Swing your albatross by its neck
Apr. 2nd, 2026 06:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
christopher575I posted recently about getting rid of some social media accounts and email, and of course that got me thinking about physical items that have been taking up space. I couldn't even really say how much stuff there is I should get rid of, but a great place to start was with some shredding this morning. Our shredder is in Garrett's office, and I have a terrible habit of stashing checks I've deposited electronically instead of taking them up to shred. The stash spot was starting to overflow a bit, so I decided to bring the shredder down and take care of it.
While I was at it, I decided to finally get rid of an old notebook I used to carry around in the early 2000s. I knew there was some cringeworthy stuff in it and was always embarrassed by the idea of someone finding it and reading through it should I pass away. After all, it's from half a lifetime ago and so much has changed. But of course I put it off, thinking there might be some interesting things in it that I should maybe scan or take a photo of.
With the shredder hot and ready to go, it was time to finally check. The things in it were partly personal before it became mostly a spot to work on assignments for my advertising concept development courses that I took at the School of Visual Concepts. It was interesting to have a glance at my thought process as I thumbed through some of the pages, but I'm not interested in that kind of work any more and didn't care to preserve it. So I pulled the pages out of the binding and shredded it all, and it was deeply satisfying.
I'm pretty sure I have some stuff from those classes that I drew up on plain white paper in a folder, and I'd like to find that folder if I didn't already get rid of it. Not really because of the coursework, but because there's a really funny fax from a customer at my last job in Albuquerque that I'd like to see again and send to my friend who I met while working there.
Speaking of which, another little cleanup task I did a while back was defriending another coworker from that job on Facebook and breaking our connection on LinkedIn. There's a lot of shitty stuff happening around the world and there's really no reason to keep people around who enabled it, especially if they're not someone you'd ever see again anyway. That made me think of a few more LinkedIn people to get rid of as well.
Anyway, my quest to find that folder if I have it took me to the storage area off our garage, where I found a moving box that just had four books in it, so I removed those and freed up the space. I tossed the spare base I had for a Mellow sous vide machine since I didn't have or want the top portion, and that revealed a nice stash of glassware. You know, the kind of thing that should be in storage for use later.
There are a couple of folding boat seats I got when I was trying to create a fun, modular setup for the back of the cargo van I had. They're in perfect shape and not really a great thing to donate at Value Village, so I suppose I should create a listing on FB marketplace or something. I'm quite proud of myself for not falling into the trap of thinking I can somehow become rich by selling tons of old crap online, but there will definitely be a few things here and there that I should try to unload that way. I was pretty disappointed that I couldn't raise any interest in the full set of window shades I had for that van, though.
I got rid of a poster I figure I bought for someone but never sent them and know for sure they don't have the wall space for. I kept the tube it was in because it was smaller than the one a poster I definitely want to frame one day was in, so the big tube went in the recycling. A few small victories this morning were very satisfying and I think I've got the energy to keep the momentum up.
While I was at it, I decided to finally get rid of an old notebook I used to carry around in the early 2000s. I knew there was some cringeworthy stuff in it and was always embarrassed by the idea of someone finding it and reading through it should I pass away. After all, it's from half a lifetime ago and so much has changed. But of course I put it off, thinking there might be some interesting things in it that I should maybe scan or take a photo of.
With the shredder hot and ready to go, it was time to finally check. The things in it were partly personal before it became mostly a spot to work on assignments for my advertising concept development courses that I took at the School of Visual Concepts. It was interesting to have a glance at my thought process as I thumbed through some of the pages, but I'm not interested in that kind of work any more and didn't care to preserve it. So I pulled the pages out of the binding and shredded it all, and it was deeply satisfying.
I'm pretty sure I have some stuff from those classes that I drew up on plain white paper in a folder, and I'd like to find that folder if I didn't already get rid of it. Not really because of the coursework, but because there's a really funny fax from a customer at my last job in Albuquerque that I'd like to see again and send to my friend who I met while working there.
Speaking of which, another little cleanup task I did a while back was defriending another coworker from that job on Facebook and breaking our connection on LinkedIn. There's a lot of shitty stuff happening around the world and there's really no reason to keep people around who enabled it, especially if they're not someone you'd ever see again anyway. That made me think of a few more LinkedIn people to get rid of as well.
Anyway, my quest to find that folder if I have it took me to the storage area off our garage, where I found a moving box that just had four books in it, so I removed those and freed up the space. I tossed the spare base I had for a Mellow sous vide machine since I didn't have or want the top portion, and that revealed a nice stash of glassware. You know, the kind of thing that should be in storage for use later.
There are a couple of folding boat seats I got when I was trying to create a fun, modular setup for the back of the cargo van I had. They're in perfect shape and not really a great thing to donate at Value Village, so I suppose I should create a listing on FB marketplace or something. I'm quite proud of myself for not falling into the trap of thinking I can somehow become rich by selling tons of old crap online, but there will definitely be a few things here and there that I should try to unload that way. I was pretty disappointed that I couldn't raise any interest in the full set of window shades I had for that van, though.
I got rid of a poster I figure I bought for someone but never sent them and know for sure they don't have the wall space for. I kept the tube it was in because it was smaller than the one a poster I definitely want to frame one day was in, so the big tube went in the recycling. A few small victories this morning were very satisfying and I think I've got the energy to keep the momentum up.
no subject
Date: 2026-04-08 06:16 pm (UTC)I have the hardest time getting rid of apparel I like and are good quality, but never ever wear. I have 4 skirts and I think I should just donate 3 of them. One is an Icebreaker skirt I never wear because...? I think I just don't really like the color. And since I've lost weight there is more stuff that is kind of falling off me and this one is included. I have a Zero-Shoe-Flux rule for this reason too, if I buy a pair of shoes I have to get rid of a pair. I don't always follow this rule.
Also, I never wear the Coffee Messiah Christ Invaders shirt. I want to keep it because I think it's hilarious, and also why would literally anyone else want that shirt? My husband would 100% be offended by it... which annoys me, but, I do have to live with the guy. I'm not sure what to do with it.
no subject
Date: 2026-04-08 06:20 pm (UTC)