Less, less, less ... how do you like it, how do you like it?

Gawd, it feels so damn good to lighten the load in our apartment. I keep wondering when we'll hit the inverse of 'critical mass.' Of course, that's a fantasy ... it may take years before all of these 'acquisitions' have been sorted through and released into the world for someone else to use, peruse, misuse.



I decided that it was time to go through the porn collection, a large shelving unit that was crammed full of VHS tapes. After sorting through what we watch, what we might watch, what we could possiby getting around to watching ... well, I ended up with a grocery bag brimming with tapes that we will never watch again. Found someone on Craigslist that wanted them. Did the 'pass-off' last night. Whew. The FIRST bag of rotten porn, given away, gone, vamoose.

If I'm going to divulge the amount of porn in our apartment, I should also take the time to explain how I determine what is "good" porn and what is "bad." Well, first ... no blonds. Neither of us is turned on by blonds. No twinks -- clean-cut young men have no place in our libidos. No 80s haircuts ... and this made the process of removing porn quite easy ... if I saw one Flock of Seagulls style, out the tape went. Same with the bad Cameo 'fro cuts. Blech.

Physician, heal thyself: I had also amassed a huge amount of porn before I moved in with my husband. Between my own choices and those videotapes that were given to me by friends, acquaintances, tricks, etc., I had a hefty collection (probably 3 business boxes) full of stuff I like, stuff I used to like and stuff I wouldn't watch again if you paid me. Today, I began sifting through my own tapes. I set aside about 50% of it to give away.

Whew.

Right now, it is 12:45am and the husband is gently snoring, the cats are asleep, there is the occasional scratch, moan and crackle from one of the critter cages in the room (many of our invertibrates are nocturnal). I look around and begin to see what I've done this past week.

I've managed to empty out another two boxes of OLD office supplies that I found hiding in a corner. Most of this stuff is useless to a modern business, but for non-profits, it's still very practical. I'm trying to figure out why my husband ever felt the urge to save an entire filing cabinet drawer full of scratch paper. He obviously had something in mind ... he cut the old paper in half and actually stapled piles of cut paper into writing pads. But why did he squirrel away an entire cabinet drawer full of them? They, too, are gone ... I took them to work and have been using them for our clients.

There was a box full of colored 'tabs' for folders, the kind that was popular in offices in around 1983, back in the days of the IBM Selectric II. Even the color choices seem dated. Does anyone use sherbet colors for file-coding anymore?

I found a half-gallon plastic bottle full of rubber bands. Would have been useful, I suppose, but the rubber was so old, they had all cracked. Useless. I had to toss them.

A stack of faded construction paper. Sun-bleached. Took it to work so that the occasional kid who comes in will have something upon which to draw (with crayons).

There's been useful stuff, for sure. Right now, it's a matter of getting it all sifted ... and putting the useful stuff to work.

UPDATE: It is Tuesday, February 23rd. On Sunday, I gave ANOTHER box of tapes away. A very nice gentleman came by (in the rain) and took the latest dismissal. Woot!