SDD Clutter Free Day 17: DVDS Decluttered; Procrastination VS Mindfulness

It's Day 17 of the So Damn Domestic Clutter Free Countdown, and time to declutter 14 items. Can you believe that? 14? It's such a small number compared to the 30 I started with. And still, today I procrastinated. I was tired from cleaning the roach mess out of the storage console yesterday, and I had a lot on my mind, so I let myself have a lazy day and pretty much laid around, thinking about my future. That's why my "decluttered items" picture is different today. I didn't feel like making my bed, so I took the picture on my ottoman, and I didn't take it until after sunset, so I had to use artificial light.

I still got the job done, 14 items decluttered. I'm happy about that. I decided to declutter DVDs today. When I moved from Bellingham, WA to Los Angeles, CA, I condensed most of my DVD collection to a binder. I saved these ones with special covers (and Heartbreakers, for some reason) to show off on my shelf. However, after a year here in L.A., experiencing lots of show-off-y people, I'm extra mindful of vanity. I don't need a shelf of movies to represent me. It's a little attachment, but it's still an attachment. I'm letting it go.

14 DVDs take up about a foot of space. That's significant!

I don't mean to be all negative about L.A. I do love it here, and I've found lots of great people. But it's hard to find the good ones because it's such a competitive environment.

Day 17: 14 Items Decluttered

1. HeartBreakers. Sigourney Weaver, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Gene Hackman. In middle school, my best friend, Lindsay, and I used to go to Hollywood Video every weekend and rent a stack of DVDs, usually French or arty. Somehow, we kept coming back to Heartbreakers.
2. Sex and the City: The Movie. I had to! I already had the TV Show box set!

3. Across the Universe. It's my favorite Beatles song, a great title, and a touching movie.
4. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Fun times. A little murder, a little singing.
5. Amelie. One of my top five favorite movies, for sure. "Without you, today's emotions would be the scurf of yesterday's."
6. Fight Club. Basically the opposite of Amelie, but also a favorite.
7. Thank You for Smoking. Doesn't hold up to Amelie and Fight Club standards, but it's a good watch.
8. Flight of the Conchords: The Complete First Season. I saw these guys for the first time on their HBO special and I was hooked. Awesome show.
9. Flight of the Conchords: The Complete Second Season. Stay cool, Brett. Brett, stay cool. *snaps fingers*
10. Spider-Man 2. I think I had a crush on Spider-Man. I can't think of why else I would own this, since I'm really not into superhero movies.
11. Moulin Rouge! Come What May still makes me sob cry.
12. The X-Files: I Want to Believe. I am a huge X-Files fan. That's all I'll say.
13. V for Vendetta. I saw this in theaters on my birthday one year and totally loved it. I don't think I've watched it much since.
14. Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Classic. Can't go wrong there.

It's a little hard getting rid of DVDs I love, but I know just because I don't own a hard copy of them doesn't mean I'll never get to see them. Everything is available for streaming these days, and if it isn't, I can get a digital copy for my Amazon Prime library.

Just as I'm sure owning fewer books and using the library will encourage me to read more, I believe owning fewer hard copy DVDs will encourage me to watch more digital movies. And, I don't think most people realize this, you can get movies at the public library.

When I own something it's too easy to put it off for a never-to-arrive "later." I don't want to live like that. I mentioned that I procrastinated my decluttering today. I was resting so intentionally, though, I don't know if it can even be considered procrastination. It's more like mindfulness. I'm not doing things because they're expected, but because I genuinely want to do them.

Amazon Affiliate: All links go to digital downloads or Prime streaming. If you buy anything after following one of my links, I get a commission.

Playlist: Unconventional Xmas

"Tomorrow, I'm going to get into the Christmas spirit...my own way."

Thanksgiving has passed. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m not ready to jump into the Christmas spirit with both feet. So I made a bizarre little playlist to ease into the holiday. Whether you’re sick of traditional Christmas music and want a change, or just love love love all things Christmas, these are fun, interesting songs, and I think you’ll enjoy them. This is the kind of playlist you listen to with headphones while you wait for the bus.

I tend to feel that way about most playlists.

In any case, after preparing and listening to my Unconventional Christmas Playlist, I suddenly crave snow. I think that’s a sign of success!

Most of these songs qualify as indie rock or folk, but I threw in some other gems. The first song is J-pop. Nothing says “Christmas” like J-pop! (Who knew?!) 
1. Shonen Knife- Sweet Christmas
2. Dressy Bessy- Hopped Up (on Xmas)
3. The Polyphonic Spree- A Working Elf’s Theme
4. Frightened Rabbit- It’s Christmas So We’ll Stop 2008 (Remixed by David Karsten Daniels)
5. Arthur & Yu- My White Elephant
6. Slow Club- Christmas TV
7. The Raveonettes- Christmas Ghosts
8. The Be Good Tanyas- Rudy
9. Of Montreal- Christmas Isn’t Safe For Animals
10. Deer Tick- Holy S%!t, It’s Christmas!
11. The Four Corners- My Gift To You (It’s Me)
12. The Weepies- All That I Want


It’s Christmas So We’ll Stop and Rudy have exceptionally beautiful (and sad) lyrics.
Check them out:
http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/3530822107858740351/
http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/3530822107858560161/

No More Guilty Pleasures: What I’ve Learned From Spotify

Since I started listening to music through Spotify, I’ve thought a lot about the nature of guilty pleasures. Spotify settings allow the user to choose whether or not to share with facebook. Sharing, in this case, means each song I listen to is listed in the update feed and the most listened to are published to my wall. I decided to leave sharing on because I believe music should be social.

This sort of publicity holds me accountable to claims I’ve always made about music:

1.) I like all kinds of music.
2.) I have no guilty pleasures.
3.) I don’t judge others for their music preferences.

When I’ve asked the question, “What kind of music do you like?” most people I’ve talked to have made statement #1. The distinction has to be made, here, between liking all genres and liking all genres equally. I enjoy variety in music, but I’ve found that the more I experiment with different genres, the more I can pinpoint favorites. Public visibility of my listening habits encourages me to branch out and listen to something different everytime I turn on my computer (or steal my dad’s iPad), which, then, helps me more specifically answer the question, “What kind of music do you like?”

Speaking of my dad, like me and pretty much every other human, he used to claim that he had no guilty pleasures. Sure, sometimes discussions of songs would require a preface: “I know it’s not a good song, but...” So, really, who were we kidding when we said we had no shame when it comes to music? When my dad got an iPad, the first thing I did was download the Spotify app. First, my dad agreed with me that it’s pretty awesome, and then something horrible happened. He “accidentally” (suuure, Dad) listened to a Taylor Swift song and there it was on facebook: Gary is listening to We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together by Taylor Swift. Suddenly my dad had to think about all his colleagues and high school friends that watched as that update crawled up their screen.

Do you have any guilty pleasures? Most people do, and that’s why you shouldn’t care. Even if you repeatedly listen to a track of a screeching sound, and that’s it, I say good for you. Maybe listening to a screeching sound on repeat triggers a euphoric feeling, and I never would have known if you hadn’t shared that track.

Accept the challenge.


(Note: I plan to experiment with other music streaming services and I’ll let you know how it goes.)