Decluttering, etc.

This weekend I went bananas, b-a-n-a-n-a-s. I decided I needed to declutter my house as much as possible in a tornadic burst of activity. I washed and ironed my bedroom and living room curtains. I went through shoebox after shoebox of old photos, trashing many of them, along with every set of negatives dating back 20+ years. I cleaned out three, count 'em, three junk drawers in my kitchen. Why did I have seven wrenches? I'll never know. Goodbye, wrenches. I went through a giant box of old videotapes. I went through a stack of old magazines. I washed a giant hamper full of clothes that had been sitting in a closet for over a year. (Horrible, I know, right? True confession time!) I went through two boxes actually labeled with the words "Misc. Crap." I filed, tossed, and bagged/boxed for St. Vincent de Paul. 

It's not like you walk into my house and think, "CLUTTER!" It's because it's all stashed away in drawers, cabinets, and closets. And every time I would pull something out to go through, I'd realize there was something else behind it. It was like a horrible multiplication of mess. So many boxes ... I can't even really believe it. I threw out ancient TV Guides and ancient TV Guide clippings about shows like Beauty and the Beast and Life Goes On. I found my Disney World ID and Disney name tag and Edelweiss seeds purchased in 1998 in Salzburg on The Sound of Music tour. My sister still has hers, too, bought separately from me, and we resolved to plant them in pots on the same day, even though I have no idea if seeds stay alive in little packets for eleven years. I found four very pretty rosaries, and I have no memory of where they came from. 

So I made a lot of progress, but it's basically invisible progress because most of it was hidden away. I am comforted to know that my closets are less full and that I am now free of some of the many things I had but no longer wanted or needed. I still have a long way to go ... I just found a giant box of playbills and theater programs dating back to young childhood. (Sigh.)

Meanwhile, last week, I dropped my iPhone on the very hard tile floor outside my office elevator, and it went splat. The home button stopped working, the ring sounded like something gasping for air from a vat of quicksand, the person on the other line couldn't hear me at all, and it wouldn't sync to iTunes. It was a sad day indeed. I made an appointment at the store, fully expecting to be told my warranty had expired two weeks prior and I was SoL. When the guy said that my warranty just expired two weeks ago and he would swap it out, "just this once," I practically started weeping right there on my stool. It was a Genius Bar miracle. Thank you, Eric at the Apple store! 

I can't focus on anything else to write. The Visitor is quite a good movie. The performances are amazing, and it is quite moving. I got it because it was written and directed by the guy who did The Station Agent, which I adored, and it didn't disappoint. And I am so glad that Colin Farrell won the Golden Globe (read Kymm's great recap) last night for In Bruges. I have been telling anyone who'll listen about how fantastic he was in this movie for months, and I am so glad the whole world knows it now! And his speech was delightful and divine, and I love him.