Late Onset ADD vs. Spring Cleaning

Most weekends I have many (oh so many) things I need to do, but when I start trying to tackle my list, I am easily distracted by everything from Facebook and this blog, to meeting up with friends to spend an afternoon catching up. 

I think I can remember a time when I could start a task and work it to completion without wandering around my house starting, but seemingly never finishing, most of what I set out to do. It feels as though the clutter in my house is cluttering my mind and I imagine this how it feels to have ADD.

My plan this year is to start with my bedroom and work my way through my possessions to simplify my existence. With some some persistence, I will work my way through each corner of my room. Getting all of the clutter off of my dressers, out of my closet, off of the window seat, etc... until I feel like I can breathe again. I hope that seeing the effect in my room will spur me on to take care of the rest of the house, one corner of one room at a time. 

I think that by trying to de-clutter a whole room, I have been defeating myself and exacerbating the problem. My plan/hope is to work through my bedroom by quadrants, so I can finish in 4 weeks. If I am successful, I will move on to the other rooms in my house and even my yard. It's time to let go of my possessions and walk a lighter path.

For all of my good intentions, I started this post a week ago and I have gotten up at least 4 times before finishing today to plant herbs, clean out my terrarium, plant seedlings from the terrarium outside, and finally to trim and water my amaryllis bulbs....sigh.

Aspiring Author

Drafter Architect Desk Junk Drawer Clean Out Lot

 I think most people who keep a blog probably have a not so secret desire to publish something that they have written at least once in their lives. 

It takes an aspiring  writer to recognize another aspiring writer, which I did, while shopping the Goodwill auction site tonight. 

Much to my delight, I feel like I stumbled upon a kindred spirit. A stifled author channeling their inner J. Peterman wrote the most wonderful descriptions of collections of mostly tat. 

The descriptions of these lots of random items beautifully spin the beginning of a biography about the people who might have owned them. 

It is like an improv challenge for writers using props, or possibly a teaser about a character in the author's own half-finished novel. 

Whatever it is, I like it enough to have read all of the vignettes and I hope that there will be more to come from the anonymous Hemingway. I am amazed at the amount of nostalgia the author's words can inspire for people who do not exist outside my imagination. 

I found this photograph to be particularly intriguing. Her shoulder bared as she looks directly into the lens, as though she posed for a boudoir photo in an era that would have deemed her sensuousness improper. 

The description: 

Drafter Architect Desk Junk 

Drawer Clean Out Lot

The hard working Architect married to his job. All of his loved tools each one he knew by touch. The short breaks to sit out on the porch and smoke his cigarettes or his well use pipe. The picture secreted away of a love once lost. In this lovely lot you can almost feel the pride that was taken in his work. Perhaps even a hint of him playing poker with some of the other "boys." 

A peak into this lot and you will see a whimsical ashtray, vintage to newer drafting tools, prints of Governor's Place & a few other buildings, vintage Oregon license plate, magnifying glass, playing cards, stationary and much more.

Measurements
8.6 Lbs

Material
Wood, paper, plastic, metal and fabric.

Condition
Things are used. Tarnish and discoloration that adds great character. 

Somethings are used and vintage although not all things will be vintage. 

Even the pattern on these cards and the foil on their box hearken back to another time. I can't remember the last time I saw a set of playing cards like this for sale in a shop.

There are several collections, Military, Farmer, Miner, Small Town Doctor, and no telling what the author will come up with next. To see more, check here, and search for "junk drawer" or possibly "collection,"  and hopefully, the adventure will continue.