Clutter

[Lightning Rod]

What is your clutter tolerance level?

I look at my desk. I see these things.

Of course there is the computer monitor
the keyboard
the printer
and a lamp
and a clock
and a calculator
a DC power supply

then there is a pen
a fingernail clipper
a wallet
a lighter
oh, another pen
a deck of Pall Malls
an ashtray that needs to be emptied
two dried wedges of lemon
an empty shot glass
a half empty bottle of tequila
a zip disc
a crumpled paper towel
a disc containing a trial version of AOL
a telephone handset
a VCR remote
last night's roach
assorted ashes and debris
still I can think perfectly
how do you tolerate clutter?

[knip]

very well, although my wife doesn't...when she cleans up i can't find things

once about 12 years ago i was navigation officer in a ship...the NavO works very closely with the captain...one day he came to my cabin and barged in, and there was shit everywhere - papers and instruments on the desk, the bed, the floor, on top of lockers...he barked at me that officers were expected to be orderly and i was clean my shit up or else...then he said he was looking for this obscure report from 6 months previous and could i dig it up and get it to him within the next few days, understanding it would be hard to find....i walked over to a two-foot stack of papers under my desk, reached two thirds of the way into it, pulled out and handed him the report...he looked at me dumbstruck, and said "wow...keep your cabin however you like, Pilot"

[STUPID BOB]

a half empty bottle of tequila

You've always been a filthy, nasty boy but I tolerated it. I will NOT tolerate alcohol abuse from you, however

. . . I'll be over inna wee bit to hep ya laddie. Why dinna ya say something soona?

[Lightning Rod]

yes, knipster
organization can be a very abstract thing

[Lightning Rod]

a half empty bottle of tequila

You've always been a filthy, nasty boy but I tolerated it. I will NOT tolerate alcohol abuse from you, however

. . . I'll be over inna wee bit to hep ya laddie. Why dinna ya say something soona?

It's not alcohol abuse until it's spilled

[STUPID BOB]

Oh, an' now you be tryin' to keep an old friend outdoors with some silly little giggle you learned in Texas? Shame.

[abcrystcats]

Half tolerance. I can let things go for about a week, then I have to clean it up. Today is a cleaning day. My desk is about halfway to the no-tolerance point, but other areas of my house are worse. Some are better. Besides, I have to clean up. My second cousins are showing up tomorrow to find out what their cat duties are in my absence.

Desk:

Mouse/mousepad
speakers
monitor
keyboard
kleenex box
coaster
calculator
four music CDS
five CD-Rs
printer
pen
paperholder
pile of printed out Xmas lists
calender
stapler
paperweight
trophy
two inhalers and an Alavert
salt and pepper shakers
manuscript
Strunk & White
D.Q. McInerney's "Being Logical"
a sticky note

[izeveryboyin]

I am one of THE most disorganized freaks you'll ever fear to meet. In fact, I don't think I've ever truly been organized as I remeber when I got in trouble w/my mom, a lot of it was b/c I didn't clean my room. I don't know how one gets over being a clutter-bug, but I think I tolerate by having a knowledge of the clutter. ex. the folder w/John's flyers are under the pile of clothes in the left corner near the door, beside the stack of books by Beatnik authors. If you ever figure out a better explanatio than mine, please, for the love of God let me know, b/c I have absolutely no idea.
--K
P.S Holy shit, I didn't curse in that reply... oops.

[judih]

people say that if you get into moving house every 10 months or so, you can beat clutter.

well, that may be true as long as you don't collect old clothes and fabrics for future puppet building,

or if you don't love old pieces of memorabilia that other people leave behind in the houses you take over

or if you try to remember to not ask for help from your favourite adhd friends...(like dear Ronny who threw everything that i had on my shelves into one huge plastic bathtub - uh, thanks)


so, moving might help get rid of disorganization

(or not)

[Doreen Peri]

Do you think judih's idea of moving is a good one? Maybe you need to find someone to clean up after you.



Y'know what? I don't invite people into my house until it's as spotless as I can get it.

You just invited the entire world in without giving me any warning so I could get it cleaned up.

hahahahaha

Oh well.

We're bohemians. What the hell did they expect?

The Better Housekeeping Award?

Back to the moving idea.... Last time I told you I was thinking about moving, you said, "If you leave me, I'm going with you."

[izeveryboyin]

Doreen, moving is a misertable ardous thing, I agree, but Judih's right, clutter does seem to lessen if you do. (I should know, I've moved 5 times in the last four years--long story). But yeah, we are creepy bohemian types who going round talking about the formation of Kerouac's poetry instead of what's on w/Brittany Spears, we smoke, drink, curse, and have adventures by reading books. What all that means:
WE ARE INHERENTLY CLUTTER-BUGS!!!
---K

[ellipsis]

i love clutter. i keep it around and cherish it until it begins to pile or hides important things like oh, say, writing instruments, prescription medication, or the dog.

these days, i clean my bedroom about once per month, i think. i clean when i'm unable to walk across the room with the light out without seriously harming myself. who needs spotlessness? i don't want any room to look like a hotel room. i want stuff to look at. and wall decor and knickknacks are just cheesy to me.

the "functional rooms" in this house (all rooms except the bedrooms) are kept nearly clutter-free so they can be used effortlessly. clutter-free=the floor and most tabletops are visible.

i like random piles of stuff. if i scan a tabletop in my bedroom and don't immediately recognize everything there, i'm pleased by it.

i also feel greatly welcomed when i visit someone whose house is pretty cluttered.

there. i'm done.

[ellipsis]

i forgot to include a list of things on my desk... just to fit in, yes:

*monitor
*18 music cds
*haphazard pile/stack of movies, music, and software in disc form
*pc speakers
*mail
*stapler
*safety pins
*push pins
*packaging tape
*plain clear tape
*correction tape
*business card display unit displaying hand-shaped stickers
*4 sticky notes
*list of father's usernames and passwords (he GAVE it to me)
*3.5 in. floppy, and i don't know why
*canisters of pens, pencils, scissors, ruler, markers, tire pressure gauge, pez dispenser whose origin is unidentified
*phone base--complete with receiver, believe it or not
*2 pens
*empty diet coke can
*usb portable disk drive

this desk is relatively clean at this point.

[Dave The Dov]

Being a Sagittarius I can't stand disorder i.e. clutter. So I always keep everything in order.
_________________
gremlin pics

[panta rhei]

i love a tidy working place, but it hardly ever is (tidy, that is) -

present state of topping
(from left to right):

- wooden box with brushes, tapes and other small items
- cutting machine
- paper scraps in all colours
- clear tape
- a computer game of my daughter
- mini cd player
- pile of white paper
- various rubber stamps
- package of more clear tape
- small pieces of paper
- pile of 'old' paper (one side used, other side blank for scribblings and notes)
- pile of music cd's
- 2 staplers (big one + small one)
- punch
- filing box with papers that need to be worked with
- filing box of papers that are finished and need to be filed
- filing box of papers that are finished and need to be sent out by mail
- box of kleenex
- pile of floppy disks
- small bowl with sandalwood incense
- computer (monitor, hard drive, ekyboard, mouse+pad, speakers)
- on top of hardrive: photo of dahab/siani, photo of my mother as a girl
- on top of monitor: origami camel, two rose quarz stones (or however these are called in english), a postcard with a dove
- on top of one of the speakers: a green lilly
- bottle of glue
- empty can of swiss cannabis ice tea
- a red-veiled water candle
- matches
- a box with various kinds of pens and pencils and scissors
- books: dictionaries, a book of parables, two books of friedrich weinreb, a poem edition by georg trakl,, gibran, sand and foam, pocket atlas of the world, the book of miracles by lawrence kushner, an etymological dictionary, the telephone book, a book of renku and tan-renga.
- teapot (empty)
- telephone
- a longstretched pile of chaotically shuffled papers, books and pencils
- an opened file with liste of seminar participants
- filing box with several to-do lists
- filing box with unfinished drawings and caricatures
- filing box of various other papers
- digital camera
- pile of cd's
- sticky notes
- pile of index cards
- two picture cd's a friend has just sent me, complete with their wrappings
- a glue stick
- an empty cup
- a candle
- brushes
- a bottle of gold paint
- kleenexs smeared with that gold paint
- a mosaic box with stamps
- sea shells
- a wooden calculator of my daughter
- a spoon
- my daughter's self-made cardbord computer, complete with monitor, keyboard, cd's and software
- music cassettes
- a hot glue pistol
- a calculator
... and various other things that are hidden under the things mentioned above or that i don't know the english words for.