Super-Snooper Blogfest, March 2

It's Super-Snoop Blogfest time! Click on the picture to read more about it and see links to other participants' blogs!

"For the blogfest, you need to describe a setting that tells us something about your character's personality. Characters can be of any age, living in any time or place. But don't tell us about the character, tell us about his or her stuff. We'll get to know the character from what you write." - Alison Pearce Stevens

I had a hard time deciding which character to focus on for this blogfest, but in the end I decided to go with somebody I'm having such a lot to do with right now (revisions...argh!!). I tried to remove all mention of the character, to see if you can guess more about him/her. Anyway...here's a description of what you'd find if you stepped into this person's place of abode (am I allowed to tell you it's a rental?):

DOWNSTAIRS

Entering the home

There's a short hallway leading into the rest of the house. In this hallway is a coat rack which has a handbag, frizzy pink wig and guitar carry bag hanging from it. In other words, it holds anything but coats. The hallway also features a bookcase packed full of guitar tab books, a hand-me-down record collection and music magazines. Finally, the guitars and amplifiers and all the other necessary equipment are stored in the hallway. Great place for it, wouldn't you say? When the hallway ends, you get to the rest of the house.

The dining table/area

On the dining room table there is stuff. Lots of stuff. An example of what might be found on it on any given day is: a few more guitar tab books, issues of Alternative Press and Guitar World magazine, half full (or empty, depending on the mood) glasses of water, scraps of paper with notes scribbled on them. Basically nothing that you'd use for actually dining. At right angles to the dining area and the living area is a cabinet that houses all sorts of stuff - art and travel books, a handful of biographies, participation ribbons from school sports carnivals, a certificate for a prize won in high school music class, and a tiny collection of family heirlooms like a gold "key" brooch and a bracelet with emeralds in it.

The kitchen

It's pretty cramped, and is basically a strip of tile with benches on either side (one of which houses the small sink). There is no dishwasher. There are a lot of mismatched dishes, hand-me-downs of all varieties. There is an accidental collection of mugs, the result of numerous Christmases and other gift-giving occasions. There's a silver clock on the wall, and a medium-sized refrigerator which is one of the shiniest and most modern things in the home. On the fridge are a series of ridiculous magnets, including a magnetic calendar with pictures of hedgehogs on every month of the year. In the fridge is snack material, and a variety of types of beer. There's also a jug of chilled water in there.

The living area

There is a single three-seater couch, fabric-covered and rather mangy, but it's covered with a series of blankets. Opposite it is a slick black coffee table, the only other shiny modern thing in the place (except for guitar equipment). The coffee table is also covered in magazines, and the TV remotes are on there. There's always at least one coffee mug on the table. The TV is a wall-mounted old-style one that hasn't yet been hooked up to the digital aerial. It has pretty crappy snowy reception. Underneath the TV is a CD cabinet housing an extensive CD collection. It's organised chronologically.

The garden

Through the sliding doors in the living area there is a small garden that usually looks pretty lush but overgrown. There are a fair few weeds competing for attention at the best of times, though periodically throughout the year those weeds find themselves in grave peril as rent inspection time rolls around. There is a small patch of grass out in the garden that tiny picnics can be had on, but only if you like cramped picnics.

UPSTAIRS

The bedroom

In the tiny bedroom, whose walls are painted dark blue, there is a queen-sized bed with a green polka-dot pattern, an old-style carved wooden dresser. There is also a series of items from IKEA: wardrobe; set of drawers; lamp; moderate-sized bookcase. The bookcase houses old copies of middle-grade fiction. Under the bed is a box full of stuff belonging to somebody else, which rarely comes out from its hiding place. The small window has white cotton curtains.

Bathroom

The bathroom upstairs is all in blue translucent tiles, and makes a person feel like they're standing on the bottom of the Blue Lagoon gazing upward through their goggles. Even in winter, the room looks light and summery.

Do you feel like you know this person now? I feel like I do a little better now, myself. :D