The Long Road Home

This last weekend I moved from a big storage space to a smaller storage space.  And I wonder about all that stuff up there.  Do I really need any of it?

A friend of mine puts things in a box in her garage by the door.  If she's not opened it in a year, she gets rid of it.... donates it or gives it away.  I'm WAY to much of a pack rat for that.  I have books that if I can find them I donate them.  But I also have chairs, way to many chairs.  I must have lived in a place where no one sat because I went overboard with chairs.  I have stools for a bar I don't own. I gotta defend them as that several times I have lived in places that had a kitchen with a big counter that was made for tall stools.

Now, I also have a single stool that I bought to fit with my drawing table... but it doesn't really fit.

And right after I bought that chair... I found on Craigslist a dential hygentist chair for $25 which was a much better fit, but I still have that chair too.  Sitting will never ever be a problem at my place.  With so many chairs, standing might be a problem.

But that's not really all that's in there... I have cards from the card game I published.  Even if I get rid of everything else, those cards will be sticking around with me.  Do you have children or, in my case, relatives with kids?  They love to hold on to your leg and rise it as you try to walk.  That's how these cards are for me.  Only... they won't ever grow up.

So the big question that i feel I have to answer here is... why haven't I started filming. 

I'm scared.  I want to try it several times on my won, without disturbing folks to see what I can do and how to do it.  I think I won't have 2 or 3 or more chances at this, I need to do it right.  I want to make my mistakes on my own without involing other people. 

I know that sounds logical, but mostly I'm just scared.  Its a search for something that I'm not sure I want to find... but I know its out there.

Mac

P.S.  But if you need a chair, email me!

I've been working the last two weeks on trying to write my intro script.  Oh, not to any movie but my intro to the people that are living where I used to live.  And really, we're talking about a lot of people and a wide range of people too.

I'm pretty sure that I'll run into an ex-girlfriend or two and that kinda scares me.  I think I'm going with this line: "Hi, I'm Mac and I used to live here".

I thought of a couple of others: "Hi, I used to live here and I'm blogging and making a short film about it and maybe a book and... have you ever been on Oprah?".  But I think that's too long.

I also thought that I should say: "I'm not here to sell you anything, but I used to live here".  that sounds innocent enough I think, it doesn't say my name and if I don't include that then forever I'll be: "Some guy at th door who isn't selling something".  Which doesn't sound that good either.

These first couple I think I'll add: "And I'll be back because no WAY I've not screwed this up in some way".  The truth hurts.

OK, I think its about time to discuss the order that I'll visit these houses.  So many are in the bay area that I think I'll visit them first and learn my lessons locally.  It makes the most sense to visit the two houses that are the closest together, both on Alston Way in Berkeley.

We moved here in 1970, I was 9 and my sister was 14.  I can't tell you how long we were there before we moved next door, but it was a fun house.  The major events I recall from that house, the split pea soup incident, playing "Murder", the cat poop in my room, a lady named Spider and a few other things.

I hope to get there this weekend. I'll get into more details, including the second house, then...

Wish me luck!

Mac

When I was growing up I put together various plastic models.  I was never big on painting them, and those awful decals were always a problem.  That meant I usually had a bunch of grey plastic planes and cars all over my room.

But always, the goal was to see if there could be parts left over.  Some models had that built in, they allowed you to have some variences by simply including parts for different versions.  Planes were famous for this. Sometimes you'd by a plane model that was named the XJ-115 Tiger, for example, butit had the parts for the XJ-115L and the XJ-115DX as well.  So there was no way to avoid the parts left over situatiuon.

So now I have moved into a much smaller place and its perfect for me... but now I have all this extra stuff.  Mostly books and things like that... but some furniture as well. Its nothing I want to throw away and I doubt its worth the trouble to try to sell it.

So am I cursed to be a packrat the rest of my life?  I consider myself a minimalist, fewer keys on my ring as possible, but I do have boxes and boxes of stuff.  Maybe because its out of sight its out of mind?  I suppose that's possible...

Mac