I'm sure there are going to be some questions that might come up with you readers. Allow me to answer them.
1) Hey, you only have a one-bedroom apartment! I have a huge house and 20 acres of land! There's no WAY you could have significant problems. So what are you complaining about?
It's true I don't have to really worry about a full attic, a full basement, garages, yards, cabanas, and other places for one's stuff that only come with having a house. But this isn't about me vs. you. This is about me vs. my own clutter. A cluttered home is a cluttered home.
2) Hey, you're only a bachelor! I have to keep track of OTHER people's stuff in my home. So what are you complaining about?
See above. The same principle applies here too. (Oh, and for you soccer moms and super dads who think that you're somehow more advanced or learned than me because you have offspring, or think that I don't have my own share of important projects and jobs to work on just because I'm not a parent, well...kindly go jump off a cliff.)
3) Why don't you just move to a bigger place?
I could do that, and believe me I've been looking into bigger places. But there are two problems here. First of all, if I was going to move, then it would make sense anyway to go through the stuff I have and try to minimize what I take with me. Obviously hauling more stuff would take more money, time, or energy on my part. But there's a second problem here too: I know that if I were to wake up in a bigger place tomorrow, I'd just end up filling it to the max just the same. So before I move, I'd like to nip this problem in the bud as best as I can.
4) Why do you even need a blog about this? Just throw stuff away.
If it were as simple as "just throw stuff away", I wouldn't have this problem to begin with. This is an issue that's a little more complex than that. If you don't have the same problems I do, more power to ya! But this blog is about me and my stuff, not you.
5) Maybe you're too materialistic.
I am indeed materialistic, but that's not the problem. And if you have pseudo-Buddhism and other spiritual self-righteousness to preach, just save your breath. There is nothing inherently wrong with being materialistic, and trust me when I say there is absolutely nothing anybody can say that will change my mind about that. However, there IS a physical limit to all things. My accumulation of stuff has reached a point where I now can't get to enjoy my material things as much as I would like. It's a quest to get rid of some of that 80% of my stuff that I only use less than 5% of the time.
6) Why can't I post comments, like on other people's blogs?
I've shut off commenting for now. In my experience, blog comments often become mini message boards for other people's fighting and ranting. I disable comments on most of my YouTube-uploaded clips for the same reason.
7) How can I contact you?
Hopefully the email address bill[at]aplaceformystuff dot org should be active by next week. In the meantime, those of you who already know me also know some way to contact me. [**UPDATE** -- The email address is now working! You can find a link on the left.]
8) Why did you write out the email address in words like that?
Because I don't want to give spambots one extra free meal.
