...another installment in the ongoing saga of 'let's throw it out'...
I have to say, I was initially distressed to read Garrison Keillor talking about "the pleasure of discarding stuff" as being a TYPICAL reaction to being a Certain Age in Salon today. I guess it makes sense, because one needs X number of years of heedless accumulation in order to feel the need to divest. Anyway, he's right. With every bag of junk I get rid of, I feel better. If that makes me some hopeless cliche, so be it.
some items found and disposed of today (nothing as good as a bridesmaid's dress, though):
*receipt from the gift store at Mt. Rushmore (I bought postcards. This was at least 5 years ago.)
* approximately 30 gel pens that no longer work. (gel pens, poor bunnies, really don't have a very long shelf life)
the Cool Thing I Forgot I Had award for Wednesday goes to...
INVISIBLE INK (for a glass or fountain pen). You have to heat it up in order to read it, and once it cools off, it is invisible again. I don't know why this pleases me so much, but it does.
When I went to check on the Keillor piece (to make sure I hadn't imagined it), I saw that Salon has at least two new pieces on the aftermath of the Colbert speech. (short story: everyone in washington is pretending that it just "wasn't funny," and that's why they're not talking about it.)
I have to say, I was initially distressed to read Garrison Keillor talking about "the pleasure of discarding stuff" as being a TYPICAL reaction to being a Certain Age in Salon today. I guess it makes sense, because one needs X number of years of heedless accumulation in order to feel the need to divest. Anyway, he's right. With every bag of junk I get rid of, I feel better. If that makes me some hopeless cliche, so be it.
some items found and disposed of today (nothing as good as a bridesmaid's dress, though):
*receipt from the gift store at Mt. Rushmore (I bought postcards. This was at least 5 years ago.)
* approximately 30 gel pens that no longer work. (gel pens, poor bunnies, really don't have a very long shelf life)
the Cool Thing I Forgot I Had award for Wednesday goes to...
INVISIBLE INK (for a glass or fountain pen). You have to heat it up in order to read it, and once it cools off, it is invisible again. I don't know why this pleases me so much, but it does.
When I went to check on the Keillor piece (to make sure I hadn't imagined it), I saw that Salon has at least two new pieces on the aftermath of the Colbert speech. (short story: everyone in washington is pretending that it just "wasn't funny," and that's why they're not talking about it.)
Yay to getting rid of junk! I bet I know when you got the Mt. Rushmore receipt!
ReplyDeleteDid you see that Earl Blumenauer is on the Colbert Report tonight?
Mister Colbert is brilliant. BRILLIANT! I think I saw someone called Darlene Hooley from Oregon on his program a few weeks back. He nailed her, in a manner of speaking. I must also comment on that music cd you created. Now that the sun is out and I have listened to it from start to finish, well...I love it. A lot.
ReplyDeleteAs far as getting rid of junk is concerned...it is a hard call. I have concert tickets from 1985 but I guess that isn't junk? I have no idea how other people classify these things. If it is something that I no longer need nor desire it is junk. But a Madonna concert ticket? I gues that is priceless.
Oh, I think that bit is hooey, about there being a certain age to discard. Today, environmentally conscious folks teach their kids about recycling, etc., just out of their cradles--that is, as soon as they can toddle to that bin. One of my best friends--this was about 20 years ago--would never buy a book unless she found one in her own library to discard. (Her philosophy didn't rub off on me.)
ReplyDeleteMartina -- when was that? Was it 2000? It's freaking me out how long ago, now. It seems like carhenge and the corn palace were JUST YESTERDAY. (another sign of incipient dodderism)
ReplyDeleteI will have to watch Colbert tonight for sure -- he was pretty hilarious with Darlene Hooley (he kept asking her if she was high or had the munchies because of oregon's medicinal marijuana law)
Baby Boy d -- HE IS BRILLIANT! I am glad you like the CD, I like it too and think I will listen to it Right Now. (Madonna ticket = not junk!! esp. from 1985) I think your definition of junk is right on: "something that I no longer need nor desire."
Patty -- I don't think it's entirely hooey, at least for me. I'm not hard core crazy like your book equilibrium friend, but I found that I had a lot of stuff that I really, really did NOT need that was just weighing me down. Five years ago I thought I needed it all. I know kids are brought up recycling these days, but putting the cans and glass in separate bins isn't really what I'm talking about. (Plus, I'm not talking about Kids Today! I'm talking (not surprisingly) about ME)
Yes, it was 2000 - the year I made my triumphant return from the prairie, which was also the year I declared myself Shoema, goddess of footwear while hopped up on diet coke and cold meds. In fact, all of this - Shoema, my return to Oregon, AND Mt. Rushmore happened on the same trip. It's weird to think that I've already been here for six years. It sometimes feels like kind of a long time to be in one place, but I'm liking it, so I guess it's okay.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure the urge to get rid of things is an age thing for me (or maybe a maturity thing). I just don't feel like I need to keep every little thing I've ever laid my hands on. I don't want all this shit I don't need lying around. It feels like it ties me down. I like the thought of not having a bunch of unnecessary crap to pack the next time I move. Plus, my tendancy to packrat contributes to the penchant toward messiness that I am trying so hard to curb.
I probably should leave well enough alone, but, in an attempt to clarify: I didn't mean that discarding is hooey--I think if someone feels the urge to get rid of stuff, they should! What I was referring to was the Lake Woebegone comment about that urge being an indicator that the person is of a certain age. I used my friend--in her 20's, back then--as an example, because she did it from the get-go--from childhood. She is not unique.
ReplyDelete