I found this oval tabletop about 4 feet wide and 7 feet tall on 32nd street. I was driving in my car to maya’s, or something. I can’t remember exactly what it was. But I saw it on a normal drive, not when I was out hunting in alleys. (It might have been before I started really doing that.) and I realized that I could not get it. I wanted it. But I passed by, realizing that seeing sheets of plywood that big just out there for free is really rare. And it had a nice finish and oval shape. But I accepted that I wouldn’t get it. I didnt have the time in that moment and there was no way it would still be there in an hour or so.
A day or two later, I drove by the same spot on my way to the freeway and it was still there. I turned around and went back and got mom’s car and hauled it into the back, it barely fit, but I took it two blocks back home and carried it into my room myself, and just left it leaning against my bed and drove off in my car to maya’s.
I came back home a few days later and now had to deal with this huge thing. I didn’t want to put it outside, cause it might get ruined outside. But it was so big to just be in my room. I leaned it against my wall where Blair’s books was for a few weeks, while the bookcase was being shown at Punto Lairs. It was precarious, but it was temporary. I would use it in my shed, I knew. This was right before I finished school I think. So I thought I would be building the shed very soon. Then my accident happened on April 1, and pushed back the shed project two months, so the oval plywood board stayed unexpectedly in my room for months, and it became a sort of constant backdrop in my life I guess.
In the meantime, I thought about other uses for the board. I thought at one point to put it behind my bed headboard, just as a kind of stylish flourish. Then I thought to put it at the foot of my bed standing up (maybe with the bottom cut flat) and hang my tv on it. These ideas didn’t feel right enough. And I thought of them while I was injured, and I couldnt even move the huge thing if I wanted to. So there it stayed, in my room, between my bed and the wall.
Finally it came time to build the shed. It didn’t really make sense to use the oval sheet of plywood on the floor or the walls, since it would be inconsistent with the other plywood, and I would have to cut it down to not be an oval and then it would be a much smaller piece of plywood. So I didn’t know what to do really. At one point I had the thought to hang it from the ceiling, as a kind of shade device from the translucent roof if it was too hot. It would also serve as a bounce board for the darkroom light I got for the room that bounces the light from the ceiling to create a soft even light. I thought the orangish stain of the wood would warm the color of the light up as a plus.
After I had done the floors and the fiberglass walls, I had originally anticipated putting plywood on the interior walls. But I got so into the fiberglass, and it turned out to not be unbearably hot with all the windows open. So now I don’t really plan on putting plywood interior walls up. Just gonna leave it light.
The oval then came to use today when I was thinking about desks. This morning when I woke up I didn’t think I would work much on the shed. I needed to put in some hours doing blknws transcripts. Had all these texts I was putting off (still am). I found that I couldnt really use the shed despite how much I had worked to this week. The only open surface was the dinky enamel top desk that was uncomfortable to sit at and it was covered in tools and screws.
I had been planning on having the desk spaces be in the north and east walls [facing the brick wall and tuff shed] and having the west and south walls I finally decided on putting desktops on the walls with the windows. This also entails not having plywood on any walls. And having shelving and other stuff on the north and east walls.
I marked the halfway point and clamped a 2x4 down as a guide for my circular saw
The west wall got a full half
Built supports into the studs that support my weight quite sturdily (and dont hit my knees when im sitting at the desk!)
On the south wall I cut it down to five feet, leaving off a lone round corner…
Then came the idea to just place it vertically. I like the way it looks, but I didnt screw it in. Not totally committed to it I guess.
I installed the light above the south wall. I was thinking of the south desk as my “night desk” since it doesn’t have the windows and it faces the house, so I can see if anyone is approaching. The west wall is for the day, so there’s big windows and lots of air, and it has a pleasant view of the trees and sunset…