Free Stuff is Scary

I recently decided to have a free yard sale. I had a basement full of stuff that wasn't being used that was just taking up lots of space. I hat tagging things and deciding if something is worth a dime, a quarter, or (gasp) a dollar. Having a free yard sale seemed like a great idea. Other people need stuff that I no longer need. Awesome.

I thought over the whole thing and decided a donation box would be appropriate. Perhaps some people would feel uncomfortable taking things for free. In fact, people have been caught completely off guard with the word "free."

Yard Sale Patron: "How much is this?"

I suppose this does look suspicious.

Me: "It's free. Everything is free"

Yard Sale Patron: "And this?"

Me: "Free."

Yard Sale Patron: "You mean this sheet with a hole in it is free?"

Me: "Yes, ma'am, it is."

Yard Sale Patron: "Oh, but I should give you something."

Me: "No, no, it's free. I hope you get some use out of it."

Yard Sale Patron: "I will. Here's a dollar."

This has been how most of the conversations have gone. I accept the money, of course, but I find it so interesting that people are unwilling to take free things. Are people leery of the word "Free" even if it doesn't involve any real commitment?

Many people have taken a couple of bags of stuff and decided they should give me a dollar or two. One old lady even gave my son a dollar for helping me with the yard sale.

People just don't know what to make of it.

Free stuff: please take. Please. But who in their right mind would get rid of a Beavis and Butt head CD for free?!

Update: I now have $21  and a de-cluttered basement from my free yard sale!

School Supplies

A Lisa Frank binder. Caution: Not a Trapper Keeper!

I went shopping for school supplies yesterday. Yes, I am about to go to grad school and not kindergarten. No, I did not buy crayons. I bought a planner and some new ink pens, but I really wanted a new backpack and maybe a Lisa Frank Trapper Keeper. Those were the days. 

What it means to begin a school year has, of course, changed for me over the years, but the need to stock up on paper, pens, and containers for those papers and pens has not changed. It felt good to walk through the aisles of crayons, markers, and erasers even though I bought fancy ink pens instead. The anxiety that comes with a new school year is the same no matter how old you are. School supply therapy helps, though. 

Soon, I will neatly pack my notebook, folders, planner, ink pens, and my MacBook into my bag. In class, I will pull out my stuff, glancing around to make sure I have the coolest ink pens. Then, I will move on to learning. Or whatever.

Drafted

Upon realizing I had not posted my blog for yesterday, I also realized I have not posted a few other blogs. Posting them now seems silly as the anniversary of moving into our house has passed and the post about whether or not I should grieve about the death of my husband's not-so-close brother is no longer relevant. (The answer: I should, but I didn't). I realized I have various states of blogging. I have blogs in my mind that only need typing, I have ideas that are evolving, but not yet complete or ready to be explored verbally, and apparently I have other that, though finished, are unfit for the internet to see. I don't decide this. Perhaps my computer does.

Ideas and words are such weird things. I pretend to have control over them, but I don't. Clearly.

It is, however, also clear that I need to learn to control them in order to maintain my sanity.

Book Thursday: Cleansing the Mental Palate

(oops...this should have been posted yesterday. Alas.)

Normally, for Thursdays,  I would like to write about a specific book, reflecting upon the book itself and attempting to fit this book into some sort of larger picture. I have been doing a lot of reading these past few weeks and, although I did read some amazing books, I encountered a problem with reading that I found much more interesting.

After finishing Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, I found it incredibly difficult to do much of anything else much less read any other books. The book crippled me mentally. In a good way, of course. I felt trapped in London Below and, although I enjoyed it there, I wanted to leave before reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks or The Things They Carried. HeLa cells and the Vietnam War are far from the sewers of London and the need to detach was obvious. I needed a mental cleanse. I enjoyed this book very much, but it wasn't my favorite book. I am not sure what it was about this book that struck me this way.

I tried reading children's books, writing down my thoughts, napping, but nothing could get me away from Neverwhere. Finally I had to just dig into my book. The thing is, though, that I didn't want to erase my thoughts and memories of Neverwhere completely. I am not sure how I hid them away in order to function normally, but I did. I suppose this is a good time to come up with an emergency plan: a way to cleanse my mental palatte after reading the next especially powerful book.

Here are a few images from the book. Have you read this book? Perhaps now you will. Please, tell me how you managed to escape from London Below (or Above!).

And so it begins...

I have had some problems registering for grad school classes. In fact, at one point, no classes had any spots available for any students. Eventually, though, I was able to register for a few classes that didn't much interest me. A start.

"At least I am taking classes at all!", I thought.

But really, this degree was meant to be molded around my particular wants and needs in an upper-level education. I admitted to myself that I was disappointed with the way things were going and considered getting a job instead. What's the point in grad school if I am just going to be forced to take more bullshit courses while I wait around for the good classes? That's what an undergraduate degree is for.

Today, I was informed that the waiting list for the courses I wanted had dwindled from 4 (for a class that only takes 8 people total) to none and I was allowed to register! Now, I can officially consider the semester to come with excitement as opposed to dread. I am taking classes I want to take.

I just ordered 15 books from Amazon (I already had a few of the required texts) so I know it's going to be a busy few months. I so look forward to digging into those books! I hope I don't frighten the mailman when I meet him at the door and snatch the books form him, drooling all the while. Actually I don't mind.

I know I am going to continue to go back and forth as far as wondering if grad school is, in fact, the right thing to do, but I must remember how I feel when things are going well. I am giddy with excitement right now. I could not be happier that things are finally falling into place for me. And although I still have a few things to work out (why don't children come with nannies? When will I sleep? ), I am absolutely certain that things are looking up.