Entries from June 2009 ↓

Jon and I have been looking for houses lately, since our rent is going up 25% in August and we figure we might as well take advantage of the $8K tax credit courtesy of the President.

It’s exciting to be thinking about moving into a house, especially now that we officially need that second bedroom for Maddox. But I have to confess: for me, one of the major perks of getting a house is having the opportunity to sort through all of my stuff and get rid of everything that I don’t use.

Jon (and most everybody else) finds this attitude crazy. I don’t blame him, but I still can’t stop myself from twitching with glee when I picture rooting through all my belongings and lightening my load.

I can trace this behavior back to my childhood. My father used to encourage us to get rid of our excess “stuff” and would cheer every full trash bag that went out. (Full of possessions, not just trash. He was not that excited about plain trash, although it would have been great if he had been.)

So now, I derive intense satisfaction from hauling out trash bags (and they have to be hefty black ones) full of things I’m ready to part with. My siblings probably have this same complex, but it’s okay, because someone has to support the garbage bag industry.

The bags can be headed for the Salvation Army or to those big yellow clothes collecting bins, or just out to our dumpster. It doesn’t matter. It’s psychologically liberating. Except of course when I realize I’ve tossed out something important in my zeal, and have to go buy a replacement.

Don’t get me wrong – I dig my stuff. I have no sentimentality about belongings, but I have a lot of items that I appreciate, and other items that would be extremely unpleasant to live without.

And, before anyone gets excited about what will be on the curb outside Leanne’s house the day of the move, let me clarify and tell you that the ginormous tv, our laptops and my ceramic rooster cookie jar are coming with me.

But all that other stuff? (Insert delighted teehee here). Hand me that trash bag, we’re just getting started.

Image credit: trash bag, house and rooster.

I was holding Maddox in our living room when Jon started playing a series of song clips on his laptop. Man, I thought, those are some great songs! I listened to them for a moment more, and realized that there was something…familiar about them.

It turns out, our friend Paul had sent Jon a link to this video:

As explained in the video, each of these 36 songs use the same four chords. It’s amazing how many of these songs were popular, and how many of them are still recognizable. This mix even includes two of my favorite songs, With or Without You and Glycerine (a personal nostalgia-fest). I feel so deceived.

And yet – I kind of want to get the entire playlist. I mean, there’s only four of them, but those are some great chords.

Take a look at the video – how many of these songs do you recognize as songs that you like, or at least liked until they were hideously overplayed? Have you also been suckered?