mDuo13

It's funny how long simple things take. I had been upset with the way my room was arranged for ages (especially how my computer was in the corner behind the door), but I never really was able to do anything about it. Now, recently, my grandmother died (she went peacefully and in good spirits) and that means that our family's patio is currently overflowing with furniture and things. I happened to come home one day earlier this week and spot a particular round table that had spent many years in my grandparents' living room, which prompted a nostalgic, affectionate feeling. So I decided to take the opportunity and use what furniture I wanted to improve my room.

The funny part is how long it took me to plan the rearrangement - one entire evening after work, and the first half of yesterday. But finally, when I had a plan and I put it in motion, it was surprisingly quick. First, I cleared off and removed my desk, which I hated: it was warped, ugly, and I constantly banged my knee on the keyboard tray. I likewise got rid of the old CRT TV that had dominated my dresser, since I can just use my computer's TV card as a replacement for that nowadays. Then, I moved my dresser over where the desk used to be, which fit easily aside a small but much-needed book rack. Following that, my dad and I cut off part of the posts on the foot of my bed, allowing it to be rotated 90° and placed under the window. I brought in the round table, which I placed loosely in the center of the room, to be moved around as needed. Finally, I got a small coffee table, which I placed between the head of my bed and the closet. My computer monitor, game consoles, and figures all fit on that, with my desktop tower next to it, allowing me to compute at a comfortable height from either my round chair or the floor (where I currently sit, as the cat has been unduly monopolizing the chair since this redesign). I like the new setup immensely more than the old one, since it is simpler, provides more space, is more comfortable, and I think will probably work better for having friends over in the future. There are a couple (low-quality) pictures of the end result here. (Note to self: go to Fry's and buy a longer Ethernet cable that doesn't have to run across the center of the room.)

Of course, in the midst of all this and with my study-buddy at some sort of party, I forgot to either pick 3 new kanji to learn or to blog about Friday's kanji, so I'll be getting to that now, with a hat trick of kanji triples...

• 林 - hayashi, rin - "grove" as in 林 (small woods) or 林道 (forest path). Also commonly used in names [of woods, I guess?].
• 長 - chou, naga - as in 長い (long), 社長 (company president) and as a suffix to similar words, 身長 (height; people only).
• 夜 - yoru, yo, ya - "night" as in 夜 (night), 夜明け (dawn), 千夜一夜 (The Thousand and One Nights), 夜中 (midnight).
• 体 - karada, tai - "body" as in 体 (body), 具体的 (practical),　体重 (body weight), 全体 (entire).
• 高 - kou, taka - "tall" as in 高い (tall), 高める (to heighten), 高校 (high school), 最高 (the best)
• 文 - bun - "culture" or "sentence" as in 文章 (sentence), 文化 (culture), 文学 (literature), and the irregular 文句 (complaint).
• 小 - shou, chii - "tiny" as in 小さい/小さな (tiny), 小銭 (small-change), 小説 (novel), 小学校 (elementary school).
• 少 - shou, suko - "a little bit" as in 少し (a little bit), 少ない (hardly any), 少女 (young girl), 少年 (young boy).
• 古 - furu, ko - "old" as in 古い (old), 中古の (used), 古着 (secondhand clothes)

Okay, so I took this opportunity to cover a bunch of kanji I sorta knew but thought I could stand to re-study. 文句あるか？！ Good. I didn't think so.