Instructables Come Together

I was never a fan of DIY. Actually, I've always been a fan of DIY ("Do-It-Yourself"), but I never wanted to be caught reading or asking about it. It was always a fear of looking like I didn't know, that I was trying too hard to be somthing I wasn't, that prevented me from actually doing anything. (Fear, as you'll learn, is one of my defining features.) But we can't be something until we become it, and you can't know how to do something until you learn how.

It can become a little dangerous, though. I'm a recovering packrat, so what may start as one interweb bookmark on how to make my own laptop hoodie sleeve becomes a hoard of unsorted links that are filed as "someday." A person can be a packrat online with virtual stuff as much as in real life with tangible stuff. Just think of that friend with a thousand messages in his or her inbox, and you'll understand what I mean.

I've let go of certain things to make vacancy for stuff I want... or stuff I didn't know I wanted. A recurring theme in my life is the desire to be surprised. If my life played out the way I answered when I was eight, I would be a 26 year old lawyer or a doctor with no other goal in life than to make lots of money, be married, and support my parents. When I was 12 I wanted to be a plastic surgeon for all of the same reasons, except it was more lucrative.

Since last week I've given away a third of all my clothes and books. The clothes that made the cut were the stuff I looked good in, felt right, and that I've worn in the past six months. There isn't much of a difference between the seasons here, so I didn't have to set aside clothes I "might need." As for books, the six month rule still applied as well as another caveat: "Will I read it again? Do I want to read it again?" No more books on esoteric subjects, no one-offs recommended to me by half-interesting people, no books on the shelf for show. Everything is functional--or else, why else do I have it?

Other stuff I got rid of: all things Dungeons & Dragons. All holiday cards from family (I don't sit down and read them more than once) and pictures of people with whom I'm not currently friends. All in all, my life is laid out for all to see, which is the point of this here blog: bridging the gap between the various social groups I'm currently apart of, and make them all a part of me, and allow them to see each other. Hi mom hi dad, these are my work friends. Friends, meet my girlfriend. Girlfriend, meet my nice ex-girlfriend.