... and picking stuff up

I mean, I'm not jettisoning EVERYTHING.

I've learned some important stuff that maybe I shouldn't jettison. Do you know how important it is to shake the printer toner? I do. What about using DEET? If you're in a third-world country, use DEET. (Or if you work in advertising.)

This, my response to a request for a brief cover letter. My resume followed, though I'm thinking of bulking this page up, making it more informative, and skipping the formal resume altogether.

jettisoning everything

I'm tossing things I don't use (ever), don't want to use (philosophically), don't enjoy using (viscerally), or otherwise hate.

Well. Hate's a strong word.

THINGS JETTISONED
• A bunch of clothes. Still not done with this. I have yet to tackle shoes, for example. Note: I'm not tossing any woolens. Also note: I'm a 4 or 6 dress, and I'm a 7 shoe. Come on by.

• Things in drawers. If it's been sitting in a drawer for two months or more, out it goes. There are some things-in-drawers I haven't used in the two years I've lived here. Do you like bobby pins? Wallpaper samples? Magazines about books? Call me up. Exceptions: Awards, gifts, books, my passport.

• Things that do only one thing. I favor things that can perform several functions. For example: I would keep a mortar & pestle but lose a spice grinder. Note: I'm not giving away a spice grinder. That was just an example. I would keep a bike (transportation, exercise, awesome) but lose a car. Note: Again, not getting rid of a car. I already did that.

• Things that make me sad because the people making them do horrible things -- to the environment, to its employees, to my sense of aesthetic justice. There's plenty sad out there already, poppets; I don't need more sad. So: less TV and more books. Less iTunes and more LPs. Less corporations and more individuals. There's some crossover (between corporations and LPs, for example). I navigate those on a case-by-case basis.

IT'S JUST THAT I'VE BEEN THINKING
That simpler is better. That things can be simpler. And that one way to simplify is to cull. So.

BY THE WAY
I wrote this in November, saved a draft, then forgot all about it for two months. Its appearance now has nothing to do with the arrival of 2009. I gave up making New Year's Resolutions (& guilt) for Lent in 1999, three years after I'd given up Catholicism (though I liked the idea of Lent). I give things up and Resolve throughout the year these days. However, I've stopped using the word "Lent" or "Resolution." You know. On principle.

Hokay, that's it!

Love,
Katie