THE NIGHTSTAND MEME

I’m not sure who started this business - some say it’s Boudicca - and for sure I’m not sure why it’s so perversely attractive, but there’s this meme floating around the Bloggy-Sphere in which people list the contents of their Bedside Tables.

The thinking being, I suppose, that the Crap in your Nightstand is a Window into your Soul.

Well, I was going to give this one a wide berth, but even the V-Man His Ownself got ensnared in the Nightstand Web. So I decided to give it a shot. Problem is, I have so much Useless Crap in there, I’m afraid to begin the monumental task of inventorying it. And so, what you will get here in this post is what is on top of my nightstand. What’s in it will be covered in a later installment, perhaps after Blogspot upgrades its servers.

Here goes:

• One lamp with two 60-watt clear bulbs.
  
• One Sony telephone, with cord.
  
• One Caller ID unit.
  
• One basket. [Some of the stuff listed below was in the basket, and I’ll indicate those items with an asterisk*.]
  
• Entertainment Weekly magazines: 7/29/04*, 11/12/04, 11/26/04, 12/31/04-1/7/05*, 4/8/05*, 4/15/05*, 5/13/05*, 5/20/05*, 5/27/05* (most of this shit can be 86’ed)
  
• The Time Ships, by Stephen Baxter (paperback edition, along with its Amazon receipt from January 2004)*
  
• SCAD: Restoration of an Architectural Heritage, by Connie Capozzola Pinkerton*
  
• Food and Wine magazines: November 2004, January 2005*
  
• Saveur magazines: Jan-Feb 2005*, Apr 2005*, May 2005*, Aug-Sep 2005*
  
• One mini flashlight (which, had I known it was there, could have saved me the trouble of goping out and buying another one last night)
  
• Artscroll publications catalog
  
• Pile of old paid bills (can be shredded and 86’ed)
  
• Pile of wedding anniversary cards from our 26th anniversary (over two years ago, also can be 86’ed)
  
• Father’s Day card from the Mistress of Sarcasm – no idea what year
  
• Princeton Reunions 2004 schedule*
  
• Plastic box of 4 x 6" photos from Reunions 1994*
  
• Princeton Tiger magazine, Reunions 2004 issue*
  
• Princeton Alumni Weekly magazine, Reunions 2004 issue*
  
• Time magazine, 1/10/05 issue*
  
• Flavors magazine, Spring 2005 issue*
  
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Sunday color comics sections, 12/5/04*, 12/12/04* (need to be stacked up with the monstrous Piles o’ Funnies in the basement)
  
• Bringing Down the House, by Ben Mezrich*
  
• Jewish Times magazine, October 2003
  
• SCAD, The Magazine, Fall 2003 issue (official publication of the Savannah College of Art and Design, now the Mistress’s alma mater)
  
• Calendar page snipped out from the July 2004 issue of Whats Up (a Boston-area magazine)
  
• America: The Book, by Jon Stewart
  
• Les Halles Cookbook, by Anthony Bourdain
  
• Fight Club, by Chuck Palahniuk
  
• Invisible Monsters, by Chuck Palahniuk (again)
  
• Diary, by Chuck Palahniuk (yet again. This, plus the two novels above, were given to me by the estimable Laurence Simon, who wanted to ensure that there were no gaps in my knowledge of the Palahniuk oeuvre.)
  
• Haunted, by…do I have to say it? (given to me by Bro in-Law, who found this book disturbing. That, in itself, is disturbing, because nothing in print – and I mean nothing – ever seems to rattle him.)
  
• Magic Street, by Orson Scott Card – what I’m currently reading.

Remember, Esteemed Readers – that’s just the crap on top of the nightstand. As for what’s in it, who wants to know?

Now, since this is a meme, after all: what’s in – or on - your nightstand? No tags – Voluntary Participants only!