Peanut Friend

What:  Lucy keychain.
Origin:  Impulse gift from a friend.
How long kept:  About a week and a half.
Usage:  Nope.
Why kept:   See confession.
Destination:  Housing Works.

Confession:  This sweet gift was inspired by my recent change of my FB avatar to a cartoon Lucy, which I did one weekend when many in my circle were changing to cartoon characters in one of those seemingly futile yet energetically yogic desires to say, "we're all in this together".   I should change it back, since it's hardly legal.  But I digress!

This is the kind of gift that I ordinarily put into a box and keep "forever."   Or until I no longer open the box, cast my eyes on it, and think, "awww, my friend B gave this to me!"   Sticky.

And gone.   I have other memories of "B" that I don't need a cartoon character keychain to remember her by.

Mindful (?) Gift

What:   Posters
Origin:   I took a meditation course, and the organizers sent these out later.  
How long kept:   Probably 5 years.
Why kept:  Out of Sight, Out of Mind.   And Sticky.  
Usage:   Not at all...when I last looked at them, the cardstock was so nice I had craftastic ambitions.
Destination:  I made them into book covers.   I'm making advent-type calendar books for my 3 oldest nephews, based on the wonderful Mary Ann Moss' "Remains of the Day" journals.  

Confession:   These posters aren't really my "style" and were also too big for my home office.   (They were about 2 feet by 2 1/2 feet, and there were 3 of them.)  Might have been nice in my old cubically excellent office in corporate America.  

But all in all, a bit of an odd thing to receive.   (And it must have been odd to find an envelope to mail them in.)   I felt kind of badly about not enthusiastically appreciating them.

Shelfless Service

Yoga Don't
Originally uploaded by 365 Things

What:  A favorite yoga top.
Origin:  Desire to keep movement in my chestal area down to a dull roar while saluting the sun.
How long kept:   Probably 9 years?   Maybe 8.
Why kept:   It's cute.   Nostalgia.   Sticky.   It's Perfectly Good, only it's not.   See confession.
Usage:  Frequently, until fairly recently.   (I don't maintain a vast yoga wardrobe.)
Destination:  Textile recycling.

Confession:   The upside, so to speak, of a good yoga top:   its inner shelf bra.   (There's a joke in here somewhere using the word "rack" -- shelf, rack, get it? -- but I just can't do it...at least not while maintaining my feminist self image.   I have to draw the line somewhere.)

But I digress.   The shelf bra had lost all elasticity; there was a near accident the last time I tried handstand in this top -- thankfully layered under a longsleeved, if dangerously v-neck,  t-shirt.  

(Thing is, the outer shell may be Kevlar, it's that bullet-proof.   No pilling, no stretching!   Looks as good as new.   Part of what made it so hard to say goodbye...)

Early Bloggiversary Celebration

Early Bloggiversary Gift
Originally uploaded by 365 Things

What:  Shhh.   It's a secret.
Origin:  Classified.
How long kept:   Long enough.
Why kept:  I Might Need It.  Mostly, Sticky.
Destination:  Another member of the bloggin' sisterhood, via USPS.  

Confession:   I can't provide the identity of this item, otherwise the surprise will be ruined.   Suffice it to say, I'm not cheating.

Confession, part deux:  There was no mail today, in observance of Veteran's Day.   So it will actually be on its way tomorrow.

We are coming close to our one year anniversary...thanks to our bloggers and all 9-10 of our readers!

Speedout of My House

What:  A shell I used to wear running.
Origin:   Desire for a pocket, and to stay dry-ish while running.
How long kept:  Uh, I think since 1995.
Why kept:  It's Outerwear -- Someone Might Need It.  (After all, it's Perfectly Good.)  Out of Sight, Out of Mind.   And oddly Sticky.  See confession.
Usage:   Oh, not in a good long while.   My last race was the Philly half-marathon in 1996.
Destination:  Housing Works

Confession:   When I looked at this again today, I actually had  an almost physical pang of attachment as I held it on its hanger.   I realized it was Sticky.

It wasn't until after it was gone that I remembered wearing it in the half-marathon.   Nostalgia, the good kind.

(Addendum, November 8.   When I re-read this last night, I actually had a memory of buying this, at the Speedo store that used to be in the World Trade Center...also Nostalgia, the bittersweet kind.)

I'm Not Taking Any More Lip

What:  One (plus, see confession) aged lipstick.
Origin:  Cover Girl dreams, via Barneys.
How long kept:   Ooh, probably since 2003?   But I haven't used it in quite some time.
Usage:  This one, I loved.   It was worn down nearly to its base.
Why kept:  Out of Sight, Out of Mind.  And also, weirdly Sticky.
Destination:   Trash.

Confession:  I have about 5-6 old Mac lipsticks, some from the last century.   Man, I loved those lipsticks -- dramatic colors with names like Viva Glam and Rocker.   I don't overthink my look, but I always got compliments while wearing Rocker.   Until it stopped looking great on me...something about my skin tone changed, and it was like, "Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close up"!  

And I so mean it.   Sadly, I haven't yet found my new lip color.

At some point in my distant past, I read that Mac takes back the lipsticks and recycles the tubes.   So I've been hanging onto these in hopes that they would jump into my bag, by magic, right before my next trip to a department store with a Mac counter.

These have moved to the table next to my front door.   I'll be near Bloomingdale's on Thursday.   If I don't remember to take these with me, they're trash, too.

Aargh

What:  Tiny little spray bottle of Evian.
Origin:  Desire to remain moist while flying.
How long kept:  I bought this in Hong Kong in 1995, back in the day when you could bring something like this on a plane.
Why kept:  Sticky.   I knew it wasn't useful, but it reminded me of an amazing trip I took back in the day.   On the rare occasion I really looked at it -- Out of Sight Out of Mind in one of my medicine cabinets....Nostalgia:  the good kind.
Destination:  Trash.

Aargh.

Chicken tuition

Chicken tuition
Originally uploaded by DeClutter

Oh so about 10+ years a ago, I remember this SO clearly. I remember where I was driving and everything. I'm listening to the radio and there is a commercial for Chicken Tuition. "Huh??" I thought. "Where are these chickens going to school?" I listen VERY hard and they are talking about a razor. I was confused until they said the name again. "Schick Intuition". I laffed!!

What: razor that needs special cartridges. The razor has a soap like product around it. It would run out before the razor was dull.
Why kept: I might need it, sticky, and it's kind of cool. Nostalgia (the good kind) It also brings back the memory of that day driving past the post office. And finally it was a gift from Mom
How long kept: well I finished my last cartridge probably last summer. I have another razor that uses inexpensive refills so I use that.
Destination: trash. I don't think it's recyclable
Confession. I did keep the suction cup that held in the shower... It might be useful :)

The great magnet purge

The great magnet purge
Originally uploaded by DeClutter

Ok I've done this in the past 3 years but still I've amassed several duplicate business card type magnets. There are several from vacations but one from Hawaii. We have gone there this was from Geocaching about 6 or 7 years ago.

I thought about saving these for a free for all but then again I don't want to keep them until mid-November. I think I'll do a freecycle post and see what happens. I do have 6 that are too sticky to let go. Photo to follow "A" will laff her head off and perhaps if she is drinking the best soy latte she's ever had, it may come out her nose :) stand by and cover your keyboard


Here are my magnets I can't give up quite yet:

Not-Holders (Any More)

Not Holders Any More
Originally uploaded by 365 Things

What: 3 fraying and of the last century potholders.
Origin: The desire to hold pots.
Last used: In August.
How long kept: Probably since 1994-ish?
Why kept: Why, They're Perfectly Good. (And a bit Out of Sight, Out of Mind, as often as I cook.)
Destination: Textile recycling.

Confession: As a lower Manhattan resident, I thought a lot about what to post...if anything...today. But I realized that today of all days was a good day to let go, so I searched my memory for something I still owned that I actually purchased at the WTC.  

Nostalgia. The kind of weird and actually in this moment funny kind. Perhaps inappropriately so. It's complicated.  Sticky.

These babies came from Lechter's, which was on the street level of what I think was 3 WTC, near the Vesey Street exit. Lechters had closed that store maybe in 2000, and the chain had gone bankrupt at some point in 2001.

Confession, part deux: There's another black one. I hope it's in the laundry, otherwise, I'll have to give myself an "Aaargh." When it turns up, it's gone, too.

Confession, cont: The other thing I'm thinking of blogging is my neighborhood, which I've loved since I started working here in 1990; I moved here in 1994. All kinds of change upon change has been at times challenging, but (mostly) manageable.  But the passion and anger around the site seems only to become worse as time goes on.

We all used to talk about finding the "new normal".  Today, people who don't live here make careers by stirring others up...and actually shape the neighborhood itself.  It doesn't look like that's going away. Sigh.

Addendum: On a positive note, I'm going to get my sewing machine out -- right now -- and make myself some new potholders.

Update:

Thanks, Craftzine, for the instructions (which I didn't follow to the T).  Great for converting stuff from my fabric stash into something useful.  Both my sis "K" (who lurks here sometimes) and my sis-in-law "W" (who I don't think does) might recognize some of the fabric I used, since they were the generous donors.

Trashed

Trashed
Originally uploaded by 365 Things

What: Damaged Vintage cocktail-themed ice bucket. (Really.)
Origin: "Hello, name is "A", and I'm a garage-sale-aholic." (I've been in recovery for a good 15 years, see confession.)
How long kept: Geez, I would guess since the late 80s?
Usage: Never. Other than moving it closer and closer to the exit door of my apartment over the past months.
Why kept: I Might Fix It. (And then It Would Be Cool/Vintage and Someone Might Need It.)
Destination: Good Old NYC Landfill. (Gulp. Sorry.)

Confession: The extent of this baby's damage was not trivial. It's brass cover was banged up and dented. The handle had fallen off. The entire thing, which was largely vinyl, was kind of squashed. (Viewed from above, it appeared to be slightly oval shaped, which meant that the round cover would not ever fit on it again. Even if fixed.)

Aargh.

Confession, part deux: I still love a good garage sale. But I rarely buy anything. Though I'm still a sucker for vintage embroidered linens and those gaily printed flowered tablecloths from the 40s and beyond. ("M" got me a very Christmas embroidered tablecloth and napkin set at the Freecycle Free Meet.)

Aargh.

Confession, part trois: Broken stuff. "Potential" is a theme in Randy Frost and Gail Skeketee's book about hoarding, Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things.People who truly have an issue with hoarding keep stuff because they see potential that the rest of us might not see.

I'm not a hoarder, clinically speaking.  But "potential" is embedded in many of the reasons that I have held onto stuff -- and nowhere as inexplicably as with broken stuff.  Clothing that might be mended, and wearable by "someone", check. (Now dispatched to textile recycling. Whew.)

Thanks to eBay, I've seen how little most of my Cool/Vintage stuff that's in mint condition is worth.* So while this was a bit Sticky, and it took a bit of time, it went down the trash chute the day before I left on vacation.

Broken stuff, begone.

(*A clock I bought for a dollar in the 80s may be the exception to this rule. Stay tuned.)

Pint-Sized Times Nine

What: A bunch of glasses.   7 or 8 classic pint glasses, and another couple of odd leftover drinking glasses.
Origin: A girl's gotta drink!
How long kept:  One of the leftovers dated back to my first apartment, 1984.   I amassed the pint glasses in the late 80s after moving to NYC, buying many of them at the original Fishs Eddy over on Hudson Street for a buck fifty.
Why kept:   They Were Perfectly Good!   As previously noted, a girl's gotta drink, and I used them every day.   Thus They Might Be Useful; I Might Need Them.   And a tiny little bit of Nostalgia.   (The good kind, but I'm not exactly sure why glassware would evoke this:  Sticky!)
Destination:  Housing Works.

Confession:   While these glasses are Perfectly Good, in terms of utility, they are looking a little beat up.   Nothing truly terrible, but they are showing some wear.

Funny thing, I didn't notice this until I decided that I would prefer some more age appropriate, gender appropriate drinkware.   (I woke up one recent day feeling like only a frat boy should be drinking from the pint glasses I've used for a zillion years.)

Should I feel guilt for giving them to Housing Works?   Are they good enough for Housing Works to sell?   Should I have tried to Freecycle them?  What happens to things that aren't good enough for Housing Works to sell?


Aargh.

Freecycle Failure

Freecycle Failure
Originally uploaded by 365 Things

I pride myself on the ability to market almost any item on Freecycle. This one didn't go.

The posting:

"OFFER: Vintage Valise (Not in great shape) Lower Manhattan

Approximately 20 inches long, 12 inches wide and 12 inches tall, this tan valise (1940s?) is a find from my days haunting thrift stores and tag sales.

The bag is coming apart at the seams; it's aged, scuffed and full of patina. The handles are secure and well attached. I'm doubtful that it could be repaired and used as a suitcase -- a particularly crafty person might find a way to upcycle, recycle or repurpose it as a possible decor item.

It's clean. I'm pretty sure I would have saddle soaped it back in the day; it has been in my closet for probably 20 years.

Please respond only if you can pick up before Monday, August 9. Please be willing to communicate via email, and commit to -- and keep -- a pickup time.

Though it's a bit unwieldy, it can be carried by the handles. I'll wrap it in plastic to ease transport. You'll be able to pick it up before the 9th from a 24 hour building.

Thanks, Freecyclers."

Now, maybe the fact that I didn't post it on the weekend had something to do with its failure to "sell".

One additional note:   While the main problem with the bag itself -- other than the fact that I no longer wanted it -- was that the stitching was rotten.   Repair wasn't a simple matter of getting it sewn back up.   I Might Fix It is a such a trap for me, and it keeps things stuck.

Other notes on the Why Kept front:  Sticky, Nostalgia, Out of Sight Out of Mind and Storage Boxes are Evil. (It was in a basket, being used as a storage box in the now far more spacious closet!)

Destination: Textile recycling at Union Square Greenmarket.  (They take shoes, so I reasoned that they'd take this small bag, too.)   I considered leaving it on the street, but realized that it might frighten -- or even endanger -- a police officer if someone thought it looked suspicious.

Purge-atory

(heh heh, I'm cracking myself up)

What:  A variety of things that came out of the closet -- from a pair of jeans that, while mended, are too disreputable to even be worn to the laundry room, to some grippy foam stripped off of wire hangers from the dry cleaners.   See confession.
How long kept:  The oldest item is probably a torn nylon suit bag that came home on a 90s department store purchase.
Last used:  I've worn those jeans to the laundry room in the not too distant past.
Why kept:  Mostly Out of Sight, Out of Mind.   But there's a small amount of It Might Be Useful, and a frisson of Sticky.
Destination:  Textile recycling.

Confession:  There was an old favorite black turtleneck that had frayed and torn at the seams.   I haven't fixed it in several years, and I'm not going to...in the meantime, I've collected multiple newer and nicer black turtlenecks.   There was a holey wool Jean Paul Gaultier t-shirt I picked up at the Bitch & Swap, thinking I'd practice silk ribbon embroidery on it.   Uh Uh.   Buh Bye, Good Crafting Intentions Gone Bad.

Confession, continued:  Those grippy foam things?   When I strafed the closet early this week, I found that one charcoal-colored thingie was disintegrating...leaving behind what seemed like an infinite number of shards of disintegrating grippy foam.  When touched, it turned into a sooty, oily powder that required significant elbow grease to even vacuum up.  Eew.

No grippy foam on my wire hangers!

Confession, part 3:  There's more yet to come out of the closet.   Aargh.

It's All A Miracle

It's All A Miracle
Originally uploaded by 365 Things

What: Wonderful book on mindfulness meditation.
Origin: Desire for satori, samadhi, or at least the ability to not swear and make faces at the "rude and annoying" strangers one might encounter on the street.
How long kept: 10, 11 years.
Usage: Fairly frequently, and fairly recently.
Why Kept: I Might Need It if I want to read it or use it in a class; It Might Be Useful. See confession.
Destination: I made a gift of this book to two students.

Confession: This book, on the ability to wake up and be aware of -- at a minimum -- one's surroundings, entered my life in around 1994. I bought it at City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco, while on a business trip to speak at a client conference.

I started to read it. And think I left it in my seat back pocket on the return flight. Or somewhere. I wasn't paying attention.

This was before the day when Oprah was interviewing Buddhist leaders on her show. No yoga was being practiced at the White House Easter Egg Roll. You couldn't pick this book up just anywhere.

I forgot about it, until I started to practice meditation in the late 90s. Then I started to look for the book. In pretty much every bookstore I went into. I finally found it in the Borders Bookstore in the World Trade Center.

Confession, part deux: Most people don't realize that the WTC contained a bit of a village center. There were businesses like a locksmith, a sushi place, and various clothing stores. If you lived nearby, you bought stuff there. Some items I use every day hailed from that marketplace. I have a sticky attachment to some of them.

Confession, cont: For my students, It Will Be Useful. But I really do use this book, and will probably buy another copy down the road. But I'm guessing it won't be quite as sticky.

Nuke This

Nuke This
Originally uploaded by 365 Things

What: Several old cookbooks.
Origin: Various, at least one came with the microwave. Others were Gifts From Mom.
How long kept/Last Used: Well north of 25 years. And some were last used, um, never. Others, in the 80s. See confession.
Why kept: Because I might make that revolting stuffed pork roll thing. In my microwave. If only I weren't a wanna-be vegan, I Might Need It!
Destination: Housing Works and recycling. See confession.

Confession: There's one cookbook in here that I loved, which Mom definitely gave to me, a Bon Appetit cookbook, Quick and Easy Meals. There's a calzone recipe torn from the Sunday Chicago Tribune dated August 18, 1985. My guess is that this is around the date I would have last used this one.

Aargh.

While the books off to Housing Works are truly gone (I dropped them on my way to get lunch), this one, which is falling apart beyond any notion of repair, is still sitting on the credenza in my front hall, waiting to be recycled. Sticky.

Work It. Elsewhere.

Work It. Elsewhere.
Originally uploaded by 365 Things

What: A mound of no-longer-worn work clothing.
Origin: Various.
How long kept/usage: The oldest item was a suit last worn in the mid-90s. The newest items were purchased circa 2005/2006, most of them last worn in 2007. See confession.
Why kept: I might wear them again, and thus They Might Be Useful. They were in my closet -- Out Of Sight, Out of Mind. The 90s suit, in particular, Nostalgia, I loved that suit! See confession.
Destination: Housing Works. In almost the last shopping bag.

Confession: There were several pairs of black work pants, two of them too large, and the other unflattering. All were out of style (mostly pant legs too wide). Yes, maybe a tailor could have either made them fit or narrowed the pant legs...but best they find someone who likes them as they are.

Rumination:  Last weekend, I visited one of my oldest friends.   After some quality conversation about age-appropriate business-appropriate clothing, and how much of our old stuff we were holding onto,  I was galvanized to empty my closet of clothing that no longer serves me. (Stay tuned for more, as well as more rumination on the topic on why Storage Boxes Are Evil.)

I have two other 90s era suits that I hung onto, mostly Sticky, Nostalgia. With the help of a good tailor, I do think that one of the jackets can be re-purposed and worn over a sheath dress.   (Stay tuned to see whether I'll actually do that.)

Recently, I found and got very charged up about The Uniform Project. Since I work with many different clients, and don't go into the same office every day, I really don't need to own a closet full of work clothes! Left to my own devices, I would be tempted to wear the same thing every day. (Like Harriet the Spy!)

The young women in The Uniform Project wear the same versatile dresses every day for a period of time, dressed up or down with accessories or by using design features that alter the appearance of the dress.   These dresses are darling -- my quest is for an age appropriate version of their "little black dress."

Kicking Glass

Kicking Glass
Originally uploaded by 365 Things

What: An assortment of small glass containers, some I think were odd punch cups. (Also, one stray candle holder and a shot glass.)
Usage: Probably not much in this century, see confession.
How long kept: Since the early/mid-90s.
Why kept: They Might Be Useful. Nostalgia. They're Perfectly Good.
Destination: Housing Works.

Confession: In the 90s, these were pressed into frequent service in my home, holding votive candles, particularly during dinners with friends and other opportunities to entertain. Like a trend, it passed...and I also became more aware of fire safety, too, and curtailed my use of candles in the house.

I can probably name 3 times in the last 10 years I've pulled them out of the top shelf of my kitchen cabinet to wash them. (How does dust get into these usually closed cabinets?) Each time I've put them back into the cabinets.

(And I need to stand on either a ladder or on the kitchen counter to access this shelf. I'm petite. So nothing stored up there is getting frequent use.)

Confession, part deux:  There are another 15 or 20 votive candle holders up there.

Sticky.

Bonus:   This stuff is heading over to Housing Works in one of the bags from the dwindling shopping bag stash.

P.S. The other day, I floated to the top of the NYPL waiting list for Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things, by Randy Frost and Gail Steketee.   This book got a bit of press earlier in the year, and I had wanted to read it.   Something I read this morning prompted me to clamber up onto the kitchen counter and get another bunch of votive holders down...they're gone now, too.  

Worth reading, and I'll come back to it. In short, some of the people who have serious problems with stuff are considering their stuff in some of the same terms we are here (i.e. It Might Be Useful, Someone Might Need It, Guilt. etc.) They're thinking the same thoughts we are, about a lot more of their stuff.

Regifting!

Regifting!
Originally uploaded by DeClutter

What: Baby outfit (has lil puppy feet and says "I woof you"), new with tags. Gift basket with "relaxing" lotion, soap and body spray and some Yogi nursing support tea for the mom to be all in a gift bag I've had since the Boy was an infant
How long kept: most no more than 6-8 months with the exception of the gift bag that is going on 5 years
why kept: the Kid outgrew the outfit so fast! The tea I have plenty of and thought I'd share. And I think we've discussed that I no longer need to ever purchase soap for the next few years, thanks to my Bath and Body works stash. The gift bag was cute so it was sticky
Destination: in the car going to the baby shower on Sunday. Posted for Monday

Confession: I have SO many gift bags that I will probably never need to buy one. I gave probably about 30 of them away on freecycle a few years ago because there was NO way in heck I'd ever use them all. I've kept the cutest bags to reuse. Anywhoo the baby shower was.... great :) I have to think about planning one for my pregnant friend :)

PS the card even came from my Greeting Card Department... Money spent on this gift? I think I'm at $3 for the tea

Color Me Certifiable...

Color Me Certifiable...
Originally uploaded by 365 Things

What: Pile of paper amassed during the course of a professional certification exam.
Origin: Credential-mania.
How long kept: A bit less than a month.
Why kept: See confession.
Destination: Shredder, and then recycling.

Confession: This is ordinarily sticky stuff for me. I still have a copy of my grad school application from the first half of the 90s. (Aargh, and I think that decided to keep it when I shredded the 90s earlier in this project.) So I'm pleased to have let this go.

NB: I haven't yet received my certification, and have a couple of other steps I must complete. I'm guessing that I'll be done sometime this year.