Ah... the living room.  This is, in fact, where most of my hobbies take place, whether it's photographs that I'm shooting against a curtain backdrop or artwork that I'm drawing while watching some kind of cheesy 1980s sitcom (or possibly a movie, if there aren't too many late fees on my Blockbuster account), or some costume that I'm trying to sew up at the last minute.  It would also be the room used to entertain guests... if I ever had any...

At some point, of course, I'd like to have a real coffee table, but for now I'm using an old wooden trunk that used to belong to my parents (it used to only be on loan, but then they saw what my cats did to the corners when they were kittens, and now for some reason they don't want it back).  I think, actually, most of my furniture was a gift from my mother at some point... one of the nice side effects of a mother that always buys new furniture (or used to, before my dad started law school) and only has one house.  I would like, in the future, to add a couple of gaming consoles to this scene (at least a Nintendo, Super Nintendo, and something that plays some form of House of the Dead) since I've sold all of my original systems to pay off earlier bills, but the apartment does look nice and clean with only a television and VCR/DVD player, so I may put off any entertainment purchases for a while (like I'd have any spare money, anyway... hahahahaha).

Ever since I moved in to this apartment (in July of 2003) I'd been saving black and gold picture frames from various thrift stores, and I finally found the time to put some of them up.  When I could afford to I put mirrors in them (or bought frames that came with mirrors in the first place), and the rest I filled with copies of vintage postcards that I'd printed off of eBay.  Maybe someday, when I'm rich, I'll replace them with the originals... or not.  The exceptions to this are the compilation frame, which holds photographs of my cats, and the tiny square frames, which hold reprints of vintage Halloween cards that I've purchased from my aunt's vintage Halloween website (www.oldfashionhalloween.com).  I'm always on the lookout for new frames as well, so if you ever run across any that you have no use for I'd love to take them off your hands.

More framed cards from my aunt's website, along with some very yummy scented candles (I believe the scent is 'Spice Cake' and I bought them at Fred Meyer... they're the only candles I've found yet this year that don't smell like chemicals or flowers!).  This is also where I keep the majority of my books, since I can't really afford a set of large bookcases... most of the books here are stacked two or three deep and packed in so tight I need a crowbar to get them out.  All of my nerdy books are here (including every hardbound set of core AD&D books), my childhood books (including the Neverending Story, Watership Down, and the sequel to Mary Poppins), and some random oddities (programming books, videogame books, sewing books, etc.).

Most people have seen this view already, but if not then that is the amazing aviary that my friend Rick helped me build when I first moved in (when I say 'helped', of course, I mean that I had a vague idea about how it should go together and Rick built the whole thing all by himself out of a thrift store stereo cabinet and a second hand endtable).  You can't really tell, but in the frames are some prints of some Mucha and Waterhouse images, and the lamp is converted from a tin with a black and burgundy Asian print along each side.  The curtained archway is where many of the photo shoots for my pin-up site would take place... it was very affordable for me to just switch the curtains and add a few props for each different shoot.  I always thought that at some point I would move on to exciting on-location photo shoots... stupid boob-stealing cancer!

I got such a good deal on this aquarium right before I moved... fifty dollars on Craig's List for both the tank and the stand!  Of course, I had to pay more than twice that for the matching hood, but that's all right because it looks so fabulous, right?  I currently have four goldfish in there and I'd like to add some snails except I think the goldfish might eat them... sigh.  The loveseat came from Goodwill (where else?) and was also a deal at less than a hundred dollars, and everything manages to stay pretty cozy as long as I remember to turn on the oil heater as soon as I wake up in the morning... erm... afternoon.

Well, that's pretty much it for the living room... how about if we move along to the office nook or perhaps the bedroom?  There's always the kitchen as well, or you can take a look at my tiny but charming bathroom...