Last weekend, my friends pointed out to me that they had never seen my dorm. My room—a Canaday hallway single that cannot imaginably exceed about 120 square feet—isn’t somewhere I spend a lot of time, largely on account of the (probably wrong) size estimation I just provided. Yet my friends’ assertion that my room was “just kind of dead” is in no way an accurate reflection of the time I have spent decorating what space I do have and perfecting the aesthetic I’m going for, which probably amounts to, like, at least an hour. And I deserve credit for that. So, I’ve decided to list various objects that are in my room and illuminate how they all come together to form something greater than the sum of their parts.
Poster of Different Kinds of Trees
We’re starting off strong here. Above my bookshelf rests a minimalist “Poster of Different Kinds of Trees,” nestled in a similarly minimalist plain brown frame. Sugar pine, western hemlock, western larch, grand fir, douglas-fir, ponderosa pine, lodgepole pine, Engelmann spruce, noble fir, and western white pine—I definitely knew those all from memory and didn’t just have to stand up to check. I think my favorite is the noble fir. There’s something so regal about it—much like my dorm room.
Big Keyboard
Mom and Dad, thank you so much for the big Yamaha keyboard you got me for my birthday! I have loved melodramatically playing “Waiting Room,” “Night Shift,” and “Washing Machine Heart” on it every night, even though I myself do not relate to the lyrics of those songs. There’s just one issue: it is so large that it actually hangs over my desk, and I can no longer use said desk for non-piano activities. Again, I love the piano and I am so thankful that you got it for me. It’s just that every time I try to take notes on seventh-century Byzantine missionary activity from my room, I end up totally distracted by the prospect of dishing out some languid chords and depressing vocals at 4 a.m. for the rest of the Canaday community.
Box that Contained Big Keyboard
Okay, so when I unboxed the big piano (and, in the process, accidentally cut my fingers with the keys I was using to slice open the tape), I was left with a huge cardboard box that still takes up about one-fifth of my entire floor space. I want to throw it out, but I genuinely don’t know how to dispose of it. I have tripped over its frayed edges at least four times, and yet each time that happens, I think to myself how the process of getting rid of the box would probably be more work than just stepping over it until somebody else can figure this whole mess out. Even now, the words printed onto it glare at me from the floor: “Handle with care. Fragile. Thank you.” That’s a bold statement coming from the box, considering it has not handled me with care.
Lots of Books
There’s something so gratifying about having a shelf full of books you’ve read the past semester—“Ulysses,” “Daisy Miller,” “Frankenstein,”—and, of course, “Wicked.” I bought “Wicked” right when I returned to campus in January, solely for the purpose of doing a bit about it being the most intellectually stimulating book I’ve read this semester. Unfortunately, the timing for said bit has never been quite right, so I’m just doing it now to get some utility out of the $30 the Coop charged me for it. Fair warning for any other Jonathan Bailey fans thinking about reading the source material: the book is way more disturbing and gross than I thought it was going to be.
Lamps
“Um…what else?” I wondered aloud as I surveyed my room for more content. What’s cool about one of the lamps in my dorm is that it actually has a little container for pens and whatnot.
Power Strip
I just had to plug in my laptop and saw my power strip. There are currently three chargers plugged into it: a USB-C for said laptop, a Lightning connector for my phone, and some other type of wire I don’t know the name of for the Big Piano.
Hair Dye
Just kidding, haters! My dirty blond is au naturel.
Jules Sanders ’28(julessanders@college.harvard.edu) received critical acclaim for his last listicle and would like more attention.