October 2007 Archives

Missy said it was a sign when she first walked into my apartment and saw my Jean-Luc Picard magnet on the fridge. Because she had a Jean-Luc postcard with the exact same picture on her fridge.

One of her Cut the Fluff Challenge items was the Star Trek: The Next Generation Interactive Technical Manual. And that's only because it's so old it won't work on our computers.

Fortunately, I have the book version of the Technical Manual. So we can still get our structural integrity field physics fix when we need it.

Tomorrow I'm speaking on a panel entitled "The Future of News." It's sponsored by the Department of Cinema and Media Studies at Carleton College and moderated by visiting professor Michael Griffin.

(Funny how it's about journalism, and I had to re-write that first blurb a few times.)

And before I go on, let me just say...

SQUEEEEEEEE!!! *fall down go boom*

Okay, here's the blurb:

Where is journalism heading in the current media environment? As traditional newspapers downsize, TV news further devolves into infotainment, and weblogs proliferate, what does the future hold for reporting that serves the public interest?

Hear what five Twin Cities journalists, all working to change the face of journalism in Minnesota, have to say about commercial news cutbacks, accelerating developments online, and shifting definitions of news in our rapidly changing media world.

And then there's this:

The forum will feature a mix of veteran journalists and those on the cutting edge of new media.

So on this panel there's me, and then there's four guys that have all worked in traditional journalism -- Eric Black, Jeremy Iggers, Brian Lambert, and Matt Thompson. I know Matt and I'd say he definitely falls more towards the latter end of that continuum. Eric Black and Jeremy Iggers have definitely been around for a long time. But we all have blogs that we publish to and different reasons for and methods of doing so, and we all have our fingers in some sort of new media-ish venture.

Should be pretty cool.

Missy's cousin's kid had these Poo and Pee toys which they said a friend of theirs sent from Sweden. I totally want some. To put on my desk at work.

I was going through my insurance stuff today as I make doctor and dentist appointments and I happened across the following:

A Domestic Partner is defined as a person of the same or opposite sex who:

• shares your permanent residence;
• has resided with you for no less than one year;
• is no less than 18 years of age;
• is financially interdependent with you and has proven such interdependence by providing documentation of at least two of the following arrangements: common ownership of real property or a common leasehold interest in such property; common ownership of a motor vehicle; a joint bank account or a joint credit account; designation as a benificiary for life insurance or retirement benefits or under yours or your partner's will; assignment of durable power of attorney; or such other proof as is considered by [my company] to be sufficient to establish financial interdependency under the circumstances of your particular case;
• is not a blood relative any closer than would prohibit legal marriage;
• has signed jointly with you, a notarized affidavit which has been made available to [my company].

Both of our employers insure us pretty dang well, so I'm not concerned about going through any of these exercises for insurance purposes. Good to know, though.

[photos]

So far, so good.

I did give away a bunch of things to the choir's garage sale fundraiser last weekend, right before we started this, so I reduced my pool of items to choose from by quite a bit. That was good, though, because the stuff I gave to the garage sale was all stuff in good condition that I probably would have sat on saying "I should put those on craigslist or eBay." I know this, because there are still items like that in my apartment, and I've been sitting on them for at least a year.

We're still feeling out how much constitutes "an item." Like Missy's pile of coats. She could have stretched that for over a week. Seems like collections of similar items should count as one thing. But we'd have to resist the urge to cheat and break them up later in the month. Although, if she went through and pulled out a few on one occasion, and then went back later and decided to pull out some more, that would be fine as two items.

To me, clothing items sort of feel like cheating, because I'm going through one of those periodic weight fluctuations (on the way up this time), and I'd be getting rid of some of this stuff anyway because it doesn't fit.

Enh, I'm probably thinking too hard about this.

Anyway, it's a good start. We both definitely felt a little rush and a sense of accomplishment each time we selected something. I particularly enjoyed a triumphant march to the dumpster.

*high five*

Every time you move to a new place, there's always the opportunity to re-examine your possessions.

You have to/get to buy new stuff if the new place warrants it, or if something you have now doesn't survive the move.

And you get to get rid of stuff. Because it won't fit in the new place. Or because you really don't want or need it and you want to save yourself the trouble of moving it. Sometimes you're in a hurry and you box it up and move it anyway. At which point it will then still need to be thrown or given away, or it will sit in boxes, unpacked, likely until the next time you move. Or forever.

I'm giving up my apartment and moving into Missy's house. I'm practically already living in Missy's house. Without the vast majority of my stuff. It has impressed upon me just how much I don't want or need most of what I have. I also have the luxury of moving gradually over the next couple months.

Hence the 30-day challenge. Every day, for 30 days (which began on Monday, October 1) we are required to pick something to give or throw away, which we will photograph before we toss them or set them aside to be given away en masse.

I'm embarking on this journey for the reasons given above. Missy's embarking on this journey because it was easier for me if she did it, too. And because she has about 15 boxes of stuff in the garage that she could probably toss without ever even looking at again.

Hopefully, by then, I will have significantly lightened my load, both literally and figuratively. While tossing things, I'll also be packing the rest. Once the remaining furniture items get moved, I can call in someone to clean it for me. I am so unwilling to clean it myself, it is definitely worth the money to me to pay someone to clean up my empty apartment before the security deposit monsters get in there.

I feel lighter already!

Missy and I were walking back to my apartment one day and found a trail of Goombas on the sidewalk!