posted August 09, 2010 11:15 AM         

apparently people are suddenly realizing that they don't have to have the gold-plated barbie or the complete collection from victoria's secret to survive and THRIVE.

i remember margaret thatcher waxing poetic about "victorian, family values" but it seems it has taken a global recession for most people to understand that

a) you don't have to spend every penny to be happy and
b) excess is not necessarily best...

posted August 09, 2010 06:16 PM         

Guess not.

posted August 09, 2010 06:30 PM         

Thats the size of a Japanese Shoji screen house.

I'm half kidding

Driving past some of these SFH with the footprint of an Municipal Building...and the couple in it might have a teeny tiny Jack Russel taken` up room. In what?

4,000 sq feet???
Driving cars the size of a spare room???

I'm liking' the downsize BUT I'd have to be infatuated with every smell to spend it in 400 sq

posted August 09, 2010 09:47 PM         

quote:

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George Carlin on Stuff

Actually this is just a place for my stuff, ya know? That's all, a little place for my stuff. That's all I want, that's all you need in life, is a little place for your stuff, ya know? I can see it on your table, everybody's got a little place for their stuff. This is my stuff, that's your stuff, that'll be his stuff over there. That's all you need in life, a little place for your stuff. That's all your house is: a place to keep your stuff. If you didn't have so much stuff, you wouldn't need a house. You could just walk around all the time.

A house is just a pile of stuff with a cover on it. You can see that when you're taking off in an airplane. You look down, you see everybody's got a little pile of stuff. All the little piles of stuff. And when you leave your house, you gotta lock it up. Wouldn't want somebody to come by and take some of your stuff. They always take the good stuff. They never bother with that crap you're saving. All they want is the shiny stuff. That's what your house is, a place to keep your stuff while you go out and get...more stuff!

Sometimes you gotta move, gotta get a bigger house. Why? No room for your stuff anymore. Did you ever notice when you go to somebody else's house, you never quite feel a hundred percent at home? You know why? No room for your stuff. Somebody else's stuff is all over the f****** place! And if you stay overnight, unexpectedly, they give you a little bedroom to sleep in. Bedroom they haven't used in about eleven years. Someone died in it, eleven years ago. And they haven't moved any of his stuff! Right next to the bed there's usually a dresser or a bureau of some kind, and there's NO ROOM for your stuff on it. Somebody else's shite is on the dresser.

Have you noticed that their stuff is shite and your shite is stuff? God! And you say, "Get that shite offa there and let me put my stuff down!"

Sometimes you leave your house to go on vacation. And you gotta take some of your stuff with you. Gotta take about two big suitcases full of stuff, when you go on vacation. You gotta take a smaller version of your house. It's the second version of your stuff. And you're gonna fly all the way to Honolulu. Gonna go across the continent, across half an ocean to Honolulu. You get down to the hotel room in Honolulu and you open up your suitcase and you put away all your stuff. "Here's a place here, put a little bit of stuff there, put some stuff here, put some stuff--you put your stuff there, I'll put some stuff--here's another place for stuff, look at this, I'll put some stuff here..." And even though you're far away from home, you start to get used to it, you start to feel okay, because after all, you do have some of your stuff with you. That's when your friend calls up from Maui, and says, "Hey, why don'tchya come over to Maui for the weekend and spend a couple of nights over here."

Oh, no! Now what do I pack? Right, you've gotta pack an even SMALLER version of your stuff. The third version of your house. Just enough stuff to take to Maui for a coupla days. You get over to Maui--I mean you're really getting extended now, when you think about it. You got stuff ALL the way back on the mainland, you got stuff on another island, you got stuff on this island. I mean, supply lines are getting longer and harder to maintain. You get over to your friend's house on Maui and he gives you a little place to sleep, a little bed right next to his windowsill or something. You put some of your stuff up there. You put your stuff up there. You got your Visine, you got your nail clippers, and you put everything up. It takes about an hour and a half, but after a while you finally feel okay, say, "All right, I got my nail clippers, I must be okay." That's when your friend says, "Aaaaay, I think tonight we'll go over the other side of the island, visit a pal of mine and maybe stay over."

Aww, no. NOW what do you pack? Right--you gotta pack an even SMALLER version of your stuff. The fourth version of your house. Only the stuff you know you're gonna need. Money, keys, comb, wallet, lighter, hanky, pen, smokes, rubber and change. Well, only the stuff you HOPE you're gonna need

---

posted August 10, 2010 03:30 PM         

me - minimalist
hubby - hoarder

of course it's true love, opposites attract right? he brings crap home so i can throw it away.

i asked him and my daughter last night, what is it you NEED? do you need anything that you don't have? think about it, i really want to know. do you need any thing? they both looked at me bewildered. i repreated the question, what do you have need of? is there anything you NEED? the answer, no.
ok, so then my next question is, why do you go to the store all the time? if you don't have need of any thing. at the very least it gave them pause for thought.
probobly thought what an a5shole i am, but at least it made them think.