Archive for the ‘clutter’ tag
Rip rig and panic
SIIGS means Self Induced Information Gluttony Syndrome. I just made that acronym up. And the syndrome too. But I’ve been living it for a while, dosing myself with nuggets of mostly distracting information via my phone and computers. My concentration has been slipping and after a few hours in the torrent of news snippets, I feel stupider and strangely dispairing.
Most likely it is time for an information diet. I’m fond of Feedly, a program that turns all of my google reader rss subscriptions into a page of varied story tidbits. But after all that clicking, I have even less useful information than I did before.
And let’s be clear here: useful information is, from the artist point of view, information that leads to me making art in some form. I can trick myself and say that that I’ll use all of this stuff eventually, but if I am constantly dazed and dopey in the short term, there will be no eventually. Useful information sparks the creative impulse either by providing an inspiring example, or posing a problem I want to resolve. Useless information is just something I file away to make it seem like I’m doing something.
I know all the tools for dealing with this sort of behavior and this type of writing is one of them: I’ve faced this kind of willful distraction many times in the past. I’ve been missing my therapist lately ( now realizing that I’m coming up on the anniversary of ending therapy) and these are the sorts of skills he helped me develop.
Once again I must ask, distracted from what? And why?
One of today’s tasks has been the continuing digitization of my music collection, which is heading towards 300gb at this point, with still quite a few CDs left to rip. A lot of stuff I’m adding now is stuff that I bought for DJ purposes over the past ten years or so. Lots of compilation CDs that I got for one or two songs. I’ve decided to dump the entire CD into iTunes however, just to see what I does to my music mix. There’s going to be a lot of dodgy house music. I’m from the generation that looks at our music collections as some sort of badge of identity. So I can’t help but think that when random play throws up something that I wouldn’t consciously pick I should be somehow embarrassed. This will be a nice exercise in letting that go. At the very least I’m starting to approach that fantasy ideal of having every piece of music I own all in one place, equally available. When that occurs, what will it “say” about me?
Why save anything? There’s a part of me that wants to let it all go. (is it the same part that makes stupid mistakes like misplacing hard drives and cameras?). Collecting is a baffling impulse, self defining and self obscuring all at the same time. If I want to see another picture, I should make it dammit, and not look it up on line. But I’m not there yet.
Tags: browsehole, clutter, collecting, music, online life, self examination, SIIGSRelated posts
Flushing the brain…
Some messing about with photoshop.
Had a nice break from cleaning: brunch with kathryntact, which lead to a good walk down-and-crosstown. I made the mistake of suggesting a turn in the park, which was clearly the site of a plant orgy, because I had pollen issues immediately.
I picked up some more organizational tools at the Container Store, and got home and got back to work.
A big part of cleaning is chasing clutter from room to room, as areas become staging areas for sorting of other piles. It’s that point, the point where a mess must get made in order for it to get eliminated, that can be the most disheartening for me. I just got something tidy and now I have to mess it up again? I need to breathe deep and forge on.
I was in such a bubble this weekend that I utterly missed the bombing situation in Times Square. I’m only catching up on it now via WNYC. (OY,I haven’t had them on for weeks and yet once agin they’re announcing another pledge drive.)
It’s wet and sticky today, I woke to soaking rain outside and a bit of the feeling of hangover, even though I hadn’t been drinking last night. Part of my anxiety of cleaning is all the stuff that gets stirred up. My apartment is very dusty, I have boxes of buttons and accessories that haven’t been stirred for ages, and after handling them I feel itchy and sneezy.
Tags: chores, clutter, friendsRelated posts
The Reveal…
Part of the results of this weekend’s work: a usable work surface. You don’t want to know what the “before” was like, except that One would have had to hazard a guess that there was a desk in the vicinity of a festering pile.
Yep, that’s a Crate and Barrel knockoff of an Eames chair, but it was less than two hundred bucks, and it’s genuinely comfortable.
I’m not going to end up on “Workplace of the Week” at Unclutterer any time soon, but it’s better than it’s been in at least a year, and that’s pretty satisfying. Not visible in the picture is my decluttered closet space, containing all the clean clothes.
I find that in order to maintain momentum on these sorts of cleaning projects, I have to enact certain rituals: a big breakfast, only certain music (it has to be albums that I am very familiar with like Hatfield and the North, or Flesh and Blood era Roxy Music, or Joan Armitrading). Coffee is a constant companion, and once the TV comes on, the spell is broken, and I can’t get going again.
Also added a bunch of podcast subscriptions this weekend. I’m trying to find some viable art ones, but haven’t come up with anything all too interesting yet.
Tags: clutter, daily photoRelated posts
Acceptance is a phase….
(More trivialities – feel free to skip)
Time to acknowledge that in the same way that a little bit of setback can spiral me into the conviction that it’s all over and that I’m worthless, a little bit of accomplishment can restore me to the feeling of being fit for human society.
I’m talking, of course about decluttering, that Sisyphean business that I engage in when I don’t have business meetings breathing down my neck. It helps to have company coming over as well, because that allows me to see just how it all might look to someone who hasn’t seen it in a while.
I would like to be able to tackle the whole thing a regular way, with a schedule and top to bottom cleaning in the Heloise manner. But for me it only happens when I walk back and forth from area to area. I can’t guarantee what will get cleaned next, sorry to say. So it’s a little bit of progress in all areas at a time. And it generally takes two days for me to ramp myself up to that.
So company’s here and we’re museum bound.
Tags: clutter, daily photoRelated posts
Assorted notes
Had somewhat grandiose hopes of cutting my book collection by about a third to donate to ICP’s benefit book sale. That isn’t happening, but at least I’m getting six boxes of them out of my house. And boy am I ever reminded of how many books I have on hand to read.
Messing around with a new lens for the camera – it seems a little soft to me, but at least it’s lighter to carry around. And I’ve been meeting some commitments, which feels good.
I am indeed happy to have gotten my taxes filed a couple of weeks ago, working alongside Thor. We have an annual “file together” coaching session, which always helps me emotionally. The net effect of my filing is that my tax dept should be whittled down considerably, meaning that I should be clear of it by the end of this year. Here’s the lesson: Always file your taxes, kids! At least 50% of my obligation has been penalties and interest for years that I didn’t file.
So maybe this is all spring cleaning in action. The books were just picked up (three cheers for folks who show up when they say they will, even if I’m not always one of them), so I think I’m going to take myself out to the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art’s Art Fest for a little treat.
Tags: clutter, comics, daily photo, photography, taxesRelated posts
Hand it on…
A bit more of the old slow and steady. This was a weekend of personal progress, where I took some actions that I’d been holding back from, and tackled some character flaws. I got some help on Friday, and that kicked my butt into action. The weather was bliss, such a shift from all cataclysmic storm activity of the last couple of months. Yesterday I took in Burton’s “Alice” with Lolita, and then we walked to Columbus Circle – stopping to check the crush at the Apple store. We had iPads in our hands, and my verdict is that it’s not for me at this point: bit too heavy, very fingerprinty and I’ve got a bunch of stuff that does what it does already. Will a lot of people buy them? Yes, I bet and it is a different sense of what a computer is, for better or worse. It’s a receiver – for audio, video email and text. So the goal is to be able to receive anything anywhere. And in that sense there’s a huge audience for it. There’s a lot of consumers out there.
Today I threw out a bunch of stuff around the house. Having a couple of days to warm up, I was able to move more of the clutter out, sweep some, and rework my shelves.
I’m still trying to get a feel for the SLR. one interesting change is that I went and checked out a Nikon equivalent to the lost Lumix and could tell right off that wouldn’t be happy with the lens on it. So it looks like I won’t be replacing my point and shoot fror a while.
Tags: clutter, daily photo, shoppingRelated posts
The last screen of the day
Another glut of screens, and hopefully with the writing of this entry, an end to it for the day. The garbage has been taken out, my clothes have been somewhat arranged into a neater configuration and on thee streets, the rain is removing the last of the snow (although I’m told there’s more on the way).
It was too wet to really take out my camera today, so I mostly processed pictures from last night, taken on my way to and from a low-key TES member’s meeting. I’d love to get my house in better shape before my departure out west this weekend, but there’s not a lot of free time before now and then. I sent off a group of original drawings for a show in Davis, California, and it reminded me how lax I’ve been in updating my website. So here it is: I need an intern or assistant. I’ve got to start looking around in earnest. I need someone who can handle scheduling and digital work, someone who can pitch in with me to take care of decluttering the workspace (which is my home these days) and who I can trust with some of my privacy. In the past, I’ve had some fantastic people helping me but it’s really been to long since I’ve consistantly kept up with all that good work they put in.
So I’m putting this out to the universe, and I think I’m going to make a couple of calls to people I know. The real problem is that I can’t really pay much of anything at this point, a situation I’m hoping to rectify in the coming months. Until I can, the intern approach seems most likely.
Tags: assistant, clutter, daily photoRelated posts
My path is fascinating…
Walked yesterday from my house to Soho via The Brooklyn Bridge. Little bit of dinner at the Souen on Prince Street.And then up Sixth to buy mustache wax. Have to say that it wasn’t taxing. If I had fewer things to do around here, I’d try to do something like it daily while the weather is amenable. As it is, walks fill me with ideas, and leave me with a bit less time for acting on them.
Today’s cleaning chore is digging out from my most recent email mess. I find it faintly amusing that I experience a pang when I hear about other people’s Google Wave invites, given that if I was invited, I’d be saddened by my inability to keep up with it, or to respond in a timely manner. Once again: use the tools you have before acquiring new ones.
Is there ever a time where the doing of things doesn’t simply remind me of all the things I’ve left undone?
Plan for next weekend: organize my jpegs into more usable source material folders. If I’m going to try to draw more sorts of things, I’ve got to get more aggressive about my looking. As I’m saying that I thing I might go the route of making up some Lulu pocket books that I could carry around with me to provide some inspiration.
Got in a little street art yesterday as well. I’ve got a new plan for some new pieces that I hope to be sprinkling around.
Here’s a picture of two bridges.
Tags: chores, clutter, daily photo, new york in black and white, walkingRelated posts
They cleaned my clock…
Despite wining a few hands, I got my ass handed to me today at the poker table. We don’t play high stakes but I ended the day down thirteen bucks on a table with a ten dollar buy-in. Of course the real point is companionship and being around hot folks smoking cigars, so it was worth drubbing to get that. And the pressure of hosting at my hovel made me bear down and get more cleaning done. I wish I could reconcile myself to the fact that my house keeping style is episodic. Things will slide for a while (a long while) and then I’ll get back to pulling it together. Over the years, things have gotten cleaner and more organized on the whole. That’s hard to see in the short run however, and when there’s a specific part that is getting on my nerves and I can’t take action on it, it feels excruciating.
The weekends of solitude are good for getting me going: after a couple of days I seem to gather momentum and take on projects in a way that I can’t when I’m coming and going. This weekend I did a couple of things I’ve been contemplating for months and months.
Right now I’d love to watch “The Eyes of Laura Mars”. Sad thing is, I think I own it on dvd, but I couldn’t tell you where it is exactly. That’s the signal that I’ve got a lot more work to do.
Related posts
Rocky Road…
Rough Monday, but not for the usual reasons. Wandering from mess to mess in my house, which happens when I’m at home enough consecutive days to build up the momentum to clean, made me realize just how bad the cluttering has gotten in the past year. At one point I discovered a major mess that had been disguised by a pile of things that I hadn’t shifted in months and the extent of the problem brought me to tears. When I get to that place of recrimination/frustration/mounting anxiety in the middle of cleaning,I know that it’s time for me to get out of the house and take a bit of a walk.
I went to the slope to get some food, and then from there into Manhattan to work on a new project for the website. Coming back I stopped off at David’s place, since he had been holding a painting for me that I had picked up off the street over a year ago. A good conversation ensued, and I think I may just be getting myself a special something.
And yes the above picture is for you, irony fans.
Tags: cleaning, clutter, daily photo, emotions, friends