mancave! and so clean!!

I started earning a regular paycheck in 1979 and have lived 5 places since then.  At no point did I have a proper mancave till now.  I had to exude toxic masculinity and smoke cigars all over the house.  Since I have an understanding wife, a pretty big house, and don’t really smoke cigars anymore, there were no problems with this arrangement.  But a combination of gifts and discovery of some treasures from my past combined to create me one, which I’m enjoying tremendously.  But what corner of Harbal house was suitable for this purpose?  I owe that to our builder, Gary, who in his plans for the grand redesign of our house in 2004-5 included the creation of a distinct laundry room.  Till then, we relied on a washer and dryer behind some folding doors in the corner of our “lower level” (a.k.a. basement). Now, those replacement appliances are in their own room, still downstairs, where behind closed doors I can bring cleanliness to our household.  Yes, I’m the washerwoman here.  I’d told my wife several times of the affinity for mundane household chores I’d developed in med school, having recognized these tasks would mark rare breaks in my medical grind that I should learn to enjoy.  Kathy didn’t wish to stand in the way of my pursuit of happiness, so happily let me take on the cooking and cleaning.

The decluttering effort we began in my retirement turned up some forgotten treasures, in particular our combined collection of over 400 posters devoted to space, music, and sports we’d accumulated over 50 plus years.  The posters went up all over the place and we ran out of wall space.   But what  brought the room together was not the art, but an appliance.  When Kathy was based in D.C. for NASA ’98-’02, we bought a nice Denon stereo for her.  That ended up in her office here, but she rarely used it.  You couldn’t get your choice of music from an iPhone at the turn of the century, but hers became her preferred source when in her office back here.  Finally, the idea came to me it might be nice to have some CD music while folding.  I found some floating shelves to hold the receiver and speakers and set it up.  I also found an unused teak CD bookcase and hung it up.  Just the new music studio itself was a joy, but the room needed decorations.  I hung from the wall several items I might be using and would prefer not to have to run and get when needed.  The biggest expanse of wall now holds a painting made for me by my St. Louis nurse friend who also paints and offered to create something from a treasured photo I’d had taken in Shirley MA after a concert by Bill Kirchen with Commander Cody as special guest.  Right next to it is a poster from the last time I saw the Commander, at Callahan’s in Auburn Hills March ’21.  Also up is a poster from Asleep at the Wheel, signed by 6’6” leader Ray Benson and celebrating their 50^th anniversary, and 3 other concert posters: one from John Prine’s last concert in Paris February ’20 and from my student days, 2 colorful announcements of concerts by the Allman Brothers and the Grateful Dead.  The 6 non-music posters start before you enter the room, with a colorful spacy poster announcing the “Future Worlds Lecture Series” of 1971.  Luminaries like Buckminster Fuller and BF Skinner appear.  I included one from my UofC days (for the “Lascivious Costume Ball”, featuring a bare-breasted co-ed); the UofC president shut the event down in ’84 but it was revived in ’08 (1), from my dorm wall (an instructive illustration of the many forms of hashish), a print from my artist brother Marty depicting his stock character wishing he were a cowboy (2), a photo from Vicksburg resident Jeanne Church of a Great Blue Heron in flight, my spirit bird (3), and a framed postcard-sized print of a wolverine’s skull, courtesy of UofM’s Museum of Natural History (4).  Most recently, another dorm wall poster arose, this one a cartoon of a hippie with some pirate characteristics announcing.  ”When you’re smashin’ the state kids, keep a smile on your face and a song in your heart”, likely lamenting even then the humorous lessness taking over the revolutionaries.  These hippies begat the modern leftist movement, which still suffers this humor deficit.

So, you can imagine how happy I am down there folding socks, listening to tunes under a good stereo under the watchful eye of George Frayne IV (a.k.a Commander Cody) and Mr. Prine.  One unexpected consequence is that my music carries up the laundry chute to the master bedroom area.  Could disturb whomever might be trying to rest there.  Turns out a pillow jammed up the chute takes care of the problem.  All our clothes are clean and nicely folded these days, and I never allow them to get too dirty, as I’m always seeking excuses to occupy that room, my new mancave.  Let me know if you know any other men with such an arrangement.

Here are some pics of my surroundings there:

References

1. Zimmerman S.  Living Lasciviously.  University of Chicago.  College 10/25/16.  https://college.uchicago.edu/news/student-stories/living-lasciviously
2. https://martinspei.com
3. Church J.  The magnificent great blue heron.  South County News 11/16/21.  https://southcountynews.org/2021/11/16/the-magnificent-great-blue-heron/
4. Sherburne M.  Milestone scan highlights MicroCT Scanning Lab’s mission.  Wolverine skull from Museum of Zoology is lab’s 10,000th scan.  University Record 2/11/25.  https://record.umich.edu/articles/milestone-scan-highlights-microct-scanning-labs-mission/

Appendix: actual poster sizes (W X H)