A Chair to Cheer for

We recently brought this beautiful Morris chair home. 

 

I did a bit of Internet research on my new piece of furniture, and discovered that not only was it originally designed way back in the late 1800s, BUT some famous people have also sung about it. And, as we all know, a chair that makes it into a ditty is a chair to be cherished. In her cover of Irving Berlin’s ‘You'd Be Surprised’, Marilyn Monroe sings: ‘At a party/Or at a ball/I've got to admit/He's nothing at all/But in a Morris chair/You'd be surprised.’ Barbara Streisand’s version of ‘My Honey’s Lovin’ Arms’ goes: ‘A cozy Morris chair/What kind of chair is a Morris chair?’

So there you go. What I love most about it is not its cultural footing, though. I love:

1.                   that it is so very, very comfortable;

2.                  that its arms are wide enough to rest a cup of tea;

3.                  that I can read a book in style.

Furniture win.

If I Were in Charge of the World

Photograph by AngelalalaChan

If I were in charge of the world, newspaper articles would be colour-coded, so you’d know not to read a grey article if you didn’t want to be sad, and to read a blue article instead.

If I were in charge of the world, your ears would have an internal Dictaphone, so you could record all unexpected compliments and kind words, and listen to them again whenever you wanted to.

If I were in charge of the world, there would be a social network for meeting people who loved to do the things you hated doing. So I could fill in your forms while you washed my dishes.

If I were in charge of the world, you would also be a synesthete, so you’d see Monet when Ella Fitzgerald sings Baby, It’s Cold Outside.

If I were in charge of the world, a sigh would be enough to expel any frustration, and all your fears could be swallowed and digested with a gasp.

If I were in charge of the world, there would be no food allergies, so you could eat peanut butter or avocado or cheese or butternut – if you wanted to.

If I were in charge of the world, you would receive a card every day of the year. Some cards would inevitably say ‘Happy birthday!’ or ‘Get well soon!’ or ‘Thank you!’ On the other days (those days that blur into The Everyday), the cards would remind you that you are blessed, or let you know you that you are loved, or tell you not to forget to pay that bill or buy toilet paper.

If I were in charge of the world, there would be a device you could use to feel (and therefore truly understand) another’s pain or joy.

If I were in charge of the world, you would be able to custom-make your car’s exterior, so your car could be fluffy or polka-dotted or covered in leaves.

If I were in charge of the world, there would be a photocopier for perfect days, so you could fold them up and pull them out of your pocket whenever you’d like.

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I owe this post to @joannapaterson who posted her version of the world if she were to take charge, and encouraged others to write their own.