I’m a self-avowed pack-rat. I keep stuff. I horde stuff and maintain it, move it around, re-arrange it, and find places to store and hide it all. My office at work doubles as a storage shed. I find things on the street, and need a place to stash them until I can take them home; artists pass along materials and they pile up; and on rare occasions we scrap an item and I’ll take it, hopeful to give it a second life. Piles form, and take on personalities of their own – this one more prone to collapse, that one more prone to lean, another more green – until they are ready for transport. About twice a year I have to drive a vehicle into the city, usually in the wee hours of the morning, to fill it up and drive my goodies home – unless I have the strength to cart it home, over time, on the subways.

Not pictured but present in my office currently:

• a pile of bubble-padded envelopes, someday I’ll send things in them!
• around 20 empty cardboard boxes, most originally contained computer or electronic parts. they’re good for shipping pressies in!
• small collection of empty paper coffee cups, also a small collection of glass bottles
• old computer chassis with motherboard and parts, I’m talking oooooold
• and perhaps the winner pile of the year, around 100 lbs. of black pearl sand!! contained in several boxes and bags (both clear and black), I have no idea what to use this stuff for but know I must have it!