The things we take with us

I am moving again, though I am staying in Portland. I am moving into a house with two housemates. I will save over $500 a month, and I will be closer to several of my friends (though farther from several others) and somewhat closer to work, so my commute will be shorter. There will be less highways in my daily life.

I am culling belongings again. I'm selling some furniture, all of which I either carted cross country or bought just six months ago. And I've filled two big boxes with clothes. I moved some clothes I didn't wear in NYC, thinking I might wear them here. I also moved some clothes I wore in NYC but didn't expect to wear here. Now I know. But I knew that before I could be sure about some things I had to settle into Portland life: weather, daily living, being a teacher here, all of it.

And I am only keeping four useless t-shirts that I never wear! Emilyn is going to take my Wellstone shirt, which means I have to move it, but I think that's okay. These are the four shirts I'm keeping:

1. My Tough Girl Performance Project t-shirt from Lauren, faded and stained with something rusty brown across the front.
2. My favorite t-shirt from fifth grade, which used to be black and is now gray. It has a huge image of Albert Einstein's head on it, and it says, Imagination is more important than knowledge ALBERT EINSTEIN. So dorky, and I loved it so much. That was essentially my motto, or at least what I lived by, at least until I started college. Northern Sun still carries one, slightly different but essentially the same. I used to love going to Northern Sun with my dad.
3. The Children's Theater Company/Moscow Musical Theater Company Petya and the Wolf June 1986. The Children's Theater Company (CTC) was so important to me growing up, and I have a picture of me in this shirt holding the first (and only) fish I ever caught.
4. My red t-shirt from Lourdes. It was too small when I bought it, a child's 14, but it was the coolest one so I decided it fit. Megan and I looked at every t-shirt in Lourdes, I think, and spent a lot of time on our t-shirt decision. And there are a lot of t-shirts in Lourdes. Also a lot of mugs, handbags, postcards, and other items. Lourdes must have more gift shops per capita than just about anywhere else.

I am keeping lots of other useless things. Books, mostly. The sparkly 70's peacock blouse I've had since Seattle back in 1997. That's MORE than ten years. Geez.

More to follow, I am sure...