Messy Room Syndrome

[waxwing]

I walked in my bedroom today and I saw the following.

[waxwing]

My bed is very tidy, as you can see.

[Sally]

I live in a dissheveled storage closet.

...I managed to keep things neat when I lived in a dorm, though... It was almost Zen. Now I have negative feng shui; my room is in the red, etc. etc. I stay out of it as much as I can.

[waxwing]

Then, I realized that I have organizational skills. They are simply confined to xerox boxes.

[Star]

:rofl:

I'm this >< close to buying a digital camera just so I can show you that you're not alone in this. :D

[garak]

I've improved quite a bit, actually. It helps to get rid of stuff.

[jimkopelli]

Floor is covered, desk is covered, shelves are covered... but I know where everything is. No picture, I'm somewhere else at the moment.

[philonightmare]

I would take a picture, but all of you guys would laugh at me.

Everything I own is in those plastic tub things inside my closet, in the basement, and under the bed. I went on a mass-organization craze last summer and threw out eleven large garbage bags worth of my past. The rest of my past is in those tubs and no one's gunna force me to throw anything else away! I've had it with the neurotic clean-freak SJs in my life!

[MasterMerk]

And people tell me I'm messy. That is horrible.

I've got a few things lying about at the moment.

[garak]

I would take a picture, but all of you guys would laugh at me.

Everything I own is in those plastic tub things inside my closet, in the basement, and under the bed. I went on a mass-organization craze last summer and threw out eleven large garbage bags worth of my past. The rest of my past is in those tubs and no one's gunna force me to throw anything else away! I've had it with the neurotic clean-freak SJs in my life!
Haha. I did the same thing YEARS ago. I have a few big tupperware containers housing most of the little stuff I own. The small amount of stuff I use on a regular basis stays out, and lots of yet-to-be-dealt-with stuff just forms in piles on the desk. I clean up a couple times a year.

[kuranes]

Other than doing the dishes and throwing out the wastebasket trash when full, I clean when I'm unemployed. I recently got rid of a few boxloads of stuff just before I got this latest gig. I would spend the whole day just sorting stuff into categories. Eventually I sorted all of the loose stuff in every room but the bedroom. ( Yes, MY bed is full of junk, too. ) Then put each category of stuff into its own drawer of one of those tupperware thingies. But . . .there's STILL all of the stuff in boxes from the last moves that needs to be taken out and sorted for relevance. ( I hate the thought of having to either pay movers or bust my hump moving boxes of stuff ( yet again ) that could have been chucked if i'd just taken the time BEFORE the DREADED moving week. ) But I also don't want to dump out one of those boxes until I have the time to really deal with it. Some are filled with old IT mags or old guitar player mags. I should do what I did with my collection of Wired magazine. Go to all of the dog-eared pages, and yank them. Throw everything else out. But. . . it all takes time. Meanwhile Kuranes DaVinci is accumulating NEW data on all sorts of heterogenous subjects, in his continuing efforts to maintain his aspirations towards being a ( sort-of ) polymath. :shock: P.S. It will surprise none of you that I haven't played guitar seriously in years.

[philonightmare]

Haha. I did the same thing YEARS ago. I have a few big tupperware containers housing most of the little stuff I own. The small amount of stuff I use on a regular basis stays out, and lots of yet-to-be-dealt-with stuff just forms in piles on the desk. I clean up a couple times a year.

Everything I own becomes a pile too, except on my floor (books, magazines, cds, bills, etc). Funny thing is, it's all still organized in it's own weird way, so when it comes time for me to do my semi-annual clean sweep I'm already half way done.

I just counted how many tupperware containers (I'm talking those huge ass ones) I have in the basement alone: 12.

[waxwing]

Tupperware containers...hmm. I've tried the storage/organization thing before. See Xerox boxes. Almost everything intended for the boxes ends up outside of them. New things sometimes get placed inside. For example, toothpaste, clothes, picture frame, books, pens I found, and so on. The book shelves do not hold books for more than a day or two at a time. Once the room is messy, I'm used to where most objects are. Even the rocking chair that fell over about five-six months ago sort of "frames" my stuff in such a way that I can remember the formation. It's a good "landmark."

http://forums.intpcentral.com/images/smilies/huh.gif

[PiccoloNamek]

How filthy! How can you stand it? Having my room be that messy would weigh down my very soul.

Now this, this is what a room should look like. (That is, as far as cleanliness levels are concerned.)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v135/PiccoloNamek/Myownroom2.jpg

[garak]

http://fizzyassgravy.com:82/newpics/img_2219.jpg

The biggest one with the white lid is JUST FOR CORDS. Tv stuff, stereo stuff, guitar/audio stuff, computer stuff ... years of cords my friends. If you need it I've got it. Underneath it (can't really see it) is a big green chest about the same size, full of legos. The one with the blue lid has old video game stuff and a few other random things, and the two stacked on the floor under the milk crate are full of computer parts. Milk crate has random car audio wiring and stuff in it from when I cleaned out my old car before I traded it. I have another tupperware "file cabinet" which has all of my filed paperwork stuff, and then there is the desk ..

http://fizzyassgravy.com:82/newpics/img_2225.jpg

(managed to get my elbow in there, smooth)

[waxwing]

^^^^^^

whoa....uhm....(head down in shame)....Piccolo, that's amazingly clean.

I see my room as functional. I don't spend a lot of time in there, but I go in and out to get my things. There is enough room on my bed to lie down and a window for air and light and lots of fun toys to play with. If it were shared space, I'd be much tidier. I see no reason to pick up until I'm completely done with something. And...in case you haven't guessed, I don't finish too many things.

[kuranes]

How filthy! How can you stand it? Having my room be that messy would weigh down my very soul.

Now this, this is what a room should look like. (That is, as far as cleanliness levels are concerned.)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v135/PiccoloNamek/Myownroom2.jpg


Is that Meshou I see peeking out at us from your wall monitor?

[PiccoloNamek]

I'm afraid I don't quite understand.

[waxwing]

I can see garak's room as comfortably messy. I should shoot for something sort of similar. I need clutter, at least some.

[kuranes]

Last time I checked, Meshou's avatar was in the style of the prints on your wall. Just me being silly.

[philonightmare]

Tupperware containers...hmm. I've tried the storage/organization thing before. See Xerox boxes. Almost everything intended for the boxes ends up outside of them. New things sometimes get placed inside. For example, toothpaste, clothes, picture frame, books, pens I found, and so on. The book shelves do not hold books for more than a day or two at a time. Once the room is messy, I'm used to where most objects are. Even the rocking chair that fell over about five-six months ago sort of "frames" my stuff in such a way that I can remember the formation. It's a good "landmark."
http://forums.intpcentral.com/images/smilies/huh.gif

I once had a broken guitar amp as a "landmark" in my room! I always had to jump over it to get to my bed. hehe (I have since moved into a bigger place and space isn't as cramped).

I know what you mean about putting things *on top of* boxes not *inside* them like they were intended for. I suggest setting a date for cleaning (MASSIVE cleaning). Just one. entire. day. It usually takes me a day and a half to do massive jobs. This way, you'll remember where everything is (inside those boxes) and you can make labels and such (I haven't gone that far though).

May I suggest tupperware over xerox? They're much more convenient and storage life is longer. :)

[waxwing]

I once had a broken guitar amp as a "landmark" in my room! I always had to jump over it to get to my bed. hehe (I have since moved into a bigger place and space isn't as cramped).

I know what you mean about putting things *on top of* boxes not *inside* them like they were intended for. I suggest setting a date for cleaning (MASSIVE cleaning). Just one. entire. day. It usually takes me a day and a half to do massive jobs. This way, you'll remember where everything is (inside those boxes) and you can make labels and such (I haven't gone that far though).

May I suggest tupperware over xerox? They're much more convenient and storage life is longer. :)
This is a serious question, not even remotely sarcastic:

So, what do you do when you want to get something out of the tupperware? I can't visualize that process of removing and putting back. What if you don't want to put it back right away?

[garak]

Personally I don't have to get at the most of my stuff very often. The "current" things stay out and the unused things get stuffed away. If something comes out it generally stays out for a very long time.

[kuranes]

Personally I don't have to get at the most of my stuff very often. The "current" things stay out and the unused things get stuffed away. If something comes out it generally stays out for a very long time.
Ditto.

[waxwing]

Sounds like I need to remove some items from my "current" list. The stuff you see on the floor and bed are all considered current to me, meaning that within a time span of lets say, 2 weeks, I will either see or pick up just about everything there. The closet, dresser, bookshelves, behind the door....not current. I am always surprised to find what hides in those spots.

[philonightmare]

This is a serious question, not even remotely sarcastic:

So, what do you do when you want to get something out of the tupperware? I can't visualize that process of removing and putting back. What if you don't want to put it back right away?

Thing is, even when you don't want to put something back right away, you will always know that there is a special tupperware set aside just for that item. :) That's why the categorization thing is necessary before you start putting things away into those containers.

And for things you know you'll be continuously using/putting away buy those clear, under the bed with wheel type tupperwares. Those are pretty convenient, as the tv organization shows have proven time and again (they usually have those stackable types too).

[garak]

Yeah when I was younger I always had more things going at once, and my room was always a battlefield. Now I don't do too many things which produce a physical pile of "stuff." I make up for it by having 395712 incomplete programming projects.

[kuranes]

With me you're talking a need for 1400-1500 square feet to keep the operation going.

[Miss Anthropic]

Wow, I'm so not alone. garak, is that a paper plate I see in your picture? (That is something I do to avoid dirty dishes) I can relate to the xerox boxes, and the plastic boxes...and as Waxwing said, much of the stuff ends up on the outside of the boxes...I seem to end up with lots of stuff and lots of empty boxes. My dressing table is a veritable paleotological layering of books, papers and bills. To dig through one could identify dates (based upon bills) in which I read certain books or did certain homework. That clean room pictured with Meshou on the wall (I saw what you saw Kuranes) is not the room of an INTP...or if it is, its on a clean cycle. If its always like that you are a J! I've tried to control my messiness by not acquiring more stuff, but I am having trouble getting rid of what I have. Anybody else have trouble parting with what should be insignificant stuff?

[philonightmare]

Anybody else have trouble parting with what should be insignificant stuff?

Too much so. I still haven't been able to get rid of my childhood books (parents wanted me to give it to younger cousins, salvation army, etc), notebooks that I wrote/drew in on ONE page... I can't get rid of that stuff. (My J-ness flies out the window when it comes to such objects)

[kuranes]

I love that . ." . . . I will either see or pick up . . . "

In my case some of the material has sat there long enough that I no longer do "see" it. I have tuned it out, so to speak. A visitor is rather struck by it, though.

"Why this ELEPHANT in the kitchen, old bean?"

"Elephant? Oh yes. THAT elephant. I guess I should have put him away, but there was no pressing NEED to, you understand. . . . . . . Just walk AROUND him thusly, like I do . . *grunts as he lifts something else temporarily out of the way* "Give me a hand with this oscillographic wobbulator, would you?"

[garak]

garak, is that a paper plate I see in your picture? (That is something I do to avoid dirty dishes)
Yeah, heh, 'avoid'? I don't see it as some special tactic for avoiding dishes; I grew up on paper plates!

[Sally]

Anybody else have trouble parting with what should be insignificant stuff?

Yes. I have so much clothing I hardly ever wear... But then once, maybe every two years, I can remember the absolute perfect piece of clothing to wear to something, and of course I've thrown or given it away....

I can't just clean. It has to be... meaningful. It has to be like shedding an entire skin. I've been planning to move for months, so all I can envision when I go into my room is seeing it bare of everything.... And then the reality: all the junk piled up, much of it not my own, and much of it bought in anticipation of things that may never come to pass, much of it jointlyowned...

I wish I could just get rid of everything. But since I can't get rid of everything, it's hard to get rid of anything.

[philonightmare]

I can't just clean. It has to be... meaningful. It has to be like shedding an entire skin.

YES. Exactly. This is why cleaning is something I rarely do and I procrastinate like crazy even when I realize I should probably get going on it.

[PiccoloNamek]

That clean room pictured with Meshou on the wall (I saw what you saw Kuranes) is not the room of an INTP...or if it is, its on a clean cycle. If its always like that you are a J!

Nonsense. Just because I'm an INTP doesn't mean I have to follow the stereotypical description. The reason I go to such lengths to keep my room clean is because it gives me an sense of inner peace and tranquility. I can't truly relax in a dirty, cluttered environment. Harmony is very important to me; I can't stand discord of any kind, it rots in the pit of my soul. Keeping my surroundings clean is just the first step to keeping things harmonious.

But, just between us, I can be extremely "J" when the situation calls for it. :shock:

[Sally]

YES. Exactly. This is why cleaning is something I rarely do and I procrastinate like crazy even when I realize I should probably get going on it.

It can be sort of fun... With music. If it doesn't get too bad in the first place. That's what was so nice about dorm rooms - so little history, so few decisions to make about what to keep, what to throw away. And in one place, we had a cleaning lady come every other week, so that was extra incentive to neaten up (for me, anyway; I hate to cause trouble, create extra work).

And I was always on an upper floor, with at least one good window.

Ugh. But NOW. I've moved out of this room three times already, not expecting to move back in. It's a pit. I can't stand to be in there long enough for the time it would take to well and truly clean it out.

[Combat]

I used to "organize" my apartment like that, but I improved it after realising it's a perfect breeding ground for guys like this: http://www.pbase.com/image/36891362

EDIT: replaced the offensive picture with a link :)

[Sally]

That is NOT a nice thing to do when a board is frequented by people who have COCKROACH PHOBIAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(i know that's not a roach but there's Transference, especially in this Context!!!!!)

(((Where is the emoticon of Aghast Traumatized Horror Horror!!!???)))

Damn it now I have to go to SLEEP in that AWFUL ROOM.

Ugh the Spiders... I'm not even afraid of spiders.......... ;____;

[PiccoloNamek]

Bleah! *Vomits* That's so sick! If there's one thing I can't stand having in my room, it's... INSECTS.. gah!

[philonightmare]

Ugh... that's definitely cause enough to start cleaning, disinfecting, calling "1-800-cnobugs", etc...

[philonightmare]

That is NOT a nice thing to do when a board is frequented by people who have COCKROACH PHOBIAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(i know that's not a roach but there's Transference, especially in this Context!!!!!)

(((Where is the emoticon of Aghast Traumatized Horror Horror!!!???)))

Damn it now I have to go to SLEEP in that AWFUL ROOM.

Ugh the Spiders... I'm not even afraid of spiders.......... ;____;

Double Ugh...I vacuumed up a spider two hours ago. That was freaking disgusting! They belong OUTSIDE dammit!!! *shivers*

[garak]

Food is a whole different ballgame -- I only had to learn that lesson once! (ants!)

[flan2dave]

Reminds me of the big, hairy centipede I discovered in the kitchen a few days ago. uuugh..I can't get rid of this creepy feeling now. :mad:

[Sally]

Double Ugh...I vacuumed up a spider two hours ago. That was freaking disgusting! They belong OUTSIDE dammit!!! *shivers*

When I moved back in, I had to get every nook and cranny of my room with a vacuum. It had been used as storage for two years, off an on. There were a lot of spiders...

I'm still not afraid of spiders per se (they eat mosquitos, which is major points in my book, and make pretty webs and are generally pretty cool), but I'm certainly more aware of the virtues of having a neat, open living space.

[Combat]

Finding a bunch of those guys crawling on my bedroom floor certainly motivated me to finally clean up the mess ;)

(Didn't mean to freak anyone out, sorry if I did)

[philonightmare]

When I moved back in, I had to get every nook and cranny of my room with a vacuum. It had been used as storage for two years, off an on. There were a lot of spiders...

I'm still not afraid of spiders per se (they eat mosquitos, which is major points in my book, and make pretty webs and are generally pretty cool), but I'm certainly more aware of the virtues of having a neat, open living space.

They can go do their fancy shmancy web creations and roll their mosquito pray into silk cocoons for all I care as long as it isn't in my home. I hate walking through cob webs in the woods (however inevitable that is) so it's worse when it happens indoors. I really don't have a spider phobia so much as I hate seeing them in places I don't feel they belong.

[Sally]

They can go do their fancy shmancy web creations and roll their mosquito pray into silk cocoons for all I care as long as it isn't in my home. I hate walking through cob webs in the woods (however inevitable that is) so it's worse when it happens indoors. I really don't have a spider phobia so much as I hate seeing them in places I don't feel they belong.

Yeah, I'd never had to deal with them indoors in any way that mattered before, until then. But when I came home... No mercy. I couldn't sleep until I'd satisfied myself that there weren't anymore.

...And then I got bitten at the office, so go figure. I'd never had spider bites before, either, so for a few hours I was about 50% certain that my leg was going to rot off. ...Quick trip the the doctors', special meds, and they cleared up in a week or two, good as new.

[philonightmare]

Yeah, I'd never had to deal with them indoors in any way that mattered before, until then. But when I came home... No mercy. I couldn't sleep until I'd satisfied myself that there weren't anymore.

...And then I got bitten at the office, so go figure. I'd never had spider bites before, either, so for a few hours I was about 50% certain that my leg was going to rot off. ...Quick trip the the doctors', special meds, and they cleared up in a week or two, good as new.

When I see one spider I always assume there are more... :ph34r:

This reminds me of a tv commerical for a cell phone company where three guys went camping, and one guy was bitten by a bug and half his face was swollen... they couldn't afford the long-distance, roaming charges so they left him like that! :D

[Serotonin]

This is a serious question, not even remotely sarcastic:

So, what do you do when you want to get something out of the tupperware? I can't visualize that process of removing and putting back. What if you don't want to put it back right away?


Thing is, even when you don't want to put something back right away, you will always know that there is a special tupperware set aside just for that item. That's why the categorization thing is necessary before you start putting things away into those containers.

This crystallises the P/J difference. A P will leave something randomly on a desk or floor because of easy access later on. All they have to do is cast their eyes across the room, remembering the general area where they left it. "Ah, my phone", "Ah, my sunglasses", and they're out the door in seconds. A J cannot help but say "A place for everything and everything in its place!" :sick:

My ESFP housemate's room is comparable to waxwing's. Mine's a leedle bit tidier, but not by much. Wide expanses of carpet can be seen, in patches. :)

[philonightmare]

This crystallises the P/J difference. A P will leave something randomly on a desk or floor because of easy access later on. All they have to do is cast their eyes across the room, remembering the general area where they left it. "Ah, my phone", "Ah, my sunglasses", and they're out the door in seconds. A J cannot help but say "A place for everything and everything in its place!" :sick:

My ESFP housemate's room is comparable to waxwing's. Mine's a leedle bit tidier, but not by much. Wide expanses of carpet can be seen, in patches. :)

Yeh know, you're quite right. My ENFP cousin's room looks like a tornado went through it and she STILL knows where everything is. It drives me nuts because, like you said, I like having a place for everything --even if my entire floor is covered and you can't see the carpet, I need to designate certain spaces for certain "piles."

Edit: I also think that my organization is different from a P's in that mine is usually done in a visual, physical way, whereas it seems like a P's is done in a conceptual, memory-based way.

[waxwing]

Funny how looking at the pictures, I noticed a few objects I had forgotten about....

Here's the wall to my left as I walk in the door....laundry baskets! What an excellent way to organize. ;) I even put the cardboard box inside the basket. I don't look in them very often. Forgot I had set them there.

[waxwing]

One more reveals the "hidden bed," the tupperware on top of it, and underneath the tupperware (in the background), there is a full length mirror waiting to be used, I guess.

I know one thing. I will never be a contestant on room raiders.

Oh, and I agree completely with Serotonin on the P/J difference. Somehow I know that the objects I've laid aside and forgotten are forgotten because I don't need them at the time. The others are cemented in my memory. Fascinating how, for example, I use my french horn almost every day (almost touching the laundry baskets in the first pic), but I was unaware of the baskets and can't even begin to tell you their contents. Anybody relate to that? An object doesn't have to be locationally set aside to go unnoticed. It just has to fall under a category of "unnecessary."

[SensEye]

Heh. Waxwing, even among INTP's you're a bit over the top. But I can relate in general. BTW, you need to work on getting your photos in focus, or getting your eyes checked, one of the two.

Piccolo sort of scares me, it was similar to reading Moni's post that describes typical ISTJ teenagers may request chores. Some things are just too weird.

[waxwing]

I don't need to work on getting them in focus. I was lazy. I can focus photos just fine, thanks. Maybe I kept them blurry for a reason, huh?

[philonightmare]

I see you have a guitar as well. Are you very music-oriented?

And my goodness, I too once used laundry baskets as the ultimate organizational technique --oh! but it MUST be against the walls. I love having my walls lined with stuff.

What's interesting is that, although I am a J, I too will mentally put things into the category of "unnecessary" and forget about it for the longest time (and usually someone has to point out that stuff to me for it to come back into my focus).

So being a J doesn't mean that I have supremo organizational skills or anything like that, I recently started to organize things in a way that gives me more room to move more smoothly through my habitat.

[Crazy]

My house is always cluttered with stuff. Any open surface will get stuff put on it. I tried using boxes and tupperware, but two very strange events happen when I get them. First, it seems that the more boxes I get to put stuff in, the more stuff there is to put in the boxes, almost as if my junk multiplies to be sure there is never enough storage space for it. The second thing that happens is whenever I need something from the box, whatever I need will always be at the bottom, so I will take everything else out to get to it, and then, when I get what I want, I need to use it right away, and don't have time to put the other stuff away. I always end up with empty boxes surrounded by all the stuff that is supposed to be in it.

A deffinate plus to my "organization" style, is the enhanced jumping ability I have acquired due to having to jump over things all the time.

[kuranes]

My house is always cluttered with stuff. Any open surface will get stuff put on it. I tried using boxes and tupperware, but two very strange events happen when I get them. First, it seems that the more boxes I get to put stuff in, the more stuff there is to put in the boxes, almost as if my junk multiplies to be sure there is never enough storage space for it. The second thing that happens is whenever I need something from the box, whatever I need will always be at the bottom, so I will take everything else out to get to it, and then, when I get what I want, I need to use it right away, and don't have time to put the other stuff away. I always end up with empty boxes surrounded by all the stuff that is supposed to be in it.

A deffinate plus to my "organization" style, is the enhanced jumping ability I have acquired due to having to jump over things all the time.

Ditto. The tops of storage boxes are great places to store things "temporarily". Then you can always stack things in FRONT of such boxes, too, if you're resourceful. This way you can't get AT the drawers.
"What's this in the WAY here? Hmmm. Not sure why I saved this bunch of papers. Better start reading them to see why . . . hmmm . . this is actually quite interesting . . .yes, it's coming back to me. . . ."

[Crazy]

Ditto. The tops of storage boxes are great places to store things "temporarily". Then you can always stack things in FRONT of such boxes, too, if you're resourceful. This way you can't get AT the drawers.
"What's this in the WAY here? Hmmm. Not sure why I saved this bunch of papers. Better start reading them to see why . . . hmmm . . this is actually quite interesting . . .yes, it's coming back to me. . . ."

Yeah, it's really bad when you have box lids all over the ground with stuff on top of them, because you had stacked the stuff on the box, then needed to get into it, so rather than move all the stuff somewhere else, you just move the lid with all the stuff still on it.

[YardGnome]

Hahaha, I'm sure that if I didn't live with my girlfriend my house would look an awful lot like that as well waxwing. My car certainly does...

[meshou]

Is that Meshou I see peeking out at us from your wall monitor?
Waa? I do not know the fellow.

Like the prints, tho.

[meshou]

*looks around*

Boyfriend and I are really messy by nature, but we have to clean or it seriously bugs his health. Daily cleaning, bleh.

But if he wasn't sick all the time, I'd imagine we'd have jello up the wall, or something.

[Spartan26]

I defintely have a space management problem. I've let some magazine subscriptions die, so that helps. TiVo would be in order. I've got five or six video tapes I gotta go through. I've recorded shows without marking what was on them and when it was recorded. So I'll start watching one tape and realize I have a previous episode to a show on another tape and will have to switch. Eventually I'll catch up and put them all away or be ready to record over them but in the interim, two tapes on the floor, another on my top of the vcr, another on the PS2. Now I look and see three on my DVD stand.

Papers are horrible. I've got receipts that need to be logged and put away. Business cards, napkins and postits all over my desk. I've got some from people I can't even remember. Mostly my handwriting so I know I wrote it down so I'd call later on but some could be where someone has called me, I jotted down a number and didn't put down the name so I can't throw it out because it's my only link to that person.

The worst are the scripts and notes. Not too bad right now because they're in three stacks but like the tapes they're not together or matching. So it'll take some time to go through them.

I'll have people's projects to read or make notes on, and I'm a little upset for having to bring more paper into my environment, but what really upsets me is when I can't give it back when expected. I've got someone's play and pilot on my bed and on my dining room table so they won't get buried and so I'll remember to take them everytime I leave in case it's a time I think I'm going to see her. But in the meantime, in-between time, ain't we got a better place to put this???

If I'm busy, I can just toss stuff to the side and work and forget about it. But then, things will start to get too bad. Like I had to clean out my closet before I could get any other work done. The door was closed, no smells were coming out, mind you, but for whatever reason, I couldn't for the life of me concentrate until I had my luggage folded inside each other, dirty clothes stuffed in a bag and salvation army stuff gathered and tagged. It's like the world was off its axis and had to be adjusted before I could move on.