August 27, 2006

Grass!

No, not that kind. The lawn kind. My side yard was utterly destroyed last year by the workers who built my new addition. The dumped the debris from the old deck there after the tear out. After they got that hauled out, they stacked lumber and other building supplies there. The lawn, which was weedy and skimpy anyway, never recovered. There are garden beds all around the sides. The rosemary bush revived just fine, in spite of having plywood stored on top of it for days. I don’t think it’s possible to kill rosemary. One very tall ti plant and a pikake also survived, but it took them months to recover from the damage. The rest of the garden, including my herbs and a nice bed of ferns, didn’t survive at all. So it’s been very barren outside of my screened lanai since last winter. The only thing I’ve put in so far is a few herbs. It’s time to have my little patch of lawn again. The rest of my yard is “practical.” All xeriscaped, which is really the only thing that makes sense on this dry leeward coast. Some palms and ferns, pikake and a plumeria tree. A few potted plants dotted around. All do well with minimal watering. Since I’ve cut back most of the watering, I can install my little ten by ten lawn, guilt free! I’ll get one of the hardy grasses that won’t drink much after it’s put down roots.

Next task: Siiiiiigh! That would be the shed with the gardening supplies. There are paint cans, tarps and power tools all mixed up, higgledy-piggledy, with everything that I’ll need to have access to before I can get started. I’m sure it’ll be fun. :0( I need to organize all three sheds, but for right now I may have to settle for just being able to find the gardening tools and get to them without barking my shins.)

Progress: The books aren’t disappearing fast enough, but I know what’s where, what will be kept and what needs to be gotten rid of. Quite a few have been registered and prepped for release, and a few have already begun their journey. And I guess that’s the important thing: that it’s getting done, despite delays.

August 20, 2006

Work

Work really picked up this week. I don’t do the nine-to-five routine. Each job I do is a stand-alone contract, so when the phone doesn’t ring, I start getting nervous. It’s been pretty slow for a while, so the last few days have been gratifying. Knowing I won’t be sweating over the bills is always nice.

Haven’t gotten much done around the house. Got the front garden weeded and the huge pikake bush trimmed back. That garden is the only part of my personal territory that’s completely visible from the street, (since it’s outside the fence) so it’s got to be kept respectable. Between the pikake trimmings and the weeds I nearly filled a very large black rubbish bag, but I compressed it some and managed to add the leaves from the plumeria tree that’s inside the fence in the front yard. I always manage to forget which day is green waste pickup day, but a friend was kind enough to haul my stuff to the place where it gets turned into something else - mulch I think. I had a couple of fallen palm fronds also. They’re eight or ten feet long, so we whacked them into short pieces and he took that away, too.

Project: I really, really need to empty the pantry completely, toss the things that have been pushed to the back for entirely too long and get the rest into some kind of order as I put it back. Work on the books continues.

August 15, 2006

Lucky we live Hawaii!

That’s a pretty common phrase around here. Sometimes it drips with sarcasm, in reference to, say, the cost of living or the long wait to get items shipped to our little speck in the middle of the Pacific. It’s more often said said with a warm heart while enjoying the scenery, over-indulging in a local delicacy or marveling at some other pleasure unique to our islands.

Sunset on the Beach is one of those pleasures, and it was in my neighborhood this past weekend. Local food and craft booths, entertainment, even a movie at sunset. It’s a “free” festival, though it comes at a price. It’s paid for partly with taxpayer dollars, though corporate sponsorship may put an end to that soon. And the homeless who usually live there were moved into a tight little group not quite out of sight to festival goers (they’ll probably already be back in their preferred spots by now.)

Still! Lucky we live Hawaii!

Progress: Um, not much. Guess I needed a few days off. I haven’t lost my focus, though, and will be back on track soon.

August 14, 2006

Ack! More stuff!

Just got a birthday package yesterday from my sis. She must be feeling off her feed, because it was less than a month late this time (I do the same thing, so I can say that.) She sent me - drumroll please - rubber duckies! My guest bathroom has been in a half-remodeled state for (mumble mumble) longer than I care to admit. And it’s got a rubber duckie theme. There are rubber duckie border wallpaper, hand towels and shower curtain rings already in there, along with a basket of rubber duckies. Now I also have: a shower mat, a shower squeegie, a ceramic soap dish and lotion bottle set and lots of little rubber duckies, some in Hawaiian garb! These are decorative and/or functional items, so I don’t have to feel guilty, right?

Progress: I’m starting to see some organization in the books, and have printed labels so I can start getting some of them out of here. New task: get busy registering books.

Technorati Tags: clutter, de-cluttering, gifts, rubber duckies, sister

August 11, 2006

The view from here

There is only one way to get into my community from the rest of the island. It’s a coastal highway, so the ocean is on one side or the other as I come and go. There are houses and businesses on that side in a few places, but mostly it’s just beaches and open spaces. And homeless encampments. Lots of folks, down on their luck, living in tents or cars or just rolled up in whatever they have, their worldly possessions in gym bags or paper sacks.

It’s a daily reminder that my “clutter” would be seen quite differently by some.

New task: The United Cerebral Palsy Association truck will be coming by again soon. Most of what they collect goes to a thrift store which provides jobs to various disadvantaged folks. The money they raise in the stores supports other charities in addition to their own (including groups that provide for the needs of the homeless.)

I’ll be cleaning some closets and stuffing boxes and bags with salable items for UCP to pick up.

August 8, 2006

Where have the years gone?

My baby brother is in his fifties. How did that happen? He can get older if he wants to, but do I have to keep staying a few steps ahead of him? Can’t I just run in place for a few years and let him pass me by? Or maybe that’s what’s happening anyway. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t wash away his gray or slather on age-defying moisturizers. Maybe some day he’ll look older than me. That would be okay.

Clutter progress: I shoveled gravel to refresh the boy’s yard. The yard that the dogs have access to is xeriscaped with gravel and just a few plants. I lose a little gravel every time I clean up their deposits, so it has to be topped up from time to time. It’s pretty hard on my back. I’ve had a couple of days of being a slug. Today is better, so I’ll probably work on the books tomorrow & start thinking about a companion project. There is more to life than just books, isn’t there?

August 5, 2006

BookCrossing

I told you about my books yesterday. So many books it’s an embarrassment. I found a solution to the book-clutter problem a while back, but I’ve never put it into high gear. I’m working on it.

The solution I’ve chosen is bookcrossing.com. It’s kind of a mixed blessing in my life. I’ve actually acquired more books because I signed on to this helpful site. I got caught up in the fever and became obsessed. I should mention here that I have some OCD tendencies. When I really like something (and I really like bookcrossing) I can go a little overboard.

BookCrossing is about sharing books. The basic premise is that books gathering dust do no one any good. Why not share them, anonymously, with the world? Read, register and release them. Let them go, but spy on them from time to time. Here’s how it works:

Once you’ve signed up to be a member, you can begin registering your books. After you fill in some basic info about a book, a click of the mouse will assign you a BCID number. This is a unique number that will allow you to find and track your book in the future. Copy the number onto a bookcrossing label and stick it to the inside cover. You can add an additional label or two to the outside if you like, saying things like “I’m not lost. I’m traveling.” or, simply, “Free Book.” Now you’re ready for the fun part. Release your book. Leave it on a park bench or maybe an ATM kiosk or somewhere in the zoo - you be the judge. Make sure you enter release notes saying when and where you left the book. Sometimes bookcrossers “go hunting,” looking for books released in their area. (Getting release alerts via email is one of the options you’ll be able to select.) Books are most often found by chance, by people who happen to be in the right place at the right time. Have faith! Someone will find it. Your finder may be curious enough to go to bookcrossing.com and enter the BCID number. There, they can tell you about their experience with the book and tell you what they plan to do with it. You’ll recieve an alert to tell you when someone makes a journal entry for any book on your bookshelf. Not every released book will garner journal entries. Some are never heard from again. That takes some getting used to, but it really is okay. By releasing your books, you’re inviting fate to take a hand. We bookcorssers are fond of talking about karma and serendipity. That’s part of the fun of the bookcrossing experience. I’ve never crunched the numbers, but I think about ten percent of my released books have been journaled. A so-so day instantly turns rosy when one of my books writes home to tell me about it’s journey. I have books in many places around the globe: Germany, Japan, England, Canada, Australia and throughout the US, to name a few. Some have been released numerous times in farflung places. All were originally released right here in Hawaii.

The BookCrossing site is easily navigable. The main page will tell you all about BookCrossing and help you get started. You can buy labels and other bookcrossing items in the Supply Store. This is not mandatory. Bookcrossing is free, and its founder, Ron Hornbaker, is committed to keeping it that way. Supply Store purchases help support the site, so do visit and consider dropping a few bucks. But, again, it’s not mandatory. You can download and print free labels or even hand print the BCID number and other info into your books. Wander around the site a little. You’ll find lots of features and helpful tips. There are message boards where members discuss their favorite release techniques, invite you to join in release challanges and contests or to talk about the books you’ve read. Chit-chat is the busiest message board, but that’s another obsession that I may or may not discuss some other day. The newsletter will tell you about the latest goings-on. You can read it on the site or have it sent to your mailbox. And don’t forget to have fun with your bookshelf. It’s you own personal page, listing your books and your bookcrossing stats. There’s space to write about yourself , and you can upload pictures and graphics. You can enter as much or as little information there as you choose. The tools to customize it are easy to use, even for a non-techie like me.

The hook is baited. Will you bite? Got to BookCrossing.com. If you decide to give it a try, tell them that skeeterbess sent you!

Clutter progress: The book sorting continues. I started by going through my shelved books, dusting as I skimmed the spines. I’ve started on the stacks in my office. I may finish in this lifetime.

August 4, 2006

Books, books and more books

I like bookcrossing.com. I’ve been a member since February of 2003 and I have over three hundred books on my bookcrossing bookshelf. Probably about a hundred of those are still in the house. Not a problem. They’ll eventually be given to other BookCrossers or released into the wild. The problem is my other books. Many hundreds of books, maybe more than a thousand. Some of them are in my bookshelves. I’m talking about the regular wood and screws and glue bookshelves now, not my virtual one. There are three seven-footers in the living room. Some of my most precious books are behind glass, on the shelves of the two curio cabinets, which also sit in the living room. The bookshelf in my office is full of work-related stuff, and the more frequently used texts are on top of my desk/hutch thingie. The four-foot shelf in my bedroom is overflowing. Books tumble onto the floor each time I browse through them. When I bend down to pick up a dropped book, I can see the books under my bed. Well, I can’t see them all, because there are stacks in front of stacks beside stacks hiding more stacks. An underbed blanket box sticks out from under the foot of my bed, filled with books, of course. Then there’s the boxes. Three fairly large ones in my office closet. Two more stacked on the floor near my printer. Those have overflowed onto the stacks on the floor next to the boxes. There are more boxes and stacks in my bedroom closet, and I think there may be more in the guest room closet, but I could be wrong about that.

The shelved books, not so much of a problem, except that some will never be revisited and should be somewhere else, cluttering up someone else’s life. The boxes and stacks? Those qualify as clutter. Most were bought at thrift stores and used book places for the specific purpose of registering and releasing. A few were given to me by other kind souls for the same purpose. But there’s that procrastination thing. They’re still here.

My first de-cluttering assignment: start organizing the books. This will take many months. I’m old and my back hurts much of the time. Nevertheless, I start today. I’ll establish a sytem for keepers and releasables. I’ll pick a box or a stack or a shelf and decide whether the books there need to stay in my life or should be let go.

What’s that you say? Don’t have a clue about bookcrossing? Stay tuned! I’ll tell all tomorrow. If you absolutely can’t or won’t wait, go educate yourself today: BookCrossing.com

And if you decide to sign up today, tell ‘em skeeterbess sent you!

August 3, 2006

Why I’m Here

My friends have been urging me to blog for quite some time. They suffer under the delusion that I not only have things to say, but that I say them well and other people should see them. I remain unconvinced, but, well, they’re my friends and most of them have exhibited good judgement in the past, so here I am. Here’s hoping that I don’t make too much of a fool of myself or make them rethink my worth.

I’m a fifty-something, self-employed empty-nester living in Hawaii. There are some things I like very much about my life. I like the independence of working for myself. I like what I do for a living. I like where I live. I love my son and my two dogs and a select group of friends. I like that there is always a book nearby that needs reading. I like bookcrossing.com, which would keep me from getting buried in books if I were a more faithful member.

The one thing I dislike the most about my life is the clutter that I live in. It seems like I’ve always had too much stuff, but the quantity has become overwhelming in recent years. Procrastination is another undesirable trait, and is why I’m always going to start addressing the clutter tomorrow.

Tomorrow really will come. It’s almost here. Starting tomorrow I’ll try to do one thing each day to address my clutter problem. I don’t know what I’ll blog about, except for this: I will report plans and progress on the clutter problem here. No, that’s not all I’ll be writing about. Whether I’m an interesting person is an unknown in the blogging world. What’s not in question is that there are interesting things and interesting people in my life, and that I live in an interesting place in these interesting times. So I’ll share some of that with you. And with each post I’ll tell you about a task, sometimes large, sometimes small, that will move me towards digging myself out from under the stuff. I’ll try to be honest in reporting failures - and there will be failures. My fear of public humiliation will be a driving factor in keeping me on track.

Wish me luck. Tomorrow.