Next Monday is Earl’s birthday; and, for a special gift, I’m giving him an office makeover. It’s inspired by the plethora of reality TV shows I’ve tried to avoid this past season. You know the type: extreme makeover of body parts, extreme makeover of a room in your house, extreme makeover of wannabes to American Idols.
I doubt my gift qualifies as fodder for a season’s worth of entertainment. At the same time, I think rearranging his furniture, purchasing a flat panel monitor to give him what is called more desktop real estate, and adding cable capabilities to his television set will feel like a real facelift. I’m sending him away for the time it takes for two men and me to get everything reassembled.
Together Earl and I made a list of “must keeps,” “would like to keep,” and “can definitely go” items, so that I don’t discard the favored replica of a Chicago police car that is near and dear to his heart. His furniture is huge, so there’s not a lot that can be done in a small room, other than remove a piece or two. Which I plan to do. I also plan to rearrange the art on the walls and the artifacts on his desk. But I promise the Chicago police car stays.
It’s a new idea in gift giving – making something someone has more functional for that person – but I’m hoping it takes off, at least between us. We have plenty of stuff; what we need is someone who can display it better, use it more functionally, or simply say, “That has got to go . . . “
Maybe there is a kernel of an idea here for the next reality show.
Leave a Reply