In a separate closet (shirts are best on hangers; fewer wrinkles and smells can air out) or on a towel rack (for things that get folded, like jeans). If I don’t have access to that I sometimes use a cardboard box just to keep things off the floor.

My favorite is the swedish “att få blodad tand”, literally “to get a bloody/bloodied tooth”. Somehow it means becoming interested in or finding inspiraton in a topic.

Interesting, my record is the same.

Potatoes.

The Temeraire series by Naomi Novik.