« some peoples' children | Main | it must come off »

one step at a time...
January 20, 2004

Netiquette specifically forbids the use of typing in all caps. It also forbids the use of highly-annoying contrasting colors on pages that are meant to be read. Though I have seen these both happening rather prevalently on personal websites (and on very few commercial websites and eBay listings), I have hope in my heart that the evolution of the internet is far from hitting its paragon.

Back in 1994, when I created my first website, animated gifs and the < blink> tag were all the rage. One will still see the animated gifs once in a while, but they tend to be more subdued and practical now. Indeed, I wasn’t immune to the flashiness of the times, and my very-long-single-page site was a linkfest of virtues and loves. Geocities (née Beverly Hills Internet – yes, I remember those days) and < blink> tags have all gone the way of the buffalo; the word of the day is minimalism.

Being minimalist has never been easy for me. A born pack rat, I loved filling every corner of my personal, private, on online lives with stuff. Getting older (and wiser, I hope) has led me to believe that this constant filling has no actual purpose, and I just need to stop. Alas, everyone knows that old habits are hard to break.

Ben and I were cleaning out our collective wardrobes, getting rid of items not worn, things that were too big, too small, had stains, holes, and the like yesterday. I realized that eventually everyone must take stock in what is expendable and what is too valuable to destroy (or simply give away). I had a pair of linen pants in a drawer that I purchased back in 1998 and promptly tore a large hole in, thanks to my piece-of-shit car (RIP). I figured that I would sew the hole up, and when trying to do so, I realized that linen doesn’t sew very well. I put the pants away, thinking that I would patch or fix them somehow, as they were an expensive variety of pants, and I didn’t want to waste the money.

Sometimes you just have to let go.

So in the give-away pile they went, along with the other too-big clothing that I have no use for and other holy garments.

Minimalist it is.

Comments

Gah that's hard...I'm going through much the same process having to pare down my 840 sq ft two-bedroom home life into the teensy little one bedroom 590 sq ft home life I'll be taking on once I finally sell this damn cardboard box and close the sale. It's amazing what we hold on to, isn't it? Good Luck with your purging! ;)

Oh and one of these days I'll actually blog instead of just leaving comments hehe =Þ

Posted by: LeeAnn at January 20, 2004 11:26 PM

I keep getting rid of junk, but I keep bringing more junk in. It's all very well to be minimalist, but I love my food processer.

Posted by: Auntie Sarah at January 21, 2004 8:21 AM

*L* i don't expect anyone to get rid of his/her food processor. i would never do it myself. i just need to get rid of more junk, as that's what's mostly filling my house right now. well, that and furniture. *sigh*

Posted by: devlyn at January 21, 2004 8:29 AM

It's not hard to fill your house with anything! =Þ

If you weren't so picky about living in the North End I'd suggest you and Ben buy a house, even if you're only going to live in it for a year or two, it's better than renting. But I doubt you'd find a house in your price range in the North End. :\

ps - food processors are definitely not in the junk category...well, unless they don't work and you're just holding on to it for sentimental value ;)

Posted by: LeeAnn at January 23, 2004 3:54 PM

i like your website design though! pile it all on!

Posted by: j-a at January 27, 2004 7:08 AM

thanks! ^_^

Posted by: devlyn at January 27, 2004 7:56 AM