when i was in middle school, my parents bought a new dining table, replacing our round dark brown wood table that our family had been using for the past few years. they told me i could take the table and put it in my room. for the next four years, the table was a centerpiece of my room, occupying a big chunk of the space and effectively turning my room into a home office. whether i was doing my math homework, studying for SATs, holding a meeting with my teen magazine staff (most often just wally), or hosting friends for cheating preparations on the next calculus test, the table was always in the middle of the action. it was usually cleared on top except for a mug of pens and pencils and a desk lamp. since then, i have always sought out spaces with large desks or table tops. for me, this is THE essential element to my concept of a desirable space.

i mention this because i came across a new business venture near union square that touts itself as a space for writers. it is called Paragraph: Workspace for Writers (via kottke) and it has a really nice website. the place offers membership access (over a hundred bucks a month) to a very well-planned space (at least from the pictures they have up) that caters to those who want to sit down and seriously write. i was almost tempted to join but realized i am barely home enough to take advantage of such a membership. furthermore, i have a spacious apartment room with a very large desk. while i was at first skeptical of such an idea (who the hell wants to pay so much dough for some place to sit?), i realized that in New York, space is hard to come by and so many distracting elements (roommates, noise, crappy furniture) can take away from a writer’s concentration. after browsing the site, i began to miss Butler Library and how much i had loved the various spaces there – the Reading Room, where the lighting usually sucked but a comforting feeling of being with others who were studious, the 4th floor, where I often swore I went to school in Korea because of all the international students, the cafe lounge, where you can eat smelly food and talk loudly while studying and be guilt-free, and the stacks, where I sometimes found myself when I really needed to hunker down and crank out a paper. and to think – i never ceased going to Butler even when I had a very spacious room my senior year, the quietest roommate ever (hi Grace!), and of course, a very large desk, from Ikea. sometimes spaces grow on us and you find yourself going an extra seventy blocks uptown just to sit down in a familiar spot to get some studying done (as I did this past summer).

this is a very loosely written entry, i admit. lots of rambling and nostalgic waxing, but i should attempt a tie out (as my CDO group often does with their carry calculations): there are many dimensions to the concept of space (no pun intended) that are interesting to consider. in what ways do we arrange our own spaces, and how does this affect the way we behave? how do different people react to different spaces? why do people like to hang around Starbucks? how does space reflect the construct of power in our society? (haha, that last one was just a weak hark back at Foucault – I just remember the way he talked about the way prisons, hospitals, and schools were arranged and how they all seemed to have that panopticon type of construction where the customer – inmate, patient, student – is monitored and moved about regimentally). or to put things simply, what sort of spaces do you like? what spaces do you dislike?

my likes/dislikes: the privacy of a cubicle or a bathroom stall is nice sometimes, but i also like the bustle of a cafe and the open air of an art studio. outdoors are always nice, but not always convenient. i love places that feel homey but also like sleek places that aren’t too overboard on minimalist design. well, i guess like just about any place that is comfortable and has space for some books, a laptop, and a notepad. as for spaces i dislike? seats on the train (not the MTA subways, but NJTransit), seats on the airplane, lecture halls (they are napping spots for me and desks are too small), and the back seat of cars. i guess i like stationary spaces.