Earlier I found the website of Clutters Last Stand author Don Aslett's website and sent him (or whoever handles his email) a message thanking him for the book and mentioning the blog it inspired me to make. And today, I got this kind reply back from Aslett's assistant. I'm posting it here with permission.
Dear Bill:
I'm dejunking my desk--sorting, tossing, filing--and came across your email to Don Aslett, July 31, 2009, that I've hoarded cuz I like it so much, then clicked my way to your blog. That was quite a while ago, I got hooked. I like your writing style, not unlike a famous author I know, however peppered with cuss words :)
That takes a lotta time. Please blog about how getting it out in words has affected your purge.
Anyway it's terrific, thank you for sharing your stories, I'll keep up with your RSS feed.
Happy decluttered New Year,
Tobi
(Don's assistant since 1986)
Ps. I prefer the original CLS because it is sooooo opinionated (doesn't mean I agree), and it seems to be timeless.
The copy of the book that I own and have been quoting is the first edition. Though now I'm curious how later editions compare to it. But I have to agree with Tobi's "timeless" comment. As I've probably mentioned, I didn't even realize the book was from 1984 until I got to a paragraph about computers. What's funny is that there's a drawn picture of a totem pole with a number of 80s pop culture icons: E.T., Pac-Man, Strawberry Shortcake, etc., and it's more relevant NOW than it was back then when you think of the whole junk nostalgia concept.
As for "how getting it out in words has affected [my] purge", I have to admit that BLOGGING has been a bigger motivator than WRITING. I did try using a hand-written "junk journal", but found that I'd only get around to writing in it rarely. But having a blog, and NOT wanting to be one of those countless bloggers who only posts stuff once every few months (if even that), means that I have to keep on coming up with stuff to post here. And that pretty much means having to clean more stuff, so that I write about it.
I guess the logic breaks down to this: I'm more meticulous about websites than I am about my own apartment. And fortunately it looks like I've found a way to utilize the former against the latter.
Speaking of de-junking, here are a few more oddities I threw out recently:
- Expired consumables. Including vitamins that expired in February, Quaker Oats that expired in 2008, a can of powdered Slim-fast that expired in 2005, and instant Iced-Tea mix from November 2009. Sure, the last item might be reusable, but considering how long it would take something like this to expire, makes me wonder how long I've probably had it. I don't want to know. I don't need to know. Especially now that I have my own electric iced tea brewer.
Oh, and that metal magazine rack that I had to move out of the closet? I moved it next to my bed against the wall, which now gives me a place to put my new humidifier. Two problems, one solution. Man I love that.
