A Most Unreliable Narrator Issue #88 The Great Purge (not the horror movie)
Welcome to A Most Unreliable Narrator, the slice-of-life newsletter of GenXer around town, Lisa Rabey. I talk about anything and everything with a bit of swears. I’m glad you’re here.
Weight: 31?.??
Bones or No Bones: Bones day!
The Great Purge (not the horror movie)
One thing living in a small cabin for five months has taught me is the need to have less stuff. I lived with 5% of my t-shirt collection, about 1% of my regular clothes, and I had one pair of Chucks with me of out my nearly two dozen pairs. I didn’t even have dress boots or shoes with me in case we were going somewhere fancy.
Coming back and shopping my closet was weird. SO MUCH SHIT. The other weekend I made the decision to go through my clothes and donate what I didn’t like and didn’t fit. I tried on nearly every shirt and pant including leggings and workout wear. I ended up with four overstuffed kitchen sized garbage bags of clothes we donated to the local Goodwill. One of them was strictly t-shirts. TEH and I both looked at each other when I was done and agreed the closet didn’t even look like I had touched it. My clothes, however, are not as jammed and can breathe (is this a thing? Clothes breathing? If not, it is now.). I now know what I have for workout wear and enough tops, skirts, and pants to rotate for work without much distress.
The only thing I needed was jeans which I got for 50% off at Old Navy and a new swimsuit for lap swimming, which I still need to buy. (I also need a good cap to cover my hair because BAM!) Shoes and boots, and I have my leopard print jacket and my other jackets for all seasons so I’m good with clothes for a while.
But the lack of items at the cabin also taught me that I don’t need a million books. During the beginning of the pandemic, I started buying books left and right via our local indie store and stocked up on digital ARCs from Netgalley as well as the trusty three library cards I have. So many books!
As I mentioned recently, I have a book blog going on so I’ve been reading a lot and having access to books is important because how else can I review them? (Yes, I’m simple.) But I’m so overwhelmed by how many books I have physically and digitally. This week alone I requested, and received access to, about 10 new titles. This is not including the three books I have on loan from the library and the cadre of physical copies towering around my bookcases. Something has to give.
I decided to sell my beloveds via Powell’s Used Book emporium and make a little cash. Again, my treasures become your treasures.
If I’m on this purging kick, what am I going to do about my wildly overly large collection of Chucks. No idea. Genuinely. A friend’s daughter loves Chucks as much as I do and wears the same size so giving them to her would be easy peasy. I could also sell them on eBay. There is also my fairly decent collection of bags from Portland Leather, Cambridge Satchel, and Coach.
Maybe I don’t want to give up everything just yet.
Media Conglomerate
Back in late September, I started tracking my media consumption narrowed down to books (with reviews written at We’ll Read Anything Once), movies, and TV series. I knew I consumed a lot of media, but I did not realise just what “a lot” meant. Well, it’s a lot. And if this is any indication of what 2022 is going to look like, hoo boy.
(If you’re into holiday movies, I’ve got a spreadsheet for that. I’ve seen 14 holiday movies so far and it’s not even Thanksgiving!)
Things I Recently Wrote
Wonderful Thing
Hot chocolate.
I’ve been on a hot chocolate binge recently with three kinds (Nestle, Trader Joe’s Organic, and Ghirardelli Dark) living in my cupboard. Since I cannot drink caffeine, hot chocolate has taken over as my hot drink of choice (even over tea; unless I’m sick then I’m 100% tea) ESPECIALLY in winter. Even though Nestle is cheap per cup, it also has the best taste. Nice and creamy even when using hot water. The mini marshmallows are a bit ridiculous (they melt almost immediately). But hey! Mini marshmallows
Interesting Things (or things to buy)
Someone talk me out of buying the 15” satchel from Cambridge Satchel. I have the 13” in mid-blue and a large Poppy in oxblood (which is monogrammed and I’m carrying now). I just bought the bucket bag from Portland Leather Goods. This is not including other bags I have that are currently sitting in dust bags.
I’ve made the executive decision to buy the satchel after January if I still want it and just eBay the rest (or most). If I do, I’ll post the links here. My obsessions can be someone else’s treasures!
Links to Read That Are Not (Terribly) Depressing
Wall Street Influencers Are Making $500,000, Topping Even Bankers
A TikTok bone salesman’s wall of spines reignites ethical debate over selling human remains
Get vaccinated and mask up! There is a pandemic going on.
lisa x
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