My Bookcase

Field work # 1- Personal Bookcase Inventory

Wooden bookcase (unknown wood of light color, unknown brand or name, containing five shelves that allow adjustments of the height; bookcase is a part of the standard furniture in a student housing Lappkärrsberget and it is owned by SSSB). Bookcase stands between a bed and a club table with mirror. I changed the original position of the bookcase as soon as I moved into the room at the end of August, so that it can now function partly as a bed side cabinet.

Inventory: (from left to right):

Bottom shelf: 1) LP record (Hair soundtrack) bought at the Taby flea market for 10 kr, 2) violet hand bag bought in Stockholm the first week I came here, 3) textile box (containing: numerous photocopies of articles and book chapters, three cotton grocery bags, two chargers – one for a mobile phone and one for iPod), 4) two empty glass bottles and one empty plastic bottle – remains of a party, 5) box with a light bulb 6) Riter Sport chocolate given to me at the University – expiry date was two years ago 7) spray cleaning bottle

2^nd shelf: 1) IKEA alarm clock, 2) four winter scarves, 3) three fashion scarves, 4) iPod Touch in a pouch

Middle shelf: 1) thirteen books vertically placed (two Lonely Planet travel guides, three Swedish language text books, two novels, four books on design, one book about how to write, one book about social constructions), 2) personal diary, 3) several magazines horizontally placed (student magazines, local newspapers, one thin recipe book, seven tourist prospects of Slovenia), 4) several maps horizontally placed (museum maps, Stockholm maps, Uppsala map, Stockholm guide, exchange student handbook)- all maps acquired when visiting museums/cities

4^th shelf (the highest): 1) lucky charm hanging on a wood protrusion given to me as a gift from a classmate, 2) two tea boxes with tea bags, 3) two magazine CDs, 4) plastic cup with bonbons, 5) two magazines on digital art, 6) two asthma inhalers, 7)multivitamin supplements in a plastic tube, candle (never lit), 8)one unopened small bottle of honey schnapps brought from Slovenia as a present for a friend, 9) handkerchiefs. This shelf has an elastic band on the wall side that is not used.

Top shelf: 1)two packages of table candles, 2) two empty plastic cups 3)postcards from friends and family (positioned so that you can see the postcard image), 4)one (unwritten) postcard of Stockholm, 5)two small candles in glass (never lit), 6)one package of pills against fever, 7) three pins – Stockholm University pin and two Pearl Jam pins.

Top of the bookcase: dust (empty/nothing placed on it)

Right side of the bookcase (facing the bed): 1)one postcard (bought for myself) and 2)one photo of my dog, both glued with stick tape, can be seen while lying in bed

All together cca 120 items of that cca 80 acquired in Sweden. The upper three shelves look quite empty – perhaps signifying that I am not living here for a long time.