Not sure what has led to this. Probably from reading a few blogs I never normally read but I all of a sudden have this new vision for this house that will runneth over into my life in general. So I'm going to write about it here. Well - not so much vision as … let's call it 'Rules.' Sort of like RULES TO LIVE BY when it comes to finishing this house and how I will approach other areas of my life as well.
Let's see if I can state them simply -
Number One: Keep making stuff.
Number Two: Stop buying new stuff.*
Number Three: Buy local stuff.
(And Number Four - which isn't as big as the others: Get rid of stuff).
(And then Number Five - which is kind of like Number Four: Buy less stuff).
* And fix stuff when it breaks.
Okay okay … maybe that sounds a bit much. So I'll try to explain.
Number One. I've always enjoyed making stuff so this one is pretty easy. And I like to think I get a little bit better with each thing I build. But I'm not just talking furniture here. Or porch railings. Or details on my garage I built from 2x6s. Although those definitely count. Especially the furniture. But I'm talking about a whole lot of other stuff beyond my house and what I put in it. So I should maybe re-define it to be: 'Keep creating stuff.' Like keep making photographs. Keep creating music. Keep writing letters … by hand - with an actual pen and paper you know? Keep making cards instead of buying stupid crappy ones at the store. And heck yeah - definitely keep making my own furniture. Even if none of it is any good. Just keep making stuff.
I even think growing my own stuff would fit here. Like finally planting an actual vegetable garden. And then actually eating the vegetables it produces. Yeah - I think that counts. I could even re-re-define it to being something like: 'Take one or a bunch of raw materials - be them wood, paper, brain cells or seeds - and turn them into something cooler.' Yeah - not the same ring but it works.
So then … Number Two. This one is pretty easy too cos I have always loved going to yard sales. I read an article a while ago in some magazine at K's parents' house about the magic of yard sales. About the good they encompass. About how it gets us out of our drywall boxes to actually walk around our neighborhoods and meet and talk to - well - real, actual people. Our neighbors. With the side benefit of being able to paw through all their crap. It's a total blast hopping on bikes Saturday mornings with some panniers (or now a bike trailer … that I bought at a yard sale of course!) and messenger bags strapped over shoulders and circle around the neighborhood following this sign or that sign seeing what we might find. And none of it is new. Yeah - a lot of it is junk. But I have absolutely found some cool stuff at yard sales. An old Beethoven music book - hardcover - of every one of his thirty-two sonatas - printed in German … for a buck. A cool lamp. A spectacular old-timey fan (that - with full disclosure - K went back and bought it to surprise me). A rad old mixer. And on and on and on it goes. Yeah - yard sales rule.
But I won't be able to find everything at a yard sale of course. So then there are other places. For all my book needs (and I have a growing need for books!) there's Better World Books (they have an absolutely ginormous selection of any book you could possibly imagine existing on the planet - I just found a rare book by Bob Spring of the North Cascades! - they offset their shipping, give books back to schools and countries where literacy is low and are just an all-around awesome company with a super-forward-thinking business model). Or Half Price Books. Or Powells for when I'm down in Portland. There's the local Goodwill right down the street. Thrift stores. Consignment shops. And duh - Craigslist and Ebay for everything from camera stuff (like all the old large-format equipment I bought earlier this year) to computers (I detest the new Apple and their business approach but love their old computers - I may have a few humming around this place) to anything I can probably imagine ever wanting (I hesitate saying 'needing').
And for my house - this is where the new direction comes in … architectural salvage lots in Tacoma and Seattle that are chocked full of everything from plumbing fixtures to doors to windows and on and on. It's crazy. If I want a new faucet - I do not want to run up to the Home Depot and pick one up off a shelf over-packaged in cardboard inside a cardboard box. Heck no. So my new idea is to finish this house by buying as little new stuff as I can. That sounds bad I realize - not very true to that simple statement above (but I know I won't be able to find everything used). So let me re-phrase that - everything that I can find used I will buy used. Better? I might need a bath fitting or a pipe or electrical cable or something I'll have to drop by the local Mclendons to pick up. But seriously - all the fixtures for my bathroom yet-to-be-finished will be used (if I can find them). Used tiles maybe. A light fixture here or there. Hardware. Etcetera etcetera. Hippo Hardware in Portland is an amazing place! This house may end up looking eclectic as all get-out. It'll be perfect.
And lastly - Number Three. The local bit. I saw a little while ago someone sharing on The Facebook a phrase about how - if you buy local - you're not helping out some rich CEO and their ginormous corporation but rather some kid getting tuba lessons or going to that summer camp or clothes for school or a Christmas holiday. K knows the folks who run the bakery in town so I know that's the truth. I live a few blocks from a Saturday farmers market. The other weekend I picked up a bunch of über-cheap flowers to plant (they're planted - now if only I can keep them alive!). Some produce. Oh - and some spectacular coffee! Holy cow that coffee is delicious … There are people selling meat packages (need to check into that). Flowers. Obviously tons of produce. And so much other stuff that I probably would never buy. Heck - back in June I finally signed up for local home milk delivery. It's been fabulous. The milk is awesome, local and now I can say I have a milkman (I'm even getting better at remembering to grab the milk off the porch before work every other Thursday!). But beyond the market there are a ton of small shops scattered around. Coffee shops, bookstores, bakeries, music stores for the odd XLR cable I need when I've realized I've rolled over mine with something right before I'm supposed to record a guy singing … markets, paper and craft stores, antique shops (which are mostly over-priced junk but like yard sales - you can get lucky).
So now my confession … I realize I have not always been good about these three things. Way too meticulous and picky about this remodel. I like eclectic better. So this will definitely be a new-ish mode of thinking. I'm even considering starting a spreadsheet and tallying up what I buy used vs. what I buy new. It would be a good idea to visually see a) how much stuff I buy and b) how much of it is used versus new. And I could make pie charts and tables from the data!
Okay … so there it is. Time to start. I think I'll go outside now and build a compost bin.
_th 08.15.12
( ... and ... an hour later ... )
