Goodbye 2002
Monday, August 23, 2010
2002 tax documents and receipts that is. I am trying to shred one old year every two weeks, to coincide with the recycling pickup. Each year fills the shredder receptacle almost to the top. And it's a tall receptacle. I still have years prior to 2002 to shred, but that was the year in the box at the front of the pile. It's very satisfying to feed the papers into the machine. Of course I take a quick glance at the documents before they go in and am reminded of who I phoned, what I bought, how much I earned — a brief trip back in memory to what was going on that year. But it's all bye bye now.
Whoosh! The sound of a few days off.
Friday, April 09, 2010
Just got back from a few days away. A cabin. No computer. No phone. We snuck into town one day to find a cafe with wireless. Why does it feel like the time off never happened? I saw my parents. Gave my dad this dark blue shirt that was too big for me to wear even for around the house or for working out. The thing with the illustration of the dolls is a cardboard holder, not quite a box, that once contained writing paper and envelopes. My distant cousin Wendy gave it to me — yikes, I'm thinking more than 30 years ago. I was a teen and wrote lots of letters. The illustration was beautifully rendered. Another pair of shoes that I've come to think are a bit old-fashioned for me. They came from my mother, so that might have been obvious when she gave them to me, but sometimes you have to wear them a few times to figure it out.
Dump day
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Went to Value Village with a friend this afternoon. I'd been waiting to get enough things together to make the trip worthwhile. Took two boxes of stuff — officially out the door, no longer taking up space here. I threw in a few extra things on my way out. A puffy vest from the 80s, bbq tongs, and another tea tin. Some cards, two 2010 calendars I don't want — one arrived addressed to the former occupants of our house. They haven't lived here for 11 years. Shoulder pads, a car headrest cover, frame for a certificate, and a tray for cassette tapes. I only came home with two new things from VV, and one of them is being given away as soon as I see a certain person again.
Five years to live
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
That's the timeline I've started to imagine when I look at my surroundings and pick out things to maybe or maybe not get rid of. The "if I died tomorrow" idea is no help, because obviously I would spend a last day doing something other than decluttering and writing about it. "One year to live" is too short a time to be useful in making decisions because I would need very little to get through a year. Most likely I would call in movers and have them take loads of stuff away except for what I wanted to give to family and friends. So I'm trying to use five years as a term to gauge how much I want to keep something. If I think I will use it or enjoy looking at it, smelling it, touching it for the next five years, then I'll keep it. If not, I'll get rid of it. As soon as 2010 rolls around I am going to get brutal and make more of these decisions. This pace of one or a few things a day has gotten me out of my "keep everything" mode and prepped me (I hope) for more agressive organizing and shedding. This paper towel is from 1980. From my very first assignment in ceramics class at art school. After our projects came out of the kiln, we put them on a big table with our names on a paper towel in front of the item. The next morning we came in to see what grade the instructor had given us. I got a 10/10. Yes, I've kept this paper for 29 years. The ceramic object itself (a shoe) is on a shelf in the spare bedroom at my parents' house. Otherwise I'd post a photo of it too. I'm thinking I might play with matches and give this a ceremonial burn.
Firing blanks
Friday, August 28, 2009
When designing and printing a big job, the printer will often make up blank sample books using different paper stock, covers and binding, so the designer can figure out exactly what she wants. These two big books (they are each over an inch thick, nice heavy paper) weren’t from one of my projects, but some fellow designers were sending them to recycling so of course I snagged them, thinking I might give them to my nephews at some point. Tonight I met with someone who has a young son, so I brought them along, hoping the boy might want to use them for writing or sketching. Phew! I didn’t have to bring them home again. Random flowers are a beautiful bouquet I received on my birthday in May from the same friends I got the paper from. Thanks! They were stunning.
Ephemera
Sunday, August 23, 2009
This is an extremely old calendar. I forget now for which year. I have always kept it for the pretty poppies. My friend collects ephemera too, so I am happy that she is giving this a new home. Random flower is clematis jackmanii. Most of the blossoms are fading now, but the vine was loaded this year. Spectacular. Short post because the final between Federer and Djokovic has just started. I think I will pour a wee drink and enjoy the match.
Boxed out
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Totally forgot to post yesterday. Here are two items. One is a box of stationery. Cheap stationery. I won it as a door prize. I was going to keep the box and put some lovely handmade paper over it but that would be another project wouldn’t it? The other is a little glass jar with a metal lid. Came with a vanilla scented candle, which I burned. Can’t think of what to put in it now that the candle is gone.
Parti like it’s 1999
Sunday, May 31, 2009
I should have been archiving computer files or doing timesheets for the month, but I took a rare look into an upstairs closet this week and was reminded of the stacks of shoeboxes I have on the shelf, containing tax records and receipts for my business. There are boxes there from the late 90s — I don’t legally have to keep them anymore, so I can shred them any time I have a spare moment. Tonight I got in the mood to go through the box from 1999. Au revoir my phone bills, my salary slips, my cheque stubs.
Dear oh deer
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
I bought these cards at the Salvation Army thrift store, to send out next Christmas. What was I thinking? I have saved out one to send to a particular person who might get a chuckle, but the image is quite grotesque now that I look at it closely. I will happily donate them back to the Sally Ann.
Paper cut
Thursday, March 26, 2009
I haven’t gotten rid of any paper products in almost two weeks. Two friends of mine have started making their own greeting cards and doing other papercrafts, so I’m sorting through my samples and parting with some. There’s paper stashed all over the place: in boxes, in drawers, in files. As I come across it I will sort and give away.
Point of reference
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
I have files and files — reference for paintings, articles, craft instructions, recipes etc. Today I had a spare hour, so I went through some files and tossed out a bunch of papers I don’t think I’ll miss. I recycled a few large stacks before Christmas — before I started this blog — but with only a bit of time here and there to sort through files, there’s still a lot of purging to be done. (I also trashed dozens of old work files on my computer today and deleted almost 100 emails — too bad none of that makes my living space look tidier.)
