Right now, as the sun is setting pleasantly on another beautiful autumn day, I have wandered from where I had been reading Charles Dickens on the front porch and arrived within my room. The aroma of which, upon opening the door, struck me as surprisingly pleasant.

For the record: my room is a conglomeration of many items, both adhered to the well-covered walls and atop the various flat surfaces arranged throughout the homely space. Above my bed, I have several rows of books. Though imperceptibly bending where the books weigh heaviest, these shelves are a source of uncommon joy to me.

These shelves support (and this is an incomplete list):

Books (many, many books). In fact, there are more than 50 books above my sleeping head at any given moment. These range from hardback copy of East of Eden to the complete major works of 5 different religions. I like reading. And I like books.

Records. I have a shelf filled to capacity with old vinyl records that I found in a back alleyway last year at some point. This was discovered at an opportune moment in my life when I had recently purchased an old turntable from a thrift store. So they were recovered, happily.

Coffee. I love coffee. And so I have much coffee (including a drip-brewer) on the shelves alongside my bed. This is used every morning (and some nights) to wake me up. Succesfully. To a fault.

Old notebooks + 1 year subscription to National Geographic Magazine. I have not thrown away any of my notebooks since freshmen year. And this has created quite a copious collection. Also, I was subscribed (as a gift) to Nat. Geo. for a year before deciding it was outside of my budget (one year subscription does not feed you. 5 lbs. of Ramen, purchased for a similar price, certainly does.).

Sweaters. I like wearing wool sweaters. Thus, at this very moment, a stack of sweaters sits waiting to be worn on my shelving unit.

Pipe + pipe tobacco. I occasionally smoke my pipe in contemplative moments on the front porch. This most often occurs when I am not training for a marathon. It also most often happens when I have a large glass of apple cider and a good (hardback) book to go with it. Did you know: pipe tobacco has an alarmingly pleasant aroma? Because it does.

Candles. I have a sort of weird appreciation for candles. And right now, I have several vanilla scented candles burning away.

All of these items are mingling to create a subtle scent that makes me think: Library dipped in Wax while Grandpa, wearing a wool sweater, smokes his Pipe with a cup of Coffee.

And that, my friend, is “what’s up”.

-Andrew