Wednesday, July 21, 2010

ON FUN ~ Andy Town...

You have heard the term "Man Cave" before I am sure.  Usually a basement space that has been claimed by the man of the house as his own little spot to do with as he likes.  A shrine of favorite things.  Things that often the woman of the house won't allow anywhere else.  Man Cave sounds so primitive, so grunt-worthy, so completely manlike in its lack of creativity.  We prefer the term Andy Town for the little slice of our basement that Andy has created for himself.  Since he's out tonight playing softball, let me give you a tour. Off we go down into your typical basement...

Our collection of Wheaties boxes with Boston related sports teams greets you on your walk down, to let you know that you are entering a fun place.

Watch out! Don't trip over the cat. Tedy is a constant escort into Andy Town. He is a boy kitty named after a Patriots linebacker after all - he fits in down here just fine.

This is what greets you as you turn to your left at the bottom of the stairs. I am convinced that Andy has placed these items very strategically to deter my entrance into Andy Town, knowing they are two of my least favorite things: The Three Stooges and The Jeter Cup.

If you can get past the decoys, you will see on your left The Chair. This is a chair donated to the cause by my father, who upgraded his old recliner for a spiffy new one. This wasn't going to sit in our family room so Andy made it the centerpiece of Andy Town. This is where some serious music listening takes place folks. Do you see all of those CD's? That is but a fraction of the sprawling collection. Andy doesn't believe in i-pods or MP3's. He wants albums, tapes and CD's with cover art and liner notes that he can hold on to and examine while he listens to tunes.

And here is the view from The Chair. A boring stairwell wall in a basement converted into a forever growing collage of Concert Boy's music and memories.

Here is a closeup of some of the wall - it just happens to represent some of Andy's favorite things. A snapshot of his dearly departed old kitty and best pal Elvis is in the top left with the American flag beneath. Then we have Bob Marley, Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan images.  And to the right is a snapshot of the Red Sox winning the 2004 World Series along with former Bruins great Ray Borque hoisting the Stanley Cup (albeit for a different franchise).  Flanking the sports area is a winter photo of a farm near our old apartment and an eclectic collection of beer caps.

Whenever I come down here looking for Concert Boy, his sidekick Tedy is usually perched right above him on The Chair, absorbing music lessons.

On the other side of that wall of CD's is the dart board. There is plenty of room back here to throw from the official distance and the big wooden board with the colorful beer coasters keeps the heart of Andy Town safe from stray tosses.

And while you're up - grab a round of frosty ones out of the beer fridge tucked under the stairs. While I'm down here I might as well settle into The Chair and listen to one of my favorites...

I know. I'm such a geek. Tedy the cat seems to prefer tunes to spoken word listening. Guess I'll leave Andy Town to Concert Boy. Everyone needs their own special space after all. Even when they do stay out past their bedtime after softball ;0)

12 comments:

Gwen@ChewDigestBooks.com said...

Too funny, it sort of reminds me of a frat house!

Molly said...

I am very impressed with how neat, and clean, and well decorated it is! My husband's man cave would consist of a laptop computer, chair and television -- period!

Matty said...

I love it! And I envy him. Several of my friends have a "man cave" in their home. And they definitely have the manly motif. I would love to have one as my own little sanctuary. I know exactly how I would decorate it too. A comfy, cozy reclining chair or sofa.....TV.....stereo....a small fridge.....and lots of baseball "stuff" sitting around.

Penny said...

Oh I loved this post!! I love Andy town!! Looks like my kind of place. Very cozy and full of music. I think my most favorite thing is that little Tedy kept popping up randomly :)
A friend asked me to photograph my new house because he lives in NJ and had not been down to see it. I went room to room taking pics. Later when I uploaded them I noticed that Anthony Jr was in like 10 of 13!!! Just randomly in the shot!
Those little guys just kinda follow us around :) I love it though :)

Staci said...

Andy Town looks like a fun place indeed!!

kayerj said...

Andy is so lucky, it's nice to have a place of your own . . .

My husband had a man cave, then he sacrificed it for the new family room. He is temporarily displaced, but when we get the family room done he'll get the room upstairs for his own.

My friends man cave is a hunter's treasure trove with walls full of unique head mounts that he has killed. When you go up his stairs (It's over the garage) you are greeted by an enourmus buffalo head!

soleil said...

I love that you call it Andy Town. I really do not care for the phrase 'man cave' at all. I also find it refreshing that the recliner is not paired with a ginormous tv. ;)

Beth F said...

LOVE this post. I was smiling and laughing my way through.

Anonymous said...

Andy Town looks like a very fun guy place, even for Tedy. And I much prefer the name to man cave!
I see you've been listening to your Faulkner record ;)

Kathleen said...

Andy Town looks like my kind of place. I love the chair with the huge "bookcase" full of CDs. I love the music memorabilia. I have plenty of framed posters from the Fillmore in SF myself and they aren't even in the basement (alas in most places in California we don't have them) but on display in my living room!

Lisa said...

Oh, Andy Town is just perfect! And the basement is just the perfect place for Andy Town!

Kaye said...

That is the one thing The Big Guy misses about our "up north" house- the basement or as we old yankees called it, "the cellah". Houses in Fl are all built on slabs. No basement is a big lament but we don't have to shovel snow so there is a tradeoff. Andy town looks very comfy and lived in.