Odd Man Out; or: The Triumph of Function over Form as Expressed through the Nightstands of Mrs. Duf, Duf and TinyE

Mrs. Duf's nightstand says: "I like to read, but I don't really use bookmarks all that much. I am not anal-retentive. I like antiques. Form follows function. I am a mother" (note the baby* monitor and the tissues). Currently reading: Until I Find You by John Irving. Just completed: Lisey's Story by Stephen King. On deck: either The Hot Kid by Elmore Leonard or Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger.


My nightstand says: "I'm anal-retentive. I like to read. I like to write. I like antiques. I wear glasses. Function follows form in my world: that lamp does not have near enough foot candles of light to support reading or much else, and in order to know what time it is at night, I have to look across the bed and over a sleeping Mrs. Duf at a clock that actually projects light so that you can read the time in the dark." Currently reading: The Sea by John Banville. Just completed: Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger. On Deck: The Lay of the Land by Richard Ford**.


TinyE's nightstand says: "I don't need an alarm clock to tell me it's 6:00 a.m.! My parents buy my stuff at Ikea so that I can put stickers on it without getting hollered at. I like snowglobes, fairies, Barney (although she would have me add that she is too old for Barney), but reading...not so much."


Just kidding. She likes to "read." She just keeps her books in the bed with her***. Her nightstand is too crowded with snowglobes. Therefore, form follows function in her world. TinyE is currently enjoying (not quite reading yet): Scholastic's First Dictionary.



*In this case, the baby is five (5) years old. And yes, she uses the baby monitor. I think we plan to keep it into TinyE's teenage years.

**One of my all-time favorites.

***Yes, she sleeps with the books in the bed.