"only imperial stormtroopers are so precise"

Sounds like you subscribe to the immortal words of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry:

"Perfection in design is not achieved when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing more to remove."

Interestingly, I think this is pretty common for a lot of old-school geeks. Maybe it's from our experience of working with computers back when they were minimalistic by necessity. Maybe it's the elegance/perfection of it. Maybe it's just the pure practicality of doing only what needs to be done as directly as possible. Hard to say why, but there it is.

--Max Wed May 25 10:48:48 2005

Yeah, or that quote from Pascal:
"Apologies for such a long letter. I lacked the time to write you a short one."

I think you might be mixing cause and effect, I think old school geekery was more the result of than the cause of a minimalist, utilitarian outlook. Or rather people with that outlook were drawn to the geekly things.

For real old schoolers you can compare Unix's "do one task well and have bits you can paste together" with VMS's "do as much as you can" design.

--Kirk Wed May 25 12:46:27 2005

One room living possibilities:
planned and maintained = elegant and comforting; stashed and bursting at the seams = scary and depressing!

--YELM Wed May 25 14:33:32 2005

It depends what you mean by one room living; being a young whippersnapper I've pretty much always lived in houses where I have 'a room', and I share kitchen etc facilities...and it's cool. I like it - it's definitely my space. But it's also a tremendous tip - no ideas of elegant pared down design here!
(I'm assuming you're meaning this kind of thing over hvaing your kitchen and bathroom in the room with you as well and thus making it really 'one room' living.)

--Catherine Wed May 25 18:44:32 2005

I know there's an excellent chance the idea won't live up to my idyllic dreams for it, which is why I call it a fantasy...but there was something nice about having a room rather than an apartment, hard to put my finger on.

--Kirk Wed May 25 19:48:37 2005

i agree w/ YELM. i like to apply a similar sentiment to multi-room living.

--FoSO Thu May 26 04:53:19 2005

also, 1 room = retreat to womb. apartment = you're on your own now!

sorry to get all armchair shrink.

--FoSO Thu May 26 04:54:42 2005

Well, multiroom or single room, I'd have to be in for a really serious and harsh book purge; no longer would it be both "books I remember enjoying and/or plan to come back to in the future", just the latter category with some true "life changers" from the former.

And I could see really regretting that at some future date. I could also see wondering why I didn't do it sooner. Still, it's a scary proposition.

I think 1 room could be a retreat without going all the way to "womb". There are Men-Are-From-Mars "caves", boyish "hideouts" and frou-frou "sacred spaces" that don't make me sound quite so on the cusp of bedwetting and plotting to beat up Father.

But like that Quentin Crisp quote asks, what do people do with the room they're not in? Answer: keep their stuff there. Or just have it to demonstrate their grownupness. Both of which carry non-trivial expense/benefit ratios.

I'm not plotting any radical moves, but it has been good food for thought.

--Kirk Thu May 26 06:58:03 2005

I've been meaning to say something about this one, but I can't think of anything original. I can only think of a philosophy that my friend Charles has: I want to only have enough to pack up and go on a moment's notice. . .or something like that. I've tried to be like that in the past but getting close and intimate with my current significant other has made that hard lately.

--Mr. Lex Thu May 26 10:03:13 2005

Lex, I don't see that that kind of extremism has much of a benefit. Or rather, it might have a benefit, but it doesn't seem to be covered or justified by "ready to go at a moment's notice"--that's a way of getting to another goal which would be removing the need for many physical possessions.

Unless of course it's more a survivalist thing, like having a "bug out bag" ready at all times.

--Kirk Thu May 26 12:22:43 2005

Oh, and for the record, just to toot my own horn...I thought the "only imperial stormtroopers" line I came up with for this day's caption was HI-*LARIOUS*!

--Kirk Thu May 26 12:23:40 2005

See, you're just begging for sarcasm there, aren't you? From laconic Brits, at least....

--The Laconic Brit Thu May 26 19:05:59 2005

come on, have at me!

--Kirk Thu May 26 20:55:58 2005

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