Where in your environment would I look if I wanted to see your eccentricity (or "individuality," if you prefer) in concentrated form?

If you peeked in my bedroom at night, you would see the dog smack between hubby and I.

On the other hand, if you looked at our bookshelves you would probably get the best view of our passions and oddities.

Sure. My bedroom drawers and closets. Everything neatly folded; similar colors together, sox paired up, everything ironed…

Edited to add: Or my rap sheet! :)

My book, movie and music collections.

On my body. Just look at my tattoos.

Great question.

I agree with TF. I’m inked up, but only in places that you could never see. I think that speaks volumes.

Conversely, you could just look at my computer and have a read through.

This is a cool question, but I’m not sure how to answer it. I would just have to say “my house.” I’m scattered all over it.

A peek at the hard drives on my computer will tell you a lot about me, particularly the 300gb hard drive dedicated to digitized comic books.

If you look in my bedroom, you’ll see the 5% of it that is me and the 95% that is my parents. Going through my phone or hard drive might give you some insight. As would my bank statement.

My bookcase.

I have three trunks with my past in them.
I stopped displaying all of it. Now they are like time capsules.
Hopefully one day, when I am no longer here someone will appreciate the contents.

In a place know only to me as “the well”.

For years, as a composer and tale spinner, if you will, I have found myself jotting random thoughts and streams of verbiage on a variety of dog-eared notepads, margins of torn newspaper columns margins and food stained napkins. Stuffing them into the secret crevices of my life.

When they eventually emerge from their hiding places, I carefully, and ironically, systematically place all of these fragments into “the well”, aka as the paper shopping bag marked as: “the well”, in the back of the closet. When I officially launch into a new project, I keep “the well”, well within reach.

So, if you really wanted to look in my environment to see an element of my eccentricity, there would be one of places you might look, although, with all of the souvenirs from the days of glory strewn about, you might just get lost on your way to “the well”. I certainly do, every day.

But that’s another tale to tell…

What an interesting question! I have bits of me all over the place. For a look inside my brain, there is the bookcase and my desk – messy, but full of interesting stuff. Then there’s the shelf displaying all of my antique baby cups, the top of the entertainment center with all of the metal birds, and all of the “N“s (for my last name) popping up all over the house, though concentrated in the kitchen.

As for my true eccentricity, the kitchen is the place. It’s generally messy on the surface (papers strewn about, dishes in the sink), but open a cabinet or drawer and everything will be perfect. There is a huge custom made spice rack, in which all of the spices are in identical bottles labeled with my label maker and stored alphabetically – labels forward. It is my favorite thing in the whole house. If even one spice bottle is slightly out of place, I notice and must correct it… but I can overlook dishes for days. I’m very OCD about the inner organization of things, but quite lax about the overall appearance. Weird.

Welcome to my 12’ X 11’ playroom (counts are conservative and there is much more, but this shoiuld give you a feel for my madness)::
mini-fridge, microwave, toaster oven, K-cup coffee maker, paper plates, etc
ijoy massgae chair, Sealey Posturepedic ergo chair (yes, that one)
audio: six JBLs, Harmon-Kardon amp, two 400CD Sonyplayers neartly filled, TV w/cable/VCR
computer w/12 speakers, printer, 24” flatscreen monitor.
security camera monitor. paper shredder two telephones (one speaker phone)
two humidors filled with imported mini-cigarillos
collections:
cobalt glass 150 pieces, inc. head, hand, vases, bowls, figurines
bronzes/pewter: 30+ pieces inc Lennon, Hendrix, Marilyn, dragons, fantasy women, buddhas
jewelry: mostly Native American: 100 bracelets, 200 rings, 100 pendants/necklaces, eight watches
rocks/minerals:120 pieces inc12 geodes, globes, carved pyramids, crystals, agate slices, carved animal figurines,
cast iron vintage figures: 8 pieces
Artenisia Riconada figurines 60 pieces
incense burners: eight and a large variety of incense sticks and cones
two neon signs
clocks: 20
writing instruments (collector): 12 inc Cartier, Omas
art glass figurines:30 pieces
hand carved pipes: 24 pieces (several in use)
six antique lanterns w/ cobalt or ruby globes, wired
ceramic/porcelain pieces : 24 pieces
decorative plates: 24 pieces
framed photos and art inc original Martiros

My workbench. It’s a mess – filled with tools and uncompleted projects. Bits of broken items that can always be used in something else. Wire, duct tape, brazing rod, silver solders and epoxies. It’s all there – a testament to my cheap side.

My junk drawer.

My reading corner. A comfy chair with ottoman between two windows in the den is where I spend the bulk of my down time. Next to it is the radiator cover piled high with New Yorkers, LL Bean and Pottery Barn catalogues and adult ed booklets, including one that offers the lit class I teach. Next to that is the portable bookcase that my husband made for me with – usually – three or four library books, five or six paperback loans from friends and older magazines (those New Yorker articles I mean to get to) on its shelves. On a small table to the right of the chair are my phone, today’s NY Times opened to the editorial pages and, if its midday, a can of Cherry Coke Zero. There used to be a red cocker spaniel on the floor if I was in the chair, but sadly, Prince died three years ago. There you have it – essence of Jan.

My bookcase (which has very few books, and lots of other things instead).

My name pretty much says it all. I have craft stuff stored scattered throughout the entire house, except in my grandson’s rooms. Even in there you will find my handmade curtains and bedspreads.

My eyes.

Definitely my bookcase, but also the shelves in my office. They’ve got everything from knitting and crafting supplies, to scripts of every show I’ve ever worked on, to my treasured stuffed animals that I’ve had since I was a baby. My office is quintessentially me, and I love it! I’m so happy with my office – until we moved into our new house last month, I never had a space that was my very own!

An electric picture frame with pics of my kids rotating
4 specific brands of nacho cheese
three types of chips
many, many, many, many types of cheese
A picture of my brother and I from when we were babies where I don’t know which one I am
A picture of my brother and I from when we were teens where I visually knew who I was but not other wise thanks, in large part, to him.
Some of my favorite art and designs
The Simpsons, MASH, Arrested Development
Harry Potter, Chronicles of Narnia, Hitchhiker’s Guide
Bourne Movies, Airplane, Pixar Films
U2, My ituns On shuffle
A box with a lock on it and the key for the lock is in the box, just to screw with people.

My millions of photos, my tattoos and piercings and scars, my bedroom – where on the one wall, I got my diplomas next to my oldest son’s photo on a giant calendar poster, on the second I have a giant mirror with drawers the tops of which are falling under toys, on the third is a giant painting of an abstract bridge next to a rainbow wall mural that is also a spiral above my youngest’s crib next to 8 tiny shelves built into the corner of the wall that hold: my fertility goddess obtained in Cape Town, South Africa..one of my books of shadows from the days of my witchcraft times…some select books on parenting, Harry Potter Book 1…a scarf I wore to my wedding in my hair…a statue of 4 figures intertwined (2 adults and 2 children) next to the frog and the cow coin banks for my kids…next to a wooden chest that has sage for cleansing next to an old-fashioned metal slinky obtained from someplace in the midwest…next to a bunch of little knick-knacks my husband’s saved up over the years next to some jewelry, some little kitten figurines, a stack of Bitch magazines with tons of condoms and lube on top, a box from candy that now has birthday cards in it…next to the fourth wall that has the window which has more holiday cards, an anal plug, sex ropes, more photos and my husband’s business cards scattered…and then in the center of the room is our bed, built by my husband with a bunch of pillows, blankets, lap tops, Working Mother magazines, baby toys and books, yoga clothing and my son’s doctor kit…on the floor are the yoga mats, Friends episodes, some random photo albums, styrofoam, diapers and baskets with underwear and socks…on TV is the Baseball game which is pretty standard and the Yankees are winning so I’m calm…in the middle of the night, you’d see me with my infant and my cats laying on top of my husband reading, fluthering…the rest of my house will add more pieces but the bedroom is where it’s at

My dresser drawers and closet are very organized and maintained to where I know I can reach for any pair of shoes, bag or clothing item and know it’s going to be altered up to date to fit, be clean, polished and almost always pressed. I like to be able to load up a bag at moment’s notice and be out the door and know whatever I have packed is going to be fine for wherever I’m going. Likewise, my handbags always contain the same items: lip balm, lipstick, powder, travel sized toothbrush/paste, babywipes, lotion, phone charger, celly, pen, calendar, tin of gum, pair of knickers, a tampon and pantyliner, hair band, lighter, I.D. and debit card.

My ipod, pantry, and journals.

My journal of sketches, recipes, physics notes, funny things, and my observations on life.
My bookshelf.
My movie collection.
My music collection.

My collections, book, movie and music. My closet with all the clothes I’m almost able to wear again. My hard drives on my PC. And in one of the drawers of my nightstand is where I keep all my toys like yo-yos, Rubik’s Cube, crayons and so on.

The notes I take when solving a problem..diagrams, arrows, numbers, a complete revealing mess that only myself and my eccentric business partner, who is like me, can understand.

i think my bedroom pretty accurately shows my ‘eccentricity’. haha.
the most obvious place to look first would be my cd case. i am one of those crazy teenagers who still buys cds! weird. my growing record collection, too. i have mum’s old records – the rolling stones, twisted sister, etc – and my own, which includes everything from the all in the family soundtrack to rancid’s indestructible.
i have 2 scrapbooks. one is put together pretty neatly with all of my ticket stubs and other paraphernalia from concerts, and the other is just stuffed with recipes from magazines from the 50s that my elder neighbor owned.
my door is covered in band stickers and a few tour posters, one wall is more or less a marilyn monroe shrine, come to think of it, and the others have a random distribution of things from conor oberst pictures to audrey hepburn to a picture of a cow my mum painted years and years ago.
if you’re looking for ‘collections’, you’ll notice a lot of: cats, seahorses, peacocks, owls, marilyn monroe, conor oberst, old suitcases, and sadly, a limited amount of polaroids.
my bookshelf isn’t nearly as expressive as i’d like it to be. most of the books on it are older books that i still like, but they don’t really have as much significance as they used to.
oh, and my magazines. i’m a recovering magazine junkie. i’ve stopped buying them as often for trees’ and moneys’ sake, but i can’t get rid of the old ones.

So Jeruba… what about you? I’m guessing it was your office, at least before you spruced up for visitors.

My playlist, or my extended setlist.

Well, @augustlan, my office or study is a pretty good mirror, although my real book collection is not in here. There’s probably fewer than 200 books in this room. The muted purple walls, the purple-framed Monet prints, the modest but highly respectable collection of antique Limoges, the comfy couch, the messy desk, the 3 computers (one in the closet), the filing cabinet and credenza with the towering stacks on top, the piles of classical CDs, the Botticelli calendar, the stained-glass lamp, the nine candles: yes, all definitely mine.

But even closer to home are my pockets—nobody else has said pockets! One recent New Year’s Day I took stock of my life by emptying my pockets and explaining in a little essay what each item was and why it was there, and the result was like a miniature autobiography.

No one has even said purse or handbag or backpack. I’m surprised.

Still, I think all the answers are marvelous. Thank you! I am fascinated by the inventories, and I was hoping somebody would say tattoos. The most deeply intriguing and mysterious response is @FB‘s “the well.” I have to say I think @whatthefluther takes the prize in the “concentrated” category. wtf, you have all that in one room? Can we see a picture?

@Jeruba…Yes, that is one room and the rest of the house is just as concentrated. The big bronzes are in the living room and bedroom. There are clocks through out and fine porcelain. I have well over 200 unicorn/pegasus figurines from small art glass to a 24” brass, some nice jade pieces, etc.. And of course Elmo, the ten foot tall knight in shining armor, outside guarding the house. When I stopped working, I put all my energy into collecting, and, I had quite a bit of money saved with which to play. I’m done, tho…the house is packed. The photo included in the interview is in the playroom but doesn’t show much. Between Sherry and I, there’s some cobalt glass, my biggest agate slab just below the flag and that’s a monkey holding the flag. I’ll see about getting some photos posted somewhere and let you know.

Probably my iPod and bookshelf.

Well, if you break into the house, and go into the dining room (which is a hodgepodge of auction and inherited furniture all by itself), you’ll see, next to the bay windows, a desk. If you were to open that desk, and look through the drawers, you would find some interesting things. There’s a coin collection—organized by country (nothing very valuable). There is a bunch of computer crap. DVDs. Some jacks and dice. And if you look in the lower lefthand drawer (assuming it isn’t too stuffed to be pulled out), you will find a collection of toilet paper from all over the world. Ok. Not the world, just Europe, circa 1972.

I have no idea what that will tell you about me. However, if you come up to my office, you might see a bunch of Soviet posters, various odd pictures, a science fiction collection, photos from years and years back, a fake whale tusk, some native American pottery, various geodes and quartz, a chinese monk (carved in wood), a bunch of plants including an orchid, an empty bottle that used to hold some vile Chinese liquor, an old Panama Hat (somewhat flattened), and a horsehoe crab shell.

Dunno what that would tell you about me, but there it is.

it’s all inside…sadly