Not A Dollarshort: One room down, nine more to go.

February 16, 2002

One room down, nine more to go.

Rattus Packus: A pathologically stubborn species characterized by the overly-optimistic view that everthing has a purpose.

In its natural habitat (a cluttered room or garage) you will hear it shriek it's call: "The minute I throw this out, I'm going to need it."

Predator: Black Hefty bags

After six hours in the garage, I managed to reduce these twenty-seven boxes of junk to four boxes of junk. The rest will go to the garage sale masses who will most likely not show up at our house next Saturday or Sunday. Back-up plans call for a trip to the local thrift store.

Pack rat? That's a nice word for what I am. Idiot is probably more accurate.

Some things I have saved throughout the years and can not bring myself to throw out:

Ice cream notecards: My nasty little habit of collecting cards and stationary began early. These were a gift from Audra Duda in the second grade and because they were so nice, I never wanted to "ruin" them. So, I've held on to them for seventeen years.

Prom pictures: These aren't even my prom photos. On the night of prom, I accidentally picked up another girl's disposable camera. Since I developed these after graduation, I never got the chance to give them to her. Seven years later and I still think I'm going to return them -- even though I never talked to her in high school and haven't seen her since. I can't throw them out, though. It's just too tragic.

Sassy magazine: I'm way delusional -- I've held onto three years of Sassy issues because I actually think that they are worth something. But as Ben points out, getting $20 for seven Sassys on eBay really isn't worth the effort. Same thought process applies to my old copies of Select, Vox and Q.

Any stuffed animal: If I anthropomorphize cars and food, do you really think I can just tossed a stuffed "friend?"

The worst part about all this clutter? I'm just going through the boxes that used to be at my mom's house. I haven't even started packing and tossing the stuff I've accumulated post-1995.

I actually created a website to list the items I wanted to sell. And, funny enough, "Simplify" seemed too much of an effort considering the probable amount of interested buyers.

But, hey, someone must want to buy a boatload of Cure records and CDs.

07:20 PM in General Menaness | Permalink

Comments

I love your "Simplify" idea. I have a ton of baby stuff that I'd like to sell rather than throw out. I don't really want to do the Ebay thing either. Maybe I'll steal your idea - if you don't mind. I'm just the opposite of you, though, I can't stand clutter or holding on to things... I'm always throwing stuff out.

Posted by: Emerald Sky | February 17, 2002 at 08:33 AM

Simplify is awesome! That is a great way to do it. I tried EBay before, and it seemed to be more of a hassle than convenient. So your gargae sale is next weekend? We may have to stop by, since we are less than 5 minutes away!

Posted by: Tara | February 17, 2002 at 11:21 AM

Some of those magazines will actually sell pretty well. I've bought a Q magazine for $15 one time, all because of my Courtney Love liking. And the right Sassy issue (because it's rare now and old) would get alot more.

Posted by: Carla | February 17, 2002 at 12:58 PM

I'd buy old issues of Sassy if I saw them around. I was too young to appreciate the wittiness (12 years old-ish) of Sassy, but now I read Jane and it's pretty similar.

Posted by: Patty | February 17, 2002 at 06:43 PM

Old Sassy was the best!

Save them. They're worth it.

(And personally, I think Jane pales in comparision.)

Posted by: ismat | February 18, 2002 at 03:37 PM

That is the neatest 27 boxes of junk I've ever seen.

We had so much shit in our garage that we called some junk people to come and cart it ALL away. I stood outside, not watching, because if I did I would probably have tried to rescue everything. And you know what? Our garage is full again. What is wrong with us?

Posted by: lisel | February 18, 2002 at 04:55 PM

wow. it's like i was reading my own writing or something. i just moved across country to the west coast and carted all my sassys with me. i started reading thru them as i was packing and totally got sidetracked. my friends were like "why are you taking them? they're so heavy!"

and don't get me started on the old stationary. i have a whole box of notepads and stickers that i didn't want to "ruin" when i was little, so i've kept on saving them. one's all girly with my name in cursive at the top, another one has care bears all over it, and the list goes on. my reasoning is, if i keep 'em long enough, they just might turn "retro" and be usable once again.

let's just say i can relate.

Posted by: beth | February 18, 2002 at 07:26 PM