11:56 p.m. | 2003-06-14 Geez Louise! Where Did All This Crap Come From? I�ve been busy getting rid of stuff. You�d be amazed at the amount of crap I�ve been able to shove into my little home. I know you would be, because I am. So, the purging process is well under way. So far, I have almost 13 bags of clothing that�ll be donated. I hope someone has a penchant for leg warmers straight from the 80�s. You know, I went through my clothes 10 years ago, and I thought I donated a lot of this stuff. Imagine my surprise upon realizing that I thought I couldn�t part with that stuff back then. It�s not like I�ve worn any of it in the last decade. Thank god. Seriously, I was quite embarrassed by the crap I�ve hung on to. Oh lord, and knick-knacks? Why, oh why have I carted all this stuff around and stored it for years? And, lets just talk about baskets for a moment. I figured that I had one 30-gallon bag worth of baskets. Okay, I was half right. I had two bags full. Heh. I donated those to the folks down the street with the aviary because birds LOVE to shred baskets. This is that. (CI:) Hi, how�s the renovation going? (English Guy from Africa � EGFA:) Good. I�ve got quite a bit done. Did you find a home for your birds? (CI:) Yes, fortunately I did. A good home. (EGFA:) That worked out then? Are you off soon? (Noticing my confusion.) Are you going to move then? (CI:) Yes. Actually, that�s why I stopped by. I�m getting rid of a bunch of stuff and I wanted to know if you guys wanted some baskets for the aviary. (EGFA:) Oh sure. Sure. They love to chew baskets. That�s good because they don�t chew the walls (of the aviary) then. Sure, we�d love to take your baskets. Would you like me to come get them? (CI:) No. No, I�ll bring them to you. But I have a lot. Like a big garbage bag full, I think. Do you want me to bring you all of them, or is that too much? (EGFA:) Yes, bring all of them. They really love to chew those things. (CI:) Okay, I�ll go get them and bring �em over. They happily took them all. In fact, EGFA�s wife said she�d been meaning to go buy some so they were really thrilled about my aviary donation. They think I�d be better suited to Downtown also, you know, because I�m single. There�s a lot more going on in my new hood than my current one and all. You know, it�s a strange thing when you can actually feel people living vicariously through yourself. It�s energizing too. This move is definitely different. Every time I tell someone about my new dreamspace, I can �see� people thinking, �wow, that�d be so cool�. I think there are a lot of �Eloises� out there. Anyway, somehow my anti-pack-rat gene has appeared. In other words, I think I need a dumpster. And, it feels really, really good to let go of all this crap. I thought I might have an extra black garbage bag to take to My Favorite European Antique Shop for their homeless man. However, that was some crooked thinking there. your thoughts? seed flower