Couch 180:

A good remedy for that is to watch Dateline. Its a show for all the lonely single people. It shows some poor schmuck (usually female, sometimes male) getting offed by their partner, so you feel LOTS better about being single. At least i think thats how its supposed to work. Its better if your mom is sitting there with you, telling you not to fall for a good looking guy like that, you hear me?

Eta - how did the desk come out?

Do Americans not have doors?

From what I've seen, there's some rooms with doors (like bedroom, bathroom), and then there's huge rooms connected without doors. For example one of my friends had a living room that was about three times the size of a European bedroom, it was connected without any kind of door to a huge kitchen (the main differences were the interior and the floor, nothing else really changed) and that kitchen was connected without door to a entrance kind of room, which was about half the size of the living room. And that had stairs that went up to the second floor which of course didn't have a door, and upstairs there were bedrooms with doors.

We just walk through walls.

CNS describes the floor plan of the typical American house pretty well. In older houses, say pre-1900, though, most rooms have doors.

Yes, this sound like typical houses in the US. Our house is kinda weird because it's a split-level townhouse, and most of the rooms are on their own floor, with like 8 steps up to next room/floor. Obviously the bathrooms have doors and the bedrooms also have doors. Plus there's a door to the basement. But no doors on living room, dining room, or kitchen. Which is also how my parents' house is--it's a single-family home, not split level or townhouse, but the only doors are on bedrooms, bathrooms, and going into the basement. Most other houses I've been to are like that as well.

I live in a house that was built in 1902. I have a lot of doors, some of which have now been removed - like between the dining room and kitchen -because they were kind of a pain and I never shut the door to the dining room in the first place. I found more of use for the doors if I was heating or cooling just one room for some reason. So I have a space heater in my living room so I don't have to keep the heat up in the whole house so high - having doors helps keep the heat in that one room.

It didn't. Stupid particle board. I think I'm just going to trash it. Actually I think I might try to use the bigger pieces as shelves in the shed so I'm not throwing away so much. That could work.

I slept like a rock, just woke up! Dreamed that Penelope was curled up sleeping on a wall up near the ceiling. Clever kitty!

I just heard that Steve Perry has a new album out! Called Traces. I'm listening on Amazon Prime music right now. He will forever be "The Voice" in my heart.

Yeah, I think I'm mostly puzzled about the doors in kitchens. I've never been in a house where the kitchen was a closed off space.

Keep the servants in their place!

Where I live, it would be useful to have a kitchen door to keep the heat out of the rest of the house in the spring, summer and sometimes fall (like right now when it is still 80+ degrees) out of the rest of the house. My house originally had kitchen doors. I guess it would also keep noise and smoke out of the rest of the house.
It could help with keeping children out in times when people let their children be in rooms without hovering over them constantly.
And of course the servant thing.
Although my house is one that was built for staff who worked at extremely large houses a few blocks away to live in with their families.

my house has doors only on the bedrooms and bathrooms. the living area, nook area for the kitchen table and the kitchen are all open no doors.

I just found out that one of my childhood friends that I lost touch with long, long ago grew up to be an award-winning tv and print journalist in a big city in the US. Oh, and she was also in a movie!!

that's what i was supposed to be. the print journalist part. i'm not sure how i feel right now. Sad for me, jealous of her, happy for her etc.

Well, I guess I need to start by realizing that everyone is different. Writing for a newspaper was my dream when we were kids. Maybe I inspired her somehow? And she was the one meant for the spotlight - I never wanted that and still don't - she's all kinds of beautiful and smart that I'm just not - but - while I'll never be perfect, I can't be that perfect-good-little-girl that my complex insists I be because she just doesn't exist so it's foolish to think I don't deserve love especially from myself just because I'm not perfect - I do have lots of people in my life who love me just the way I am - and always have - because that's what love is!! and to quote the movie wonder woman again - "it's not about deserve. it's about what you believe. and i believe in love."

Preach, Diana. It's not about deserve. We don't have to be perfect and good-little-girls who always do what we think is the right thing. Especially because what we think is the right thing probably isn't anyway in the other person's eyes which I learned recently with t. All we can do is live from the love that's inside each and every one of us and that includes love for ourselves.

ok I think I'm done being schmaltzy for the day.

i think it's time to drop the good-little-girl complex once and for all. it no longer serves me in any useful way whatsoever. maybe once it did, but i'm not that scared little girl anymore.

Ours used to be. That was before my parents remodeled in 1970 to the open "California" look.

Eta - partiers next door are still sleeping. Anybody got any fireworks i can throw on their balcony?

Doesn’t art have a drum?

I’m reading and commenting on the writing workshop contributions for my class tomorrow night. I am completely hung up on one woman’s phrase “wild goatherders.” I’m assuming she meant “herds of wild goats”?

Interesting. All the previous houses I have lived in have had a door on every room including kitchen but I've just moved into a house with an extension which has an open plan kitchen/dining/living area. I think the trend is that way in newer houses and modern extensions.
I love the open plan space soooo much.

*passes una my drum* it's sturdy too, you can make it pretty darn loud!!

maybe the goatherders themselves were really wild - you know - long stringy hair and crazy-colored robes and stuff? maybe? teehee

oh and ixnay on the irecrackersfay, they might scare marcus.

h got home from his delivery to the LA area a couple hours ago, he's sleeping now. i'm cooking this morning so far I've made a batch of spaghetti, hard boiled eggs, and a pot of my you know what. not sure what else i might make today.

See Artie spamming the couch again.

Sure ive heard of wild goats!

Yeah we dont need more sheep poo.

I like the balance of open-ish space and doors in my 1940 house. It was built on a 1940 footprint, but with the aesthetics of a 1930's house, so bigger windows, archways in the center space instead of doors, and plaster walls. The kitchen is a separate space and mostly not visible to the dining room and living room. But the living room and dining room are open to each other through a wide archway. The living room was originally a big enclosed porch, and the dining room was the living room. In the US, a room can only be listed as a bedroom if it has a door, a closet, and enough space for at least a single sized bed (unless it's an historic home), so that probably continues to influence building styles. Also homes are listed at higher value acc to # of bedrooms; so eliminating even a small bedroom and incorporating the space to create a bigger bath and closet, for instance, can lower the home's resale value, even if it makes a better functional space.

That's okay, there's no rule against it.