My 40 Bags, 40 days Challenge

Today is Ash Wednesday and the first day of Lent in the Western Christian calender. Lent is a time of prayer, renewal, self-reflection, sacrifice, self-control, repentance and almsgiving. People give up things for Lent such as Facebook, twitter, chocolate, coffee, etc. This year, I am doing the 40 bags 40 days Challenge for Lent.  (Christine is doing it with me, so I will have help.)

The gist of the challenge:  During Lent (40 days) rid your house of 40 bags of stuff. The bags can be things you don’t love, don’t use, junk, accumulated stuff, clutter, garbage. (Also, they don’t need to be bags if you are already fairly organized.) Just start with a section of a room and tackle the mess a little at a time.

For me, a disorganized space means that I feel emotionally off center as well. The challenge will require me to self reflect. (Do I really need to hang on to that old summer job shirt or an old dance costume piece? Is it a sentimental hold or do I really need it? Do those pants still fit? Oh, they do, but I haven’t worn them since I graduated with my bachelors.)

I started with the bedroom since it will take the longest and gradually lightened the organizing load for my 40 days list. I even added in a day for donating all the stuff I get rid of from going through the bedroom and closet. You can check out my list below:

1. Bedroom
2. Bedroom
3. Bedroom
4. Christine’s Bureau
5. Extra Bureau
6. Nightstand 1
7. Nightstand 2
8. Walk-in Closet Floor
9. Walk-in Closet Drawers
10. Walk-in Closet: My Side
11. Walk-in Closet: My Side
12. Shoes
13. Walk-in Closet: Christine’s Side (I’ve taken this side of the closet over, so technically, I’m emptying it of  my stuff and giving her closet space again.)
14. Bedroom Bookcase
15. Donation of Clothes
16. Bookcase 1
17. Bookcase 2
18. Shelf next to my desk
19. My Desk
20. My Desk
21. Bedroom/Office
22. Bedroom/Office closet
23. Christine’s Desk
24. Filing Cabinet
25. Bathroom Crates
26. Bathroom
27. Linen Closet
28. Hall Closet/Pantry
29. TV Stand
30. DVD/Gaming cabinet
31. Living Room Bookcase
32. Living Room AC Corner
33. Kitchen Cabinets
34. Kitchen Under Sink
35. Dining Room Hutch
36. The Fridge
37. Storage at Parents’
38. Storage at Parents’
39. Storage at Parents’
40. Storage at Parents’

Eventually, while my office may not look like this-

\Source: housetohome.co.uk via Jose on Pinterest

 

and, my closet, may not look like this:

Source: houzz.com via Jose on Pinterest

….Christine and I will have a much cleaner space both physically and spiritually.

Expect updates near the end of the Challenge. I might even include some before and after pictures.

 

Happy February!

February is thought of as a month to appreciate love and loved ones. In celebration of that theme, I am posting the video of the Free Hugs Campaign event that I was a part of back in June 2012. The campaign reaches out to others under the premise that,  “Sometimes, a hug is all what we need.” Free hugs is a real life controversial story of Juan Mann, a man whose sole mission was to reach out and hug a stranger to brighten up their lives. Ultimately, his campaign was successful and my friends and I replicated that in a smaller form in Blue Back Square, West Hartford. That day was one of my top five most memorable days of the summer and of the year. Enjoy!

 

Nature Is Amazing In Slow Motion

Have you ever taken the time to think about what really happens around us when living things- insects, cats, people move? There is more than meets the eye in these seemingly simple movements. These three videos by The Slow Mo Guys on YouTube show you exactly why that damselfly may have flown off, what really happens when your cat jumps off something, and the tiny saccadic movements of your eye that happen whenever you look at an object. Check it out. It’s brilliant work and it’s amazing to see all the things you don’t see all because they happen too quickly to notice.

 

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Berimbrown is back in Connecticut

Reblogged from José R. Feliciano:

Yesterday, I attended my first Berimbrown concert at Central Connecticut State University. I have managed to be too far away every time they have visited the United States, but was able to catch them part way through their current 12-day visit.

Berimbrown is an internationally acclaimed Brazilian Congo pop band.  The name of the group references the berimbau, the Afro-Brazilian musical bow associated with…

Read more… 182 more words, 1 more video

This is a reblog from my professional blog.

Happy Beltane/MayDay!

Happy Beltane/May Day, everyone!

In celebration of May Day, I’m posting up a bawdy little song about May celebrating that is straight from the Renaissance. I used to sing this and other madrigal songs when I was in madrigal choir in high school. Really though, pay attention to the words and you’ll see what I mean about it being risqué.  Hint: The “fa la la” in this song is more like the modern day edit for some Top 40 Radio pop songs. You’ve gotta love Elizabethan England for that one.

Hope you enjoy Thomas Morley’s,  “Now is the month of Maying.” I’ll be singing it and smirking all day.

(Oh, and for those of you who are interested in music theory, “Fa La La” can also just be an insert, monophonic repetition that is representing of cheerful music. Then again, there might be a reason other than food and drink for why everyone is so cheerful.)

Gundam Revisited - Odaiba

Reblogged from Tokyobling's Blog:

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I don't know exactly when they put the giant Gundam statue up again in Odaiba, but it's now officially open to the public and yesterday when I was there was even a rock band singing songs of praise to the giant! You might remember the last time Gundam was in Odaiba, back in the summer of 2009. I can't wait to go back and check on it during the evening as well!

Read more… 37 more words

I had to reblog this post. I am always a fan of giant 1/1 scale statues. (Is it really a statue. I'm waiting for it to come to life and defend Tokyo.) I missed this by two years the last time I was in Japan and I used all my money to move for grad school, so I was never able to see it in 2009. My brother got to see part of it since it was being taken down by the time he visited. He will be going to Tokyo soon so I'll have to live vicariously through the pictures he takes there. When he does, you can expect to see a blog post with some of his pictures.

Related articles

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Rain & Relaxation >> Sunday Sense

Let the rain kiss you
Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops
Let the rain sing you a lullaby

  ~~Langston Hughes (February 1, 1902 – May 22, 1967)  American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist.

It is a rainy, gray Sunday in Connecticut. Normally, I’m one of those people who complains about rainy days – not thunderstorms (I love those!) – just the days where it’s a steady, slow rain . Sure they are restful, but the cold, damp, and gray ends up making me depressed after a while. The excerpt from the poem, April Rain Song, by Langston Hughes, is one I always think about when it rains. He views rain as something to revel in and something to celebrate.

After some thinking today, I realized that I do actually appreciate a lot about the rain. I took these photos back in 2010 during a rainy day. They show the three things I truly love about a rainy day: the calm, clean feeling after a big storm where everything feels scrubbed down, the way spider webs become like crystal and taffeta art, and the look of the water drops on each blade of grass. Although, I spent much of this day walking around, taking pictures , and getting everything wet except my camera, it was one of my most relaxing days that Autumn. I hope you enjoy the photos:

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