Photo finish, part V

4/30/10 Pictures and cards, recycled

Well look at this, even my Beautiful Bride is getting into the act. After my most recent purge, I set aside some of Joanna's pictures and cards for her to look through. She quickly -- and rightly -- decided that after savoring them for one last moment, they could leave our lives forever. The Casco Transfer Station shall process a lot of photo prints this weekend.

I need to note that after my last picture downsize, in which I made light of sentimentality, my mother expressed concern. I believe she was worried I was turning stone-hearted, tossing all connections to the past to the side.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

I have many cherished memories, I just don't need to keep photos as a markers of them. Actually, I DO keep photos, and I have saved many this week. But, I've changed my thinking. While I used to keep every picture, now I force myself to make decisions. What I have done through these recent downsizes is been thoughtful and selective about what I saved.

Is being sentimental a good thing? What does it mean to be sentimental?

When I mocked the idea of sentimentality, it was mostly a joke. (Yes, I admit it, I usually just go for the cheap laughs.) However, as I think deeper about it, maybe the joke also held a lot of truth. I'm not so sure sentimentality is a virtue to be praised.

Any thoughts, Dear Readers?

Fleeting awards

4/29/10 "Best Director" award, trashed

For four years I have been involved with our school district's student film festival, the last two as a co-director. Tonight was the awards ceremony, which included a record 219 students who were responsible for creating thirty-two films. Great stuff: everyone broke a leg.

The event is quite an affair, with limos and classic cars escorting students across the high school parking lot to a red carpet, where they are photographed and interviewed before entering the auditorium. I'll also admit that I love it because it's the one time each year that I actually get to wear my tuxedo.

I knew today would be whirlwind and that I'd be getting home late (I dragged myself in at 10:41 PM), so I had a downsize set for autopilot. A guy was supposed to come on his own and pick up a pile of bricks from my driveway. Problem solved.

And then I got his email that he hadn't been able to come because of car trouble.

Fortunately, a solution presented itself. Since I'm leaving the district after this year, the founding director of the festival presented me with trophy of appreciation at the end of the awards. A thoughtful gesture and one I certainly appreciate.

But, circumstances leave me with no choice but to rapidly downsize it.

For over two hours I had gold-plated plastic proving I was a "Best Director." But, like Steven Spielberg, John Ford, and Frank Capra, I hardly feel that I need a statuette to buttress my accomplishments.

Photo finish IV

4/28/10 Pictures, postcards, letters, and assorted memorabilia, recycled

Dear Sentimentality,

I mock you.

Sincerely,
Reed

Photo Finish III

4/27/10 Photo album and most of its pictures, recycled

Repeat after me:

I do not need two dozen different pictures of an event that happened twenty years ago.

I do not need pictures of people whose names I can't remember.

I do not need pictures of someone I went on one date with.

I do not need out-of-focus, poorly composed, random pictures of places I visited when I was seventeen.

I do not need pictures of friends who are covering their faces so I cannot see who they are.

I do not need five different pictures of the same two people in the same place.

I do not need to feel guilty about downsizing pictures.

And finally:

I do not need pictures when memories are richer, more satisfying, and occupy far more valuable space.

Photo finish

4/26/10 Photo album and most of the pictures in it, recycled

I'm on a roll with photo downsizing, now.

I sure hope entire photo albums can be recycled, because these priceless memories should not end up in a landfill. Instead, they should be recycled into highly functional and environmentally friendly products. Such as toilet paper.

Tonight's photo album covered 1994 & 1995, I believe. My first years teaching. Believe it or not, there are a few precious moments I want to hold onto from my early days as a teacher. Based on the number of pictures I saved, I'd say I treasure about six percent of those memories.

The rest? They'll make some fine paper towels, I'm sure.

Junk yard inventory

4/25/10 Bunch of "scraps," trashed

Let's take an inventory of what I hauled to the dump today, why I had it, and what shall be lost with its departure:

1) Old Blue Tarp. This tarp was in the shed when we moved into this house. (Another gift from the generous Mr. Zipkin.) Even seven years ago it was not in good shape, but I've still put it to use in myriad ways. Most often it served as a cover on one wood pile or another. During the last few years, I had to only cover wood that I didn't really want to keep dry, since it had so many holes and was so porous, it was basically like using a giant Kleenex.

2) Two Mostly-Empty Buckets of Joint Compound. The larger bucket was also abandoned by Mr. Zipkin when he vacated 34 Lukes Road, but I did use a fair amount of it for various wall repairs over the last few years. The smaller bucket was one I bought several years ago, probably for our big bathroom renovation. When I opened them the other day, the remaining compound in each was rock hard and useless.

3) Several PVC Tubes. Guess who left these behind when he moved? Bing! Bing! Bing! You're right: that Zipkin fellow. I never found a good use for them and they've just been taking up shed space for seven years.

4) Section of Water-Resistant Drywall. Believe it or not, I bought this myself. I used most of it when we remodeled our upstairs bathroom for the area above the shower. When I finally got rid of all that other drywall, I actually encouraged the guy to NOT take this, since it was a "specialty product." What a stupid move that was.

5) Modified Shower Curtain Rod. When we were in the process of replacing our tub and sink, we had a week or so when the walls weren't done so I couldn't mount the new curtain rod. However, the old curtain rod (purchased by the ever generous Mr. Zipkin) was too short to work, so I needed to insert a dowel to lengthen it. It did a fine job of holding the shower curtain for that time while the renovation was happening. Then, of course, I held onto it for safe keeping for several more years.

6) Drywall Corner Bead. Also left over from the bathroom upgrade. Perfectly good and usable, but I was on a roll today.

7) Pickup Truck Bed Liner. You may find this hard to believe, Dear Readers, but this gem was left behind by Mr. Zipkin. What you may find harder to believe is that I've found several uses for this over the years. When we had a portable garage, I used it as a sort of floor so certain things I stored out there wouldn't sit directly on the ground. I also cut pieces off at times when I needed a little section of rubber, as we all often do. Most recently, it spent the winter outside our front door, since our brick patio had been torn up and not replaced with the fine stone patio that went in this spring.

Useful items, all. Sorry to see them go.

So's Mr. Zipkin, I'm sure.

Picture the future

4/24/10 Many, many, many photographs, recycled

Spent a very enjoyable hour on the couch going through three old photo albums, which roughly covered the years 1994-1998. The irony, of course, is that if I weren't planning on throwing most of the photos away, I wouldn't have spent the time looking through them.

Letting things go is getting easier and easier.

I kept about twenty percent of the pictures, enough to remember the big events and fun times. I also set aside another twenty percent or so to give to some of the other people in the shots. I hope those folks have the good sense to enjoy the pictures as they flip through them, and then to toss them away.

The rest were thrown into the recycle bin; I'll take them off to the dump tomorrow.

While I spent this evening looking back at the past, most of the rest of the day was occupied looking firmly into the future.

My other downsize of the day consisted of one thousand of our hard-earned dollars, sent in the form of a check to Colorado. At the risk of jinxing the situation, I'm happy to announce that Joanna and I have made a rather momentous decision. (Chase was in on it, too, although he doesn't really know it.)

The cool grand was a deposit on a home we are having built in Denver. If you can't find the perfect place, might as well have them create it from the ground up. If you'd like a tour, click here, then choose the Willow model.

We plan to make many fantastic memories in that house. Might even take a few pictures.