All right, I'll admit it, I'm a pack rat. It takes a lot for me to throw anything away, since I have this irrational but constant feeling that I might need a certain item someday. I keep boxes from electronic and computer equipment so that I can pack that item in its box the next time I move. Clothes I haven't worn in almost ten years crowd my closet on the off chance that I may want to wear them again someday. Little knick-knacks and toys I've gotten from my parents over many Christmases and Easters and what have you litter desk surfaces and bookshelves because they were gifts and I have a hard time throwing them away.

Janet's not like that. She's used to living light, after having moved so many times in the last ten years. She sells books, gives clothes away, and throws out whatever she's not going to need. Her rule is that if she hasn't used it in a year, she doesn't need it, and it's gone.

This was a big point of contention that we're still dealing with. You come across philosophical differences like these when you get married. If we had a house right now, this probably wouldn't be a problem, but you have less room in an apartment. So yesterday, the purging began.

Before Janet got here in February, I had gone through my closet and dresser and filled two garbage bags with clothes I didn't need any more. But that still left half a closet of things I thought I might wear, which are now in another bag for Goodwill. My clothes selection is now lean and mean, and I actually wear everything in the closet on a regular basis.

A month or so ago, I bought six Rubbermaid storage containers to store all the books I didn't think I would need until we get a house, but didn't really have a place to store them. My parents offered attic space, but it would have been an undertaking to get them all over there, and I didn't like the idea of being so far from my books. There was the outdoor storage area, but I was worried about humidity and creepy crawlies getting in. So, I decided to put them in our storage closet, but to get them in there, I had to clear it out; I had been using it to store boxes and other detritus, so out it all came, either for the garbage or recycling. The cardboard was broken down, and the styrofoam and plastic thrown away. We did some rearranging with shelves, and I carried in the book containers. It's a damn beautiful sight. Janet now has a place to store her art materials, and we can reach the shelves that were blocked before.

A lot of work got done yesterday, and we're not finished yet. There is still a lot left I have to throw away or sell, and we need to clean the apartment top to bottom. One motivation for all this is the pristine condition of a friend's apartment that we visited this weekend; she keeps it clean enough for company, and her husband is also a bit of a neat freak. It was a bit embarassing coming back to our apartment after that. So I'll be putting a bunch of books and CDs up for sale soon, and will let you know here when I do.

A productive Sunday, despite sleeping in and not even getting going until noon. We also had some fun this weekend, getting together with the aforementioned friend and her husband for a potluck dinner (Janet cooked some incredibly delicious Malaysian curry), followed by a concert at Regency Park with the NC Symphony and Bobby McFerrin (who was just amazing a capella, and is regarded as a world-renowned conductor). The night before, we got some yummy Korean food (yay bibimbap!) and saw the new Harry Potter movie (which was good, although not as good as the previous films). Two rejections came in this weekend, bleh, though both of them were fairly timely. I got some work done on one story, and started getting my syllabus in shape for the Young Writers' Workshop (which begins next week, eep!).

Goals for this coming week are finishing the syllabus, revising a story for an editor, and starting revisions for "Last Fare" (my submission for the Strange Horizons Workshop). Next week, the YWW begins, though hopefully I'll be able to work on fiction in the evenings. I want to get "Last Fare" in good shape, and revise "A Lull in the Conversation" before submitting it to academic journals.

For the rest of the summer, I'd like to finish the other three stories I've started so that I can get them critiqued in Wilton Barnhardt's short story workshop in the Fall. Lena, Janet and I made a challenge at WisCon to get three stories written this summer, one per month, and send out at least two for publication; while I want to hold off submitting them until after they've gone through Wilton's class, I do want to get them written.

Hopefully, living and working in a less cluttered home will help accomplish this.

Now Reading:
Alchemy no. 1

Stories Out to Publishers:
8

Books Read This Year:
32

Zines/Graphic Novels/Fiction Mags Read This Year:
16