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Pardon the Dust
Adventures in Moving – Cleaning Out the Junk
I’m used to my life and belongings fitting inside one car. From 2012 to 2014, I moved 4 times, and each time, no U-haul was necessary. But now, in this latest Adventure in Moving, I need to clean out the junk.
Right now, I live in a house. It’s a small house built to be a father-in-law suite for my neighbor, but still a house. This next move will be into a new apartment. I’ll be losing at least 300 square feet, if not more. So I can’t keep everything.
So how am I picking what stays and what goes?
Well, I’m sorting my things by category.
I’ve already cleaned out my closet of everything I no longer wear. I also got rid of the things that don’t fit me. And then I took those to the local YWCA.
Next came the books. That category was harder for me. Working as a comic artist, I get a surprising amount of books from comic conventions and meeting with other creators. I determined that the best I can do is keep my book collection to 4 and a half shelves. (I’m brainstorming how to shrink it down even more than that, though). I got rid of the books I knew I could get at the library easily. I also got rid of books that I considered “aspirational,” as in “one day I’ll read these and become a better person!”
Nope. Got rid of those books. I’m only keeping the books that bring me joy.
Then I cleared out paperwork. Thankfully, with credit cards, student loans, and some other documents having online statements and backups, that made it easier to clear out papers.
CDs and DVDs? I thought I would have trouble with that. But I think all the sorting I’ve done before made sorting these discs WAY easier. I condensed a lot of them into a CD holder and got rid of the cases…responsibly. Always recycle.
That’s the secret about cleaning out your space: start with the easy-to-clear stuff.
With every category you clear, you level up just a little bit more, and it becomes easier to get rid of the things that no longer make you happy or have any use.
The next category to tackle is the bathroom stuff, which should be easy. The plan is that by the time I get to the work- and/or hobby-related stuff I have, I’ll have leveled up my sorting to the point that this will be easy.
Will I be able to fit all of my things into my SUV when I’m done? Probably not. I’ll be taking some bulky furniture with me, like my bed and drafting table, as well as my convention gear.
Will I be able to fit my stuff into a smaller U-haul? That’s the hope. And that’s why I’m going to keep sorting and paring down everything.
What am I doing with the stuff I’m getting rid of? Well, I’m donating it to the local YWCA.
The YWCA has seen an uptick in women and children moving into their location. As it turns out, an economic crisis worsens domestic abuse, making people more likely to seek shelter. At the YWCA, the women and children can recover in peace, but they always need things, like socks, clothes in general, and bathroom supplies. After all, these ladies often only arrive with the clothes on their back and nothing else.
If you’re on a tidying journey of your own, I encourage you to look up a shelter local to you and donate your things to them. Trust me – they will use it. And they will be happy and grateful that you helped.
That’s all for now. Thank you for reading!
You. Are. Awesome.
Adventures In Moving: The Cats Edition
In this week’s installment of Adventures in Moving, I’ll be talking about…cats.
I have 2 cats, Scarlet and Bree Bree. Both will be 14 years old in May (next month!). In the times they have been in my family, they’ve moved 4 times.
The first move happened when they were kittens, going from my neighbor’s house to ours.
Second, from our old family home to our new home.
Third, when they lived with my younger sister for a while.
And fourth, when they moved back into my home.
When I DO finally get an apartment and move, that will be their fifth move in their life.
Like I mentioned before, they’re reaching 14 years old. They are, by all accounts, cranky old ladies. I’m not sure how well they will handle this next move, especially since this one will be across the state.
I WILL say – Scarlet has surprised me. I had to take her to see the vet last week, which meant putting her in a carrier. For the first time in nearly 4 years.
She handled it better than I expected.
Of course she trembled. But I gave her treats and pets. And she didn’t hiss or growl while in the carrier.
(Reacting to the vet is a different story).
This response to the carrier has me hopeful, though. Hopeful that the move will be easier than anticipated. I expected a lot of growling and hissing and I didn’t get that from Scarlet.
Bree Bree, on the other hand…
Well, I have to take her to the vet as well, so we’ll see how THAT goes.
That’s all for now. Thank you for reading!
You. Are. Awesome.
Genghis Con Prep Time
It’s time for another livestream!
Today I trim minicomics for Genghis Con, while also talking about everything from freelancing (and what my freelance streams of income are); to goals I have for Fantasyville Productions.
The next stream will be Wednesday, December 4 at 1 pm EST. I’ll try to keep the stream short next time – I realize now that if I stream for more than an hour and a half, the first chunk of the stream gets cut off. That means that people who later watch the video as just a video will miss the first chunk.
You may notice that the livestream date for next week is on a Wednesday – that’s because I’m out of town the following weekend to visit friends (and go apartment touring) in the Toledo area.
That’s all for now. See you next week!
OR, if you’re in the Cleveland, OH area, I’ll see you TOMORROW for Genghis Con.
Thank you for watching!
You. Are. Awesome.
I Got A New Laptop
Their name is Loki and you will show them respect.
Yes, I finally have a new laptop to replace my 7-year-old laptop, Odysseus. (Yes, I do name my devices after legendary figures, thank you).
I also replaced my dinky Wacom Bamboo with a Wacom Intuos Pro.
Full disclosure – I was able to replace these thanks to help from family. While I was able to save back some money of my own, they helped to chip in towards a new set-up. I wanted to point this out because:
- the idea of a self-made entrepreneur is bogus and we need to stop promoting this idea. (For more context, look up the Amanda Palmer story “take the goddamn donuts.”)
- and that’s it.
But now that I have this new set-up, it’s taking a little while for the arts-related work to fall into place.
For one thing, my program of choice, Clip Studio Paint, needs to be reconfigured all over again. So that’s taking a little extra time.
Long story short: The Legend of Jamie Roberts is being delayed. I’ll try to have an update up by tomorrow, but it may take longer than that. We’ll see how it goes.
Blog posts and KickStarter updates will continue as normal. (In fact, there’s only about 24 hours left on the Dragons: A Sketchbook KickStarter, wink wink).
Otherwise? That’s all I’ve got at the moment. Technical configurations are just going to take a hot day or two.
That’s all for now. Thank you for reading!
You. Are. Awesome.