Garage Sales & Fight Club

Wow have we been busy, busier than usual. Our time in Duluth was lots of fun, and this week's project is preparing for and holding a garage sale, which takes way more time than I thought it would. First of all, I didn't know that in just over a year we'd accumulated so much stuff in our home (we have great storage space, which means things pile up easily, out of sight), and honestly, most of it is not mine. Somehow, over the years, Jason has just acquired things, big things, not just household knick-knacks (spelling?), not junk. And part of the reason he has so much stuff is because it's still at his mom and dad's house, just 15 miles from here. Here's a quick overview of the larger items we have to sell:

• 4 dirt bike helmets
• Playstation 2
• Nintendo 64
• Game Cube
• Portable DVD player
• TV w/ VHS and DVD
• Stereo w/ speakers
• Snow blower
• Washing machine (yes it works, the belt just needs some tightening or replacement)
• Air compressor
• Moped
• Fish aquarium
• Saw drill & sawzall tool set
• Dishwasher
• Guitar
• Gun case
• File cabinet
• Fishing tackle box
• 2 industrial fans
• Video camera
• Dart board
• Poker chips
• Bike

And that's just some of the big stuff--we also have clothes and toys from Evelyn, among other random stuff (jewelery I haven't worn in years, shoes I haven't worn in years, purses I haven't used in years...all hiding in secret places). And you might be thinking "Well why are you getting rid of your washing machine?" or "Why are you selling your guitar at a garage sale?" But the thing is that most of the stuff on the list is an extra of something we already have. We have another guitar, we have a washing machine, we have a fish aquarium, we have a dart board, poker chips, file cabinet, etc., etc., etc. I know it sounds crazy, and you're probably thinking our house must be a clusterfuck, but it's really not. Like I said, most of it is in storage closets or in the garage or at Jason's parents'. And some of the stuff we have to sell is because we've recently upgraded....like we bought a bigger fish aquarium and a newer, more energy-efficient TV (we don't watch much TV but we love our Netflix!), and last year our washing machine broke, so we bought a newer, also more energy-efficient one, and then we found out that our old one wasn't really broke, just the belt came off, which is easily fixable, but we loved our new one so much, so the old one's just been sitting down there next to the new one. Obviously I'm hoping a lot of this stuff sells--it'll feel so rejuvenating to clean out our space. And of course I'm reminded of Fight Club, my favorite movie (in case you didn't already know), so I'll leave you with some of the movie's great quotes on stuff (I really need to read the book!):


"Man, I see in fight club the strongest and smartest men who've ever lived. I see all this potential, and I see squandering. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man." --Tyler Durden

"It's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything."--Tyler Durden

"You're not your job. You're not how much money you have in the bank. You're not the car you drive. You're not the contents of your wallet. You're not your fucking khakis. You're the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world."--Tyler Durden

Tyler Durden: We're consumers. We are by-products of a lifestyle obsession. Murder, crime, poverty, these things don't concern me. What concerns me are celebrity magazines, television with 500 channels, some guy's name on my underwear. Rogaine, Viagra, Olestra.
Narrator: Martha Stewart.
Tyler Durden: Fuck Martha Stewart. Martha's polishing the brass on the Titanic. It's all going down, man. So fuck off with your sofa units and Strinne green stripe patterns.

"Reject the basic assumptions of civilization, especially the importance of material possessions."--Tyler Durden