I was just thinking about how much STUFF I own and how and why a person like me accumulates so much stuff.
I was looking over my desk at the latest catalog of
Bits and Pieces I received in the mail the other day (and curse the person who managed to get me back on their mailing list! That is an evil, evil, thing you....oooh, I so want that puzzle on page 6...). Between the board games, jigsaw puzzles, computer games, movies and television shows, and decks of playing cards I own, I'm pretty filled up for a lifetime, yet there's a part of me that still wants more. Now I think more about a place to put all of them.
I've always thought it would be nice to own some kind of game shop like the places we go when we're ready to drool over new dice or pick up the latest RPG book. Many of those game shops also have a play area where a 4-plus-hr Axis & Allies game can be staged with like-minded folks.
And then I thought about an internet coffee house with a center patio/garden style courtyard. Sitting in the patio seating of a coffee house is okay, but sitting in an inside courtyard away from the traffic is sometimes better.
Finally I thought how cool would it be to combine all my loves into a single shop, and call it The Playhouse. A three-to-four-story multi-platform hangout for the next generation. First floor, coffee and cafe and sitting areas and computer stations. Second floor (or perhaps 2nd half of the first floor, but definitely it's own area), gaming and comic book shop. This would be easier if a current shop just decided to move in an run that section. Third floor, LAN stations and table-top (board/card) gaming stations.
I like the idea of a place where people could go for multiple reasons and find other folks hanging out as well. Not every gamer is the type to hang out at a game shop to watch and/or participate in a game, but wouldn't it be nice if you were in the mood for a coffee and ran into fellow gamers.
Of course my dream Playhouse would also include a yarn and string shop as well. A girl can dream.
I'm beginning to envision a donut-shaped building "divided" into 4 sections. Over here we have coffee and culinary, with the second and third stories geared towards plant growing, surrounded by glass instead of bricks to create a greenhouse for growing foods used downstairs in the cafe. 2nd section would be the gaming, with the 2nd and 3rd stories as mentioned before. 3rd section yarn and stringworking, 2nd story sewing and training room, and 3rd story.... Not sure, but for some wacky reason (and because it's my dream playhouse) we could throw in a spa room. If it were semi-attached to the gardening section, the humidity from the spa would help with the greenhouse, I would think. 4th section for the painters, with 1st story being an art supply store, 2nd story dedicated to lots of artist easels, and the third story being a rotating artist gallery. Each section of each story would have easy pathways between them, inviting folks to cross boundaries and mingle. I could even picture pathways actually crossing the center of the donut shape, both to encourage walking through the center area to get to a section, but also providing areas of shade in the courtyard without completely blocking the sunlight. Special care would be taken to keep humidity from the spa section away from the art gallery section, as maybe that could be the area designated as the changing rooms.
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