my most lates purchase, 31 Songs by Nick Hornby. Out of all these new books, I have only started reading Metro. Frankly, I was already bored. I took 31 Songs home with me and I am already slowly losing interest. Maybe I should have brought Specimen Days instead. Bah.

And. That big book is my dictionary-cum-thesaurus. Actually, it is rightfully my sister's. I stole it from her. I kept it handy by my side whenever I am writing a story. Or when someone started using unfamiliar words on me while chatting. (Hah, I am more dense than you think). Do not believe what they say about thesaurus being the root of all writer's evil. They are handy sometimes when you are inarticulate. Just do not overdo it.

#3 is a file. Of grown up stuff. You know. Bills.

#4 are magazines. Frankie. I just love this magazine. I chanced upon it during my Uni's Donnie Darko screening and they were giving out free past issues of Frankie. Since then, I would love not to miss an issue. It is an awesome magazine.

#5 is my growing CD collection. My purchases are haphazard, really. I never knew I have purchased that many CDs. Mostly I have gotten in the bargain bin. $10 each. Some, I bought because I should. You cannot really see them (I cannot really either), but if my memory serves me right, I have there Matchbox Twenty, Modest Mouse, a couple of Coldplay. Those were from the bargain bin. A couple of Damien Rice, both purchased with prices totally more than I should be paying. Yeah. And the Long Way Round DVD series. I bought it back in my first semester when I needed to do an assignment. The horizontal ones are blank CDs. With cases. Because I need to compile mixed CDs from time to time.

#6 are just miscellaneous bits. My cell phone kit. And the carplate photo album I bought from my trip to Adelaide.

I would like to call this my little Australia corner. Bits and pieces I picked up so far as I journey through my days in a foreign piece of land.

#7 was supposed to be a gift. But I never got to give it to the receiver. Thus, I shall have it as my own. Ah well. I bought this during my trip to Melbourne at the Victoria Market. It smells of faint timberwood and eucalyptus. The whiff hits one when least expects it and it is a scent unlike any other around.

#8 is a poster from a Frankie issue. By Edwina Lye of EdAndBek. The painting is entitled Hide and Seek. Something that is supposed to bring inspiration. Or joy. However, whenever I look to it I hear Imogen Heap singing in my ears and I saw no inspiration. And least of all, joy.

#9 lies my little collection. From Adelaide. From Melbourne. From Brisbane. And. An apple of my eye.