I usually leave my door open. Most people in the dorms also leave their doors open, although in the last few years, everyone has taken to keeping it locked while they're out (or asleep) due to thefts. Mine is open when I'm in--which is usually during everyone else's sleeping hours--not to annoy my neighbors with loud music, but to welcome passersby to drop by and chat.
An open door can be a welcome mat. A closed one can indicate several things, none of which are good. If you are on the outside of a closed door, it can be an unwelcome or do not disturb sign. It could also be exclusionary. On the inside, it may mean anything from privacy to antisocial behavior, and if you're a paranoid lab rat it can be a cage (and if it's locked, no amount of bloody clawing can get you out).
Aside from those silly Stanford safety videos telling people to stand in the doorway during an earthquake, I like standing in the doorway for another reason: it's a threshold that allows me to see both sides at the same time. Take a moment to stand in the doorway, arms to your sides. Which direction are you standing? Do you look outside the building or toward the interior? Or neither?
I stand, left foot in front of right, at the crack between the interfaces. To my right is outside and to my left is inside the building. On the outside I can see a wooden table with a green umbrella. An overhanging olive tree is infested with at least two squirrels. I can't see beyond that, it's a hazy unknown that stretches behind that tree. I can't see all of the interior of the building either, but I know there's a lounge with a fan dangerously wobbling about as it twirls overhead. I know somebody broke a glass in one of the rooms. I know practically everything that may be wrong with the building. I can see each side through my peripheral vision, however I am really looking at the door frame. But what's so important about the door frame? There's a hole in the door frame, the one where the locking mechanism fits. It is this tiny insignificant hole that determines everything.
So when that door locks, on which side do you hope to remain?
Other things: International Blog Meetup Day. Completely pointless if you don't have a car. Logophilia. Finding interesting words have always been fascinating, but new words and word combinations? Maybe it's just me, but they sound a bit awkward. Research: video games decrease brain activity. Sounds like something someone's mother would say to get her kid off the computer. I personally don't think video games are all that interesting, although it is disturbing when you notice people still playing games at six in the morning.
