As I sit here in bed this morning, laptop where it belongs (on my lap), XM tuned to Deep Tracks for background music, a Sigur Ros show from Chicago "loading down" courtesy of the awesome Victory Rose blog, I am struck by the less-than-original thought that it's the little things that make all the difference in the world. Now that may or may not be true...I would think that the BIG things are the world's shakers and movers. But what do I know?
If it is true that little things make a big difference then this list of inconsequential observations will set off a chain reaction of "change" that will culminate in world peace in the global village brought about through negotiations with aliens from another universe whose sole purpose in travelling to our puny little planet is to re-affirm and remind the human race that the list on my blog was the impetus for the very survival of the human race.
STUFF I NOTICE IN OUR BEDROOM AS I SIT IN BED LISTENING TO DEEP TRACKS AND DOWNLOADING SIGUR ROS CONCERTS TO MY LAPTOP:
1. An empty Dr. Pepper can lying on the floor to my left. I have developed the habit of tossing soda cans to the floor when I'm done with them. Not to worry...I pick them up and dispose of them as soon as I get off of my lazy ass.
2. My wireless mouse to my immediate right. I bought it dirt cheap at Big Lots. It cost me 8 or 9 bucks and works like a charm. My brother, who has owned a laptop longer than I have, insists that a wireless mouse reigns supreme over the touchpad. Personally I like using them both. It all depends on what I am using them for.
3. To my left is a rather thin (but not so short) shelf unit that I use for some of my essential shit. Here's the rundown of it's contents:
TOP: A cheap CD/Clock Radio/Auxiliary stereo that I bought for the sole reason that it is small enough to fit on the top of the shelf. Well, that's not the SOLE reason...I needed something that would allow me to get my money's worth out of XM, which I only listen to at night, through headphones, before falling asleep. I just got this lil' stereo a few days ago. It sounds pretty good through the phones, but there is a slightly perceptible "hiss" underneath the sound. It's as if you were listening to an FM station with a VERY good signal, which would be fine if I weren't so spoiled with the digital clarity I'm used to with XM. I'll learn to ignore it in time.
TOP SHELF: My XM receiver, which was purchased in 2005 and therefore is not one of the more recent models. I don't know what the newer ones may or may not have in comparison to my Delphi Sky-Fi. Probably a lot. So what? There's also, on the shelf, the remote controls for both the XM receiver and the cheapo-depo stereo that is perched above. The stereo receiver is TINY, smaller than a playing card. The pre-sets on the XM remote are as follows:
A1...Audio Visions
A2...Real Jazz
A3...Beyond Jazz
A4...Deep Tracks
A5...Liquid Metal
A6...Fred
A7...Top Tracks
A8...Rock at Random
A9...The Verge
A0...XM Comedy
B1...XM Classics
B2...Vox
B3...XM Pops
B4...Willie's Place
B5...America
B6...U.S. Country
B7...Bluegrass Junction
B8...70's on 7
B9...BBC World Service (which acts as a touchstone to all news channels)
B0...Fox New Talk (which acts as a touchstone to all news talk channels)
NEXT SHELF DOWN: This is where I keep spare change (in a lovely glass cup), my keys, my wallet and it's where I store my glasses when I sleep.
NEXT SHELF DOWN: A 32-ounce insulated cup that I keep ice water in at night. Usually fill it up around 8:00 pm and it stays chilly throughout the night, so I can quence my thirst when I awaken from a dream, good or bad. Both my wife and I use it when we take our medications. Right now there is a very large, open bottle of ibuprofen there but I don't know just how long that will stay. A black gel ink pen is the last item on this shelf, but it will surely find it's way where it belongs (in the office) soon.
NEXT SHELF DOWN: This, my friends, is the dope shelf. It's where I keep my lithium, lamictal and ambien as well as a cute shot glass to mix 'em in. In a clear glass coffee cup there is Blistex, Visin Allergy Control eye drops and a lot of generic claritin. Lots of drugs...alas, none of the GOOD kind.
NEXT SHELF DOWN: A small selection from my CD collection chosen for their likeliness to be played in this room, seeing as how I waste a lot of time here on the computer (as evidenced by this list).
```Shostakovitch...Complete String Quartets
```Ravi Shankar...The Sounds of India
```Lama Karta...Tibetin Chants Buddhist Meditation
```Gorecki, Part, Barber, Martin, Schoenberg...Evocation of the Spirit (Robert Shaw Festival Singers)
```George Crumb...Ancient Voices of Children
```George Crumb...Works for Piano (Volume 2)
```Krzysztof Penderecki...Volume One
```Beethoven...Complete 9 Symphonies
```Autechre...Quaristice
```Mark Kozelek...Little Drummer Boy Live
```Sun Kil Moon...April
```Sigur Ros...Agaetis Byrjun
```Sigur Ros...()
```Sigur Ros...Heif/Hvorm
```Sigur Ros...Saeglopur
```Sigur Ros...Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
You may wonder at the omission of SR's "Takk" in this selection. Alas, my burned copy is all I have but I am going to replace it pronto, as it is very likely my favorite. Oh, and I probably won't put "Von" there...for one thing my copy is burned...a friend loaned it to me for the purpose of recording a copy back when the original was not available in the States and very hard to come by...but the main reason I don't replace it (and hence don't have it on this list) is that I just don't listen to it very much. I never have. Maybe someday that will change...
BOTTOM SHELF: This one is for my headphones and computer related odds and ends. It's where I keep the wireless mouse and it UBC thingamajiggy (and it's extension). The Acid Music Studio CD stays there when it's not in the computer.
4. Directly in front of my stands my wife's dresser drawers (I know that's not the right word for it, but who cares, right?). It's rather cluttered, but here is a short list of what's there:
```Dish satellite network box
```RCA VHS video recorder/player
```a very small Sanyo television
```a cheap Symphonic DVD player that is not hooked up to the television. Yeah, it's el-cheapo, but it had served us well over the last 5-6 years.
```a screwdriver. Probably a Philips head, but I'm not about to get up and check.
```small flashlight
```a copy of some digest magazine about CBS soap operas
```a set of rabbit ears rendered obsolete by the sattellite box
```an 8x10 framed photograph of my son and her taken quite a few years ago.
That's not all of it, but it IS all I care to write about.
5. I can see inside the half bath from my location in the bed (which, btw, is my usual spot...the left side, as it was, is and always will be). I spy the bottom left side of the toilet stool, A towel hangs from a rack on the west wall upon which hangs a metal rendering of a sunflower with a tiny ladybug on it (my wife is rather fond of ladybugs...the reason for this proclivity eludes me). The shades on the window are pulled up and it is open. There is an artificial rose on the pane. I could not tell you why it's there or where it should be.
6. The right side of the room has been designated "the wife's". I'm not saying she's a slob, but she's got a lot of stuff and apparently there is nowhere she finds suitable for stowing it. Here is a condensed list of what you'll find over there:
```3 remote controls...no, wait. There are 4.
```a half eaten bag of peanut butter candy
``` nose spray and other over the counter medications
```a clock radio/CD player, the latter of which has not worked since time immemorial
```a display shelf on the wall that contains her voluminous shot glass collection. She doesn't drink, so they pretty much just sit there and collect dust. She likes 'em, though, and every time we get caught in a tourist trap she buys one.
```two or three issues of Child magazine (she's a teacher and works with small children, so that's whyfore)
Well, that's about all the time I want to kill with this...
Not only do I hope you enjoyed it, my sincere desire is that it changed you life in a positive way.
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