the evolution of the stool

Try this trick for practice writing. Pick the most mundane subject and write an entire essay about it. Haha. Well, I wasn't about to tell you the history of the chair or how the stool was invented. (Ooooh maybe I should look that up.) I just wanted to share how I came to the decision that I needed to buy the particular stool that I showed in my previous post. 

I have cycled through several office chairs for my desk that I've had through all the homes we've lived in. It's a huge desk, with a glass top, several drawers on the left including a filing drawer for hanging folders, a keyboard drawer in the center that I use as a regular drawer, and another drawer and cabinet with a shelf on the right. Initially I had a chair with arms, probably purchased with the desk at Ikea. One problem with arms is that when you tuck the chair in, the arms would be in the way, even if I had the chair at its lowest setting. I went through a couple of other similar chairs, probably from Office Depot or maybe Staples. I have a distinct memory of a trip to Staples where my entire family just cycled through all the office and gaming chairs available but that was probably to buy my teen daughter a chair. When we temporarily moved into an apartment to sell our 2nd home, I decided not to get a new chair. Instead I started looking at stools.

One of the reasons I considered a stool was because while I insisted on keeping the large desk, with limited space in the apartment, a stool was something I could slide all the way in under the desk and it occupied virtually no space when not in use. I had the X-chair from Target, which was really a cross between an ottoman and a highly-cushioned armless chair, great for the living room, as it was both attractive and comfortable to sit on. But when we moved into our new home, I turned it into the stool for my vanity and my office desk found a place in the kitchen/dining area where it eventually got paired with a dining chair. 

We did have other stools in the home, one I used to sit on when loading the washer and/or the dryer. Another that I used to prop laundry baskets on to save my poor back or to use with my sewing machine. One day, one of these stools simply fell apart, while I was sitting on it. Splat on the ground, screaming... I think I was more shocked than truly hurt but I was also mad. Why do we keep these cheap stools from Ikea?! And why do we not re-tighten the screws? Why would you let me sit on a wobbly stool that clearly wanted to meet its death? So I can meet mine??????? No. I refused to die by stool. That went into the trash, to be replaced not by its identical twin, which we still had. It was replaced by another stool... from Ikea.

Stool 2.0 from Ikea was wooden. At least I think it's wood. Or some composite that seems like wood. It's a lot sturdier and does the job when I'm mending torn dresses or hemming pants with the sewing machine. It doesn't wobble. So when I set up my little recording area, I sat on the stool. After some time, I realized, it's rock hard and I can't take it anymore so I sat on my daughter's chair. Remember the office chair from Staples? I think that's the one. Or maybe it's from Target. I don't know. But it's no Herman Miller, for sure. 

My recording equipment is currently set up in my older daughter's bedroom. She's off to college, so the room is mine. I think I'm going to have to move everything into the master bedroom eventually though. I can't set up the monitors without moving things and her room is actually pretty noisy. Between the ticking of the clock and outside noise, I only just realized what a poor choice it is for recording. I'll keep working there for practice and making scratch tracks or guide tracks until I'm comfortable enough for a real take. I'll have to take the clock down. But yeah, the chair. Can't use it when playing guitar because those arm rests are in the way. Can't take sitting on the "wooden" Ikea stool long. So I brought up the cajon...

OMG I love my cajon. I dragged my 12 year old to Guitar Center when they had a percussion sale and we sat on every cajon on the floor, tapping and slapping until I settled on the Pearl Cherry Grove Cajon. She's a beauty. Best of all, she's got bass that bangs. And you know what, she is so lovely to sit on. I sit on this cajon to sing, to play guitar and record. However, it's much too low for the desk while I'm on the computer. I would not disrespect my beautiful instrument that way either. My beauty deserves a place of honor and to be used for music purposes, not as an office chair. 

So I finally said, it is time to buy a proper seat for this job and Project50 requires a stool. Something cushy and comfy, easy to slide around but with no parts that creak or make noise. I guess what I had in mind was one of those chairs that we might use in a studio but I don't need the backrest and certainly no arm rests so I can freely play while sitting on it. We got the new one from Amazon and it does the job. I've only had it for a few days but so far, so good.

If you're trying to get into Speech and Debate, here's a tip from <cough> the 3rd place winner of the College of Arts and Letters 1993-1994 SY Impromptu Speech competition (school will not be named). Master a particular subject and whenever you have to make a speech, find any connection you can between your assigned topic and the aforementioned mastered subject so you can fill in all the dead air with... facts about Winston Churchill and planes. Disclaimer: This strategy has been tried and tested, just not by me. 

Playlist Recommendation: Waiting for Superman, Daughtry (beat comes in after the one minute mark)