So as sort of a follow up to the article I wrote Wednesday, I've been thinking about what my perfect place to live would be. This isn't really an easy one for me, because I fluctuate between wanting something in the middle of nowhere and something in the middle of things, something huge and something intimate, something new and shiny and something old and lived-in. It's hard to pull together all the things about those different ideas and distill them down to one single set of ideas.
I think the most important thing for any place I would want to live in though is that it has a distinct character. That you can be inside it and feel that the space you are in is special, somehow. When I think about the ultimate place for me to live, what I think of is movie sets actually. Why? I think because movie sets -- especially in the kinds of movies where the setting is exotic or key to creating the right atmosphere -- are built with the idea of creating a mood, a theme. Everything is carefully chosen and designed to make you feel a certain way, or show something about the people who live there or the history of the space. And for me, having a space like that, one that seems to evoke a certain mood or express something about me, is what I most want about a place I live in.
I don't think having a big place is that important, really. What is important is an open place; I think I'd rather have an open loft than a sprawling manor. I don't want so much space I can't really take stock of the place in short order. I've come to the conclusion I like windows, lots of windows that show big panoramic vistas. And I'd rather live in the middle of a city, I think, than in the middle of nowhere. Having lived here, in a small town, for most of my life, in neighborhoods more like tiny suburbs than city neighborhoods, I am jealous of people who have grown up in cities, where you can easily go between all sorts of different parts of the city, each with a different kind of character, than the kind of homogenized place I've lived in for all my life. And scenery -- every time I visit somewhere like Seattle, or Boston, or Denver, or even Chicago or St. Louis, there's more to the place than just corn and soybeans as far as the eye can see. For once, I'd like to look out the window and see mountains, or an ocean, or a Great Lake, or a river, or something that just dominates a skyline, even if it's just the lights of a big city.
Inside...it's strange, I love things like dark wood paneling and deep colors, but I also like the shiny ultra-modern look, with stainless steel and glass. I think I'd be hard pressed to pick just one style and want to stick with it. I think I'd have to try to find some sort of fusion between the two that would give me what I was looking for. Maybe with a little bit of retrofuturism thrown in, art deco Fallout-style. I lament how sterile everything seems to have become, so many hard lines and cold surfaces. I dunno. The things in the space don't really seem to be as important to me as the space itself.
Well, I'm getting to the point where I'm rambling, so I think I'll cut this off now, but it may bear some revisiting if I find something that tickles my fancy.
I think the most important thing for any place I would want to live in though is that it has a distinct character. That you can be inside it and feel that the space you are in is special, somehow. When I think about the ultimate place for me to live, what I think of is movie sets actually. Why? I think because movie sets -- especially in the kinds of movies where the setting is exotic or key to creating the right atmosphere -- are built with the idea of creating a mood, a theme. Everything is carefully chosen and designed to make you feel a certain way, or show something about the people who live there or the history of the space. And for me, having a space like that, one that seems to evoke a certain mood or express something about me, is what I most want about a place I live in.
I don't think having a big place is that important, really. What is important is an open place; I think I'd rather have an open loft than a sprawling manor. I don't want so much space I can't really take stock of the place in short order. I've come to the conclusion I like windows, lots of windows that show big panoramic vistas. And I'd rather live in the middle of a city, I think, than in the middle of nowhere. Having lived here, in a small town, for most of my life, in neighborhoods more like tiny suburbs than city neighborhoods, I am jealous of people who have grown up in cities, where you can easily go between all sorts of different parts of the city, each with a different kind of character, than the kind of homogenized place I've lived in for all my life. And scenery -- every time I visit somewhere like Seattle, or Boston, or Denver, or even Chicago or St. Louis, there's more to the place than just corn and soybeans as far as the eye can see. For once, I'd like to look out the window and see mountains, or an ocean, or a Great Lake, or a river, or something that just dominates a skyline, even if it's just the lights of a big city.
Inside...it's strange, I love things like dark wood paneling and deep colors, but I also like the shiny ultra-modern look, with stainless steel and glass. I think I'd be hard pressed to pick just one style and want to stick with it. I think I'd have to try to find some sort of fusion between the two that would give me what I was looking for. Maybe with a little bit of retrofuturism thrown in, art deco Fallout-style. I lament how sterile everything seems to have become, so many hard lines and cold surfaces. I dunno. The things in the space don't really seem to be as important to me as the space itself.
Well, I'm getting to the point where I'm rambling, so I think I'll cut this off now, but it may bear some revisiting if I find something that tickles my fancy.
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