{"id":235,"date":"2025-12-14T13:03:04","date_gmt":"2025-12-14T13:03:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/slightlydoolally.com\/stories\/?p=235"},"modified":"2025-12-14T13:03:06","modified_gmt":"2025-12-14T13:03:06","slug":"in-praise-of-kitchens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/slightlydoolally.com\/stories\/index.php\/2025\/12\/14\/in-praise-of-kitchens\/","title":{"rendered":"In Praise of Kitchens"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>I am taking a break from my next short story , which has sort of gotten a life of its own &#8230;. it is fighting to get out .. but as I sit here at the breakfast bar in the kitchen of #14 i was asked to make coffee by Val I have paused and I am considering the scientifically proven fact , mostly by me when I stand next to fridges at 2 AM, that the kitchen is not merely a room for food preparation. It is the command center of the universe, the VIP lounge of the home, and the only place where the acoustics make you sound like a Grammy winner while holding a wooden spoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They say the living room is for living, but let\u2019s be honest: the living room is just a waiting area for the kitchen. The kitchen is where the real magic happens. It is a multi-purpose facility that functions as a Michelin-star restaurant (when the toast doesn&#8217;t burn), a high-stakes literary agency, and an underground DJ booth and I write short stories there, and it makes perfect sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is no greater muse than the hum of a refrigerator. It whispers, &#8220;You can do this. Also, there is cheese in here.&#8221; Writers block? No problem. Just stare into the open big drawer beside the cooker for five minutes until an idea, or a bag of chips, reveals itself. The breakfast bar is the only desk in the world that comes with a built-in crumb supply for emotional support.The Internet Research Lab, &#8220;Playing with the internet&#8221; in the kitchen is a dangerous and beautiful game. One minute you are looking up a synonym for &#8220;ephemeral,&#8221; and three hours later you are watching a tutorial on how to ferment your own kimchi while standing over the sink eating a cold slice of pizza. The kitchen Wi-Fi just hits different. It tastes like productivity seasoned with procrastination<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Discovering new music? Of course. The kitchen has the best acoustics in the house. The cupboards provide a natural reverb that turns a quiet hum into an operatic performance. Plus, the appliances provide the percussion. The rhythmic thump-thump of the washing machine is basically the bass line for your life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, yes, the kitchen is where the magic happens. It is the only place where you can write a masterpiece, discover a new indie band, and accidentally boil a pot of water dry all at the same time. It is the heart of the home, mostly because it keeps feeding the other organs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It just keeps making magic (and snacks)!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I rave about kitchens as you do<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":236,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life","category-musings"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>In Praise of Kitchens - The Mess and The Meaning<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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