I moved things around today in my “space”. What I mean is that I moved furniture and equipment, and uncovered dust I believe King Tut shook off his sandals. I have more room but it’s tighter around the edges.

My couch is too big for this space. It’s a three cushion monster that makes a bed on which I wouldn’t sentence any but the most masochistic of my friends to a night.

My main desk is entirely too big. It was a gift from a friend at Tulane University when I was moving back to Maine from New Orleans back in ’93. It was a used up oak teacher’s desk when I got it but it is one of those things that is spacious to a fault and therefore to some minds, perfect. I sanded it down, painted some of the panels and have used it for many years. It was free.

The end result of my juggling around is that I have twice the room in the middle of the room but it is, as I have said, rather tricky around the edges. Cozy. Interesting. A smaller couch and a more utilitarian desk and I would be golden!

The former arrangement was cater-cornered. In plain language, it used a corner as a base line. It always seemed to me to be a waste of space. And it is. Considering my preference toward Euclidian squareness, I can’t believe i set it up that way to begin with. I rather prefer things to be along lines at right angles. I mean, a right angle is after all, right. Right?

If I had the money, I’d have a Swedish decorator come in and configure this space to be sparse, functional and square. Lots of room and light. Glass everywhere.

But then, if money were not a problem (I’d need some therapy in order to understand that concept) I’d get lost on some island somewhere. I’d leave Euclid at home. I’d walk along curved paths at oblique angles to sheer cliffs. I’d probably forget where I put the couch. I’d probably forget the couch altogether. Maybe a few other things as well. But that’s the point, isn’t it?

Yours perpendicularly – Jerry Henderson