Purging Part 1: Get rid of your memories

 Yeah I know it is not Saturday and if anyone is actually keeping track I am supposed to be posting on Saturday...well that is not happening. I have realized that I am never around a computer on the weekends so instead I will only be posting during the week. So here is the kick off to my trying to live simple series: purging (the throwing stuff away kind not the throwing up kind). Now I have talked about this already but I am going to talk about it again so deal with it.

After you make the decision that your life is too chaotic, cluttered and complicated and that those things are unnecessary, purging is the first thing to do. Purging has many benefits to your new desired lifestyle:

• Gets rid of some of that physical clutter, which will lead to getting rid of the other kinds of clutter too.
• You see progress right away which motivates to you keep going.
• The less stuff you have in the way the more you can do.
• The less stuff you have in your house the less you are going to want to bring unnecessary new stuff in.
• The less stuff you have the more you will use the things you have. 
• Could possible make some money.
• When you move, re-carpet, get water in the basement there is less stuff to move or to damage and in the case of a hurricane and your place is flooded to the ceiling and volunteers have to come and clean out the stuff you horded for years, they will be in a much better mood and will not curse your house for the rest of their lives.
• If feels good to have fewer, more practical and cooler things. (Instead of a ton of crap)

Now if you are like me (sentimental) it is hard to get rid of stuff because of the memories I have attached to it. "Aww that is the stuffed animal my dad won me when I found out my class for 5th grade and was super depressed" But that turned out alright ;) "Oh, my grandma got me that watch one Christmas" But I have yet to wear it, or the one she got me before that one- I do not wear watches. "Haha, Cece was so proud of her practical gift!" But I cannot whistle so therefore cannot use it...so why hold onto it? I was definitely a pack rat most of my life, living with other pack rats where the solution when the stuff reached a breaking point was put it in random boxes and pack it away in storage never to be seen again. What is the point of that? Just because you get rid of stuff does not mean you loose the memories. (I remember the three things mentioned earlier but they are all gone now) This is always the hardest lesson to get across to people on Clean Sweep, Clean House and Hoarders. Also just because that was a gift does not mean you have to keep it forever buried under mounds of other gifts that are never used. I doubt that is what the gift-giver wanted. (But side-note: it is a gift so you can do whatever you want with it now...it is yours..so re-gift it, throw it away, sell it or use the heck out of it- it is yours now.)

Now to be honest you will probably loose some memories. It is called getting older and filling our head with other ones. But, people tend to remember the important things and if you really want to remember something take a picture of you with it or write it down in a journal. Those take up a lot less space.

So in conclusion- purge. I will be struggling with this as I start to go through those randomly packed boxes in storage that were to never be seen again but hopefully I will listen to my own advice.

Music Monday: Period Pieces

Music can be a great way to set the time in a movie or TV show. It can be reminiscent of what was heard at the time (for example the amazing score to Pride & Prejudice) or set the mood of that time period that we may not have lived through or only read about in history books. The right music helps to define the culture, helps you to feel for the characters or the society at the time, and can even date the movie to a time and place in our own memory. Good music of that time is essential in order to really feel like you are living in that time along with the characters.

Here are a few of my favorites that did it right: (note these are again non-score, non-musical and also movies that were made in a different time period than they were set. So things like Breakfast Club could not make the list)

Remember the Titans: I love this movie, and one of the reasons is because I love the music so much. They use the music so well in this movie. To show blending of cultures, get you hyped up to win some football, to sing on the bus and in a cafeteria, and also a possibly accidental-but well placed reference-to the saddest movie ever...The Temptations movie. (don't watch it, it is depressing- if you want me to explain the reference to spare  you the horrific details just let me know) And no offense to Foo Fighters because I love them but "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" and "Up Around the Bend" get me more excited to win a football game. (Plus they let the song play and don't just use the same 20 seconds over and over and over)

Forrest Gump: This is another good movie, and if you have seen it know that is the story of Forrest Gump from childhood to adulthood. Which means it starts in the 50s and ends in the late 70's- a great time for music. They use music so well in this movie to show the passing of time and to highlight the emotions of a scene. With Hendrix, Dylan, The Doors, Fleetwood Mac, Beach Boys, Hank Williams, Elvis, Doobie Brothers, Skynyrd, The Supremes, and even some Tony Orlando- this soundtrack is amazing and has to be one of the most expensive ever made. (Probably is beat by The Wonder Years, which is why you will never see that on DVD)

The Wedding Singer: Lets get out of the 60's and move into an awesome decade: the 80s. The Wedding Singer is a great soundtrack with so many 80s standards. You've got your Falco, Culture Club, Journey, Hall & Oats, Wham and the heart of every great 80's soundtrack: Huey Lewis & The News!! (Heck it even has the Smiths!) I am a fan of the movie as well and when I heard they were turning this into a Broadway musical I was excited but nervous about them not using the amazing music from the film. (this was before the current trend of taking popular music already out there and making a story around it) However, I saw it on Broadway and it definitely captured the 80's perfectly just like the movie. (Although I did miss a little "Do you really want to hurt me?")


New Release to check out tomorrow: Rave On Buddy Holly. It. is. fantastic! (Good new releases have really slowed down, it will pick up in fall.)

First Friday: First All-nighter

It is late, and this will be short because I am tired. I used to be able to pull all nighters like it was nothing. But now I am old. I could still pull an all-nighter but there are repercussions that were not there before...boo!

The first all-nighter I remember was in 1997(ish) and I went to my friend Ashley's house (whose mom worked with my mom) and had a great night. I remember going into this small TV room late at night and watching Clueless. Then we watched it again, and again, and again until the sun came up. We memorized lines and just could not get enough of it. (This also proved to be a trend that whenever I went to someone's house and they owned Clueless I would campaign for watching it over and over until one day it was lent to me and never returned...oops.) I remember having a lot of fun that night and I still enjoy Clueless- even if it was farted on...Trish.

Catholic Throwdown

This brings back memories...check it out.



Also check out this video that made me tear up a little:

Another Great Commencement Speech: