the sisyphean task of being clean (or, why subletting can be a very bad idea)

so. i was gone for three weeks. i rented out my lovely condo (for next to nothing) to a former student who agreed to take care of the cats while i was gone. when i returned, the cats were still alive, thank god. they were attention-starved, but that's typical. it was the state of my apartment that nearly did me in. granted, i'm somewhat obsessed with cleanliness. but, having two shedding cats makes you adjust your priorities. i thought i was fairly tolerant of messiness. within reasonable boundaries, that is.

i arrived home to a distressing scene. the slipcover that i use for my recently re-upholstered (maharam fabric) hans olsen couch had half-fallen off. all my pillows (normally placed in separate areas of the room) were lined up against the back of the couch in a sorry attempt to camouflage the state of the slipcover. my beautiful emma gardner alpaca throw was on the floor, covered in dust and cat hair. there were 10 new pulls in the unprotected sofa fabric. the room smelled to high holy you know what. cat litter was strewn about a two-foot radius of the litter box. the litter hadn't been cleaned in about three days, judging from its contents. it was also clear that it had never been scraped, the lack of which had caused the liquids to turn into a malodorous three-inch solid. and the toilet. well. let's not talk about the state of my poor toilet.

after pulling out my hair and gnashing my teeth, cursing every deity i could think of for my stupidity, i immediately set to work.

anyway. if you've ever wondered how much two cats can shed during three weeks in july, here you go: