parasitegirl | Entries tagged with apartment

I'll admit it. I've drank the kool-aid. The KonMarie "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying" blend of decluttering, or as she calls it "tidying". Decluttering is a term avoided in book because she doesn't want to focus on the idea of getting rid of things...preferring to put attention on what people feel is worth keeping. It's all about gathering the items for category X or Y, putting it all in one place so you feeland see the amount you have, and handling each thing to feel if it "sparks joy." If it doesn't and there isn't another reason not to keep it (like "it's a work uniform and I can't go naked" or "I really want a new X that doesn't SUCK like this one but cash is tight and I use it everyday.") you discard/recycle/whatever.
( KonWee )

I started to wade into my craft room. The craft room is stuffy hot in the summer so it's just cooling down enough to actively craft in there without a million fans. In the summer I need to wait until last evening or early morning...and even then it can be rough.

I got rid of about 20 items of random scraps, broken/rusted things that won't get fixed, and put much of what was out away.

In my bedroom I can now fit my books into my bookshelf. This is dangerous because it is making me aware that I first painted those wooden Ikea shelves about four years ago and my technique has gotten better as has my Japanese paint label reading skills. Those shelves needed primer and I couldn't find any. ...which makes me dangerously tempted to turn to the friend I made in late spring, when I changed my jobs....HipMini.

HipMini is a loveable range of latex paints...dangerously available near where I work on Sunday...in cute colors.

( Projects finished! )

And this puts me all so CLOSE to finishing my insane idea of 100 days of getting rid of 20 things each day.

So, over break, this is what happened with the dance room:
( Dance room )

As I have mentioned in decluttering, many of the on-line resources for doing it are cluttered with Zensters who can be rather up their own arse about the purity of the space they’ve cleared. These sort of sites make me want to pile up my tackiest items and revel in my poor taste and consumer stupidity.

Here is a simple, well spoken, article on decluttering. Don’t let the fact that Apartment Therapy has issues and is linked to (my now-hated) The Kitchn.

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/what-not-to-do_1-168836

Here are the 5 tips on what not to do…truncated and commented on.

1. Organize First; Buy Second. Do not go out and buy a ton of storage pieces and supplies before you sort through your home.

AMEN!

Buying containers to put things in comes with the risk of having more containers of random shit in your abode than you started with… and nothing being better organized for it. Before I started decluttering, no amount of more things to put things in would have solved anything. This didn’t stop me from magical thinking and buying… but it didn’t solve anything. One of my apartment problems was the amount of opaque containers I had random flotsam in and behind. It was only after I had gotten rid of stuff (trash/recycle/freecycle/given away) that buying containers made sense.

And, decluttering also helped me realize that I already HAD containers that could be put to better use.

The tool I found really helpful in searching for the correct containers/shelves after much decluttering was Penultimate for my iPad and a tape meassurer…but a notebook/cellphone notes and cell phone photos would do the trick. Penultimate allowed me to take pictures of the space I needed a container or shelf in…draw the measurements onto those photos…and keep those images with me when shopping.

I also had to learn that sometimes a trip to buy containers and shelves will be a waste of time and that accepting that is better than feeling like I have to buy something that “miiiiight” work and bringing home a waste of money and space.

I have relied on Ikea and Muji a lot in decluttering…but that’s because it’s easy it for me to check sizes and availability of items before I make a trip.

2. Don't Bite Off More Than You Can Chew.

You speak the truth! Look. Decluttering can be emotional…and for me it can be a sign that my meds are off. Set limits. Do it a bit at a time. Declutter smartly.

Organizing is a different creature. If done over a large area it involves a time when things are unorganized. Tackle small areas at a time. When you know you need to tackle a big area make sure it’s a room or space you can do without for a little bit if it’s still out of control when you need to get on with your life. Have faith that it will be worth it. Nothing was ever better organized because you didn’t sleep. Organizing takes problem solving skills and that means that you need to be able to think. Lack of sleep is likely to cause you to lie to yourself, hide stuff, and come up with half-assed solutions. Allow things to be a bit of a mess in the in-between time as long as you continue to set aside a little time, each day, to rectify the disorder after you’ve figured out your re-organizing strategy.

3. Complete Each Task -- Completely.

In theory I agree with this but “Never keep bags for charity or boxes for friends in your home to deliver later. Do it now. Finish the process.” is the writing of someone with a car, time, no one else to be in charge of, and no crazy Japanese trash regulations. You can keep stuff in your place if you have a timely plan on how to get it out….like under the cloak of darkness when the Trash Jawas can’t bust you.

4. Rome Wasn't Built In A Day.

Despite the title this rule is less about taking time and more about understanding that you’ll have upkeep to do. “You should expect regular upkeep, but just be glad that the new system is far more efficient than the old one.”

Yes. I have found that a less cluttered space that is organized in a manner that makes sense is easier to keep clean…and that the process of how best to organize my things is ongoing.

5. Good Enough is Enough.

Werd. I want a space that works for me and is comfortable to live in…if I get close to that I am happy. It’s never going to be photographer-ready. I’m probably always going to feel like I need to clean-up a bit before friends/lovers/whatevers visit. That’s fine. I just don’t want that clean-up to be a huge undertaking.

Now for a dose of BAD advice.

“Time to put that dusty teacup collection to good use. Our contributing design expert Samantha Pynn lined a dresser drawer with cups and saucers for a perfectly pretty storage solution.”

In what world is filling a dresser drawer with cups and saucers to put your jewelry in a good idea? Hi! I’m gonna fill this square space with circular breakables in irregular sizes and pour my jewelry into it.

And not bad but not right:

I also came across a well-meaning picture of a hanging shoe organizer being used to store a “child’s Barbies” that made me laugh. I put the following in quotes because the off-brand Barbies were all dressed neatly…so neither Barbies nor really toys played with by a child.

Clean, combed, dressed Barbies. These would not represent my experience (or my mother’s experience) with Barbies. Mother knows that most Barbie’s general fate is to be thrown, half-naked or totally naked, into random boxes. If they are lucky they will keep their hair/heads and won’t be chewed on, melted, or flayed. In my foundation year of art school we all had to draw a collection of something for one of our classes. I put out a call to my friends.

“Give me your mutilated Barbies!” I said.…None of those friends said “Are you fucking crazy…what do you mean mutilated Barbies?”* I got myself a nice pile of mutant Barbs.

*I am sure that girls who had vast collection of horsie figures and such probably also had Barbie who survived but these girls weren’t well represented in my friends from high school I contacted*

So while dollies seem like a nice way to illustrate shoe-holders as toy racks it doesn’t represent how I think Barbies are played with. Even well-maintained Barbies need smaller pockets for things not worn, single shoes, and such…so when I saw the image I laughed…knowing that any shoe-holder of MY barbies would be less like this…

http://www.chatelaine.com/living/declutter-tip-repurpose-shoe-holder/

And more like a horror fodder like these dolls…

http://www.viralnova.com/while-this-is-definitely-the-most-horrifying-thing-imaginable-its-also-not-what-you-expect-omg/god

( Before and after. )

The morning after I finished my dance jobs for the year, December 30th, I woke up to an amazingly cluttered collection of things in each of my rooms.

It was as if I had spent days just throwing stuff everywhere. I started cleaning as part of "ousouji" (the end of the year big cleaning) assuming it would be an easy task. BAH!

By the second day of "ousouji" I had lost track of how many things I had cleared out. I hadn't been strictly decluttering or just cleaning...I'd started reorganizing.

Reorganizing/organizing gets messy quickly because it involves figuring out which spaces are being used well, aren't being used well, and what can be used better...and that often means a horrible amount of time where your things are out and about everywhere so that the actual space you have, and how you've been using it, can be rethought. Unlike decluttering or basic cleaning, you can't simply stop when you'd like to stop, knowing that you've made improvements, because reorganzing involves an arc of time where things are worse than when you started.

I'd like to thank the one of you who saw I was organizing "all the things" on Facebook and checked in on me. No worries. This hasn't been like the early stages of anxiety wherein I have some symptoms that parallel early mania. When that hits he systematic cleaning/decluttering/organizing is a rush! It's FUN! My body feels a severe drive to do something, my mind goes overtime into a game of apartment clutter tetris, and I forget to do other things.

This has not been that, thank goodness. I've had a life outside of this, including social outings with friends, drinks, and new year's at a shrine. Unfortunately because this organizing undertaking has not been anxiety fueled it has not been a spree. It's been a slog. It's a long-distance run for a girl who likes sprinting. It's still not done but I've reached a point where things look good and the rest of the clean-up is cleaning and putting stray things where they belong (as opposed to where I can fit them).

I will probably post pictures tomorrow.

I also have a tv now. It's my first tv in 8 years. I hope to use it to improve my Japanese skills. Having it has reminded me why I have been fine without one for years...because Japanese tv isn't generally my thing at all.

Tonight I watched a Japanese dubbed and re-graphiced version of Planet Dinosaur (a Dinosaur documentary made by the BBC in 2011) and now can say COLOSSAL in Japanese...and it made me realize that I know a lot of Japanese words for bones, muscles and parts of the body due to teaching bellydance...but, alas, the species of student dancer I have cannot be determined by investigating their teeth.

The bad thing about the cleaning coming at the end of the year is that garbage people have ALSO had the new year off and it's been 4-5 days since I could haul anything out for trash day. The trash started up again today but it will be about a week before I have cleared out the massive pile of stuff waiting to go out. I also have stuff-to free-cycle after that and Aya at the studio will be getting a bag of fun that can be integrated into tribal fusion costumes.

I think I will return to doing the 20-things a day decluttering for a bit. Organizing has shown me that there are things I debated getting rid of last year that I have NOT touched in a year.

The end of The Kitchen Cure has come and gone.

The Kitchen Cure Ends:

Day 10 was not, as I predicted, self-loving yourself in the middle of your newly cleaned space.

Day 10: Friday, October 11
Assignment: Plan a dinner party

That's not going to happen. Not in the numbers they want me to do it.

"My ideal number for your first dinner party to come from your cured kitchen is between four and eight. Less than four and you're not flexing your muscles and showing off enough; more than eight and it's just pure chaos."

I don't even have enough chairs for 4 people. Well, maybe if two get desk chairs and two get the IKEA-eque Muji loungers I re-upholsered. We could always eat on the floor in one of my rooms but THAT would mean buying more pillows.

So much of the entry speaks volumes of the class issues of The Kitchn:

"This dinner deserves any special touches you have for the table. Don't overdo it, but don't skimp on the little luxuries that elevate a meal; linens, flowers, candles, a centerpiece, nice platters and serving pieces. I'm all for mismatched and high quality over match-y and disposable, plastic or otherwise depressing cheap everyday tableware."

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE me some aesthetics. That's why I make stuff and enjoy fixing cheap finds up...to have a place where I like what is around me...but FUCK YOU you goddamned snobs.

The reason I don't have many people over is a because of where I live and our schedules. Many of my friends are an hour away. If people >do< come over I love feeding them. I take joy in it. It's not easy, because I only have two gas burners, a little slot for broiling fish, and a microwave that doubles as a so-so convection oven but I love doing it so I do do it.

It's also cultural. I don't know ANYONE here who has dinner parties. In 12 years I've been to ONE dinner party in an apartment here and we all brought food to pass...two parties if you count a gig I did. I'm been to a couple "everyone drinking and getting fucked up hippish parties" but even those are scarce. I've been to a big dinner with families before, but nothing like a "dinner party" of friends. It's much more common to reserve a whole room at a restaurant ahead of time for a certain time slot and have your party and social time there.

My Washing Machine Dies:
It's Sunday of a three-day weekend. My legs are TOAST from dance so I know I can't do much more than foam roll them and rest. It feels like I did hours of squats. Tomorrow (Monday...holiday) I fill in for one teacher's two dance classes. This week, with the NHK and the substitute classes, I'll teach 9 dance lessons and be working on the two upcoming WS. I think one of the WS is almost sold out.

I would have probably tried to go out and be social, legs be damned, but last night my washing machine decided it had given me 9 years of moaning but solid cleaning...and had been used to begin with...so it was time to stop spinning...cue soggy sheets and such. I knew my Sunday would have to start with getting a new-to-me-machine and arrange for delivery, installation, and proper removal of my dead one...(I got my fridge replaced last year, so I know one way to do that and I'm sticking to it) I figured Sunday would be best spent just getting that done, do some important cooking prep, and rest.

This morning I found one at a recycle shop that's only a year old and will fit in the space I have. They'll install and swap things next Sunday.

I'm currently making a large batch of soup-stock to freeze in batches of ice-cubes for the next few months of cooking. I THOUGHT about doing this in "restock your pantry" time of The Kitchen Cure but figured I should pace myself for all the hard work to come...not knowing that soon they'd just ask me to shop a bunch and do things I already do.

(veggies have been roasted...this is a shot from right before the simmering time starts)

100 days of 20 goodbyes:
I do get to count today as a decluttering day. I cleaned up much of the balcony garden and got rid of the plants that are no longer producing (and won't ever again) or have died. Much dead soil has been removed...unneeded plastic containers as well...and a few items replanted. I cut back many of my herbs and will think about what needs to come inside in a month.

I hope to have the "balcony" cleared enough that I can enjoy a few fall drinks and meals out there while the weather is still nice...and trying to make sure two people could sit and have a drink/coffee there before the winter.

Day 9: Thursday, October 10
Assignment: Cook yourself a meal

Camera pulls in tight on eyes.
Twitch….twitch…twiiiitch.
And….cue the scream.
AUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Listen here, The Kitchn. Do you know why I thought I’d participate in your CURE? Why I looked at my kitchen and thought there was room for improvement? Because I cook EVERY DAY. I touch surfaces and things spill. Quick wipes-ups are not always what they should be. Things dry, cake-on, solidify, and get ground into cracks and hard-to-reach spaces.

My idea of falling behind in cooking is not having time to prep and make items for eating outside of my apartment (my bentos). This means that I have been squeezing in meal-cooking time for all of these days. I >have< to. I like the idea of shaving a few minutes off any of my meal-making and meal-clean-up time so I can do more meal enjoying

I used to go to your pages for food/meal ideas. I’ve adjusted to the increase of “oh, buy this cute item” and non-food-kitchen-porn (ooooooooh, subway-tiled backsplash, ooooooh) between the food items.

Ok…let’s look at the specifics:

"The penultimate assignment in The Kitchn Cure is always to cook yourself a simple meal. This isn't your big graduation brouhaha; this is a simple meal you are to cook yourself right away. As in tonight."

I know you feel proud of yourselves for using penultimate in a sentence. I can feel the pride slipping through the tubes of the internet and leaving residue on my keypad.

I can’t read and reply to more of this.

What do I expect tomorrow as the ULTIMATE ASSIGNEMNT from The Kitchn?

Day 10: Thursday, October 11
Assignment: Take Pride in your Superiority.

(Estimated time: 30 minutes – the rest of your life)

1. Actively explore your joy in your newly beautified space.

This assignment takes a little bit of preparation but it is worth it. You will first need to protect the pristine floors you so diligently scrubbed when we delightfully unveiled the 4th assignment of deep cleaning. If you’re on a budget you can delicately unfold a generic tarp over your floorboards. If you’re on the Buy Stuff path-- because you know you are worth it-- we’ve got links to the finest, hand-woven, up-cycled, protective flooring mats.

(insert etsy links)

Bring whatever Apple product you are using to connect to us onto your mat. It’s time to bring music into your sacred space.

(insert Spotify playlists assembled by our ebullient interns)

Now is the time to harness the collective power of #kitchcure hashtags to bring forth images to inspire some good, old-fashioned, self-pleasuring. IF you’ve kept up with your hashtags then bring yourself to climax with your own trail of triumph. Those who’ve fallen behind…we have options for you as well. Unleash the estacy of superiority by browsing kitchens that aren’t up to your standards…and let the rush of seeing how many people quit early on carry you over the edge and into enlightenment.

2. Breathe. Breathe deeply.

(insert links to pranayama breathing apps)

3. Clean up. Don't go back to your old ways. Aside from the perfume of your new-found serenity - (wink)- leave the kitchen as you found it.

4. Create a Pintrest board to collect the images that helped you achieve that effervescent orgasm.

5. Bask. You’ve completed your journey. Your space is uniquely yours…and better than the space of the masses. Never forget that.

Current Location: Japan, Chiba-ken, Nagareyama

The Kitchn Cure Sucks.

“Day 8: Wednesday, October 9
Assignment: Bring fresh flowers or a plant into the kitchen”

Already there. NO reason to bring more. When winter comes some of the outdoor herbs will come and live here as well. You are twee and I hate you, The Kitchn…and Mailman Dan.

“ 1. Bring something living into your kitchen. “

Men. I will bring men. I will post pictures of food I make and men will be all “Om,nom,nom feeds me” and I’m all “dude, come over.”

“This means, get a plant, or a vase and a bouquet of flowers. Wait, there's a catch: this assignment comes with a commitment. “

No. It doesn’t. It means men...and sometimes female friends. And you’re not the boss of me. You can’t tell me what to commit to. I’m not listening to the rest of this point that you are making. I want the time back from the time I spent reading about the weekly flowers you bought at a Manhattan deli every week. You are what is annoying about food/kitchen blogging.

“2. Make a beauty shot of your living, breathing, beautifying element with one gorgeous photo on your social media accounts and tag your work with #kitchncure. Do a side-by-side before/after if you want. But remember, today is supposed to be easy, so don't overextend yourself fussing with photo apps! “

I repeat. You are what is annoying about food & kitchen blogging.

Next task? I’m still thinking it will be go buy: Kitchen linens and/or CURTAINS/and or New Light Fixtures. Any bets?

Current Location: Japan, Chiba-ken, Nagareyama

Day 6 and day 7

Day 6: Monday, October 7
Assignment: Consider appliances, gadgets and tools

Today is the day when you are allowed to bring in a few things that aren't perishable, so choose wisely. If you have a budget set aside, today is a shopping day. If not, it's a dreaming day. Either way, you'll have some fun. Before clicking through, take a long deep breath and promise yourself that you won't just fill up the new empty space you created during the last few days. Really consider whether or not you need anything new and know that the best cooking comes from having a positive attitude and a few skills, not from having the latest gadget.

(there's more on the site)

Are you goddamned kidding me? You frontload the cure with cleaning and purging...the sort that took >me< longer than and hour and I am a single woman who spends a lot of her time using her kitchen, making sure it is well-thought-out, and who knows her medicine is off if she goes on ANOTHER kitchen organizing spree.

You take Saturday and Sunday off...which is when many sane people might be able to handle crazy items.

You don't broadcast whats coming up or what future things to start thinking about so people can budget time or say "I can clean more when they are telling me to shop!!"

You spend TWO days (5 and 6) telling us to buy (or think about buying) new things?

I did buy 5 new things but that's in part because they were on a past list of things I'd been planning to get AND when I observed classes of my "might be future job today" my way home passed the Ikea...on a weekday afternoon.

New items:
A new knife
A new set of measuring spoons and a new measuring cup because having one of each doesn't make sense for me. Cooking often goes quicker if I have one/one-set for dry stuff one for wet stuff.
A knife magnet bar
A new spatula
A table runner that was in the marked down items that works as a tiny table cloth for my tiny table.

Day 7: Tuesday, October 8
Assignment: Special project

This is where it gets really fun: it's Special Project time! Your special project is about improving the functionality of your space, with a slight eye toward the aesthetic. I've seen people repaint their kitchens, strip wallpaper, replace faucets, and create new systems for storing knives or compost. Some Special Projects take an hour or two, some take longer — have you ever painted a small room and thought you could finish in one evening?! — so just get started today, don't stay up all night.

(there's more on the site)

In a prior post I wondered if The Kitchn would ask me to carve out a meditation space in a newly cleared pantry...this is maybe that.

Remember I just dis-assembled, sanded, primed, painted and reassembled an Ikea step-stool that doubles as a surface to put things on and some-times chair for me. I've done this.

oh...about pantries. There were many comments (on The Kitchn) I read during the pantry purging. There was a long conversation about pantry moths that I kept parsing as panty moths. I've thought a lot about panty moths since then. I imagine dusty drawers and wings flittering out from elastic-ribboned boarders. Since then I have had a hard time reading or typing the word pantry correctly.

Bet: sometime in the last 3 days they try to get me to buy more kitchen linens.

The Kitchn is quiet about commands for The Kitchen Cure.

I guess this is what they mean by it being 10 days spread over two weeks. They came in, shock and awe style, sent people scrambling to not be left behind and then...the bitches don't call.

I can't imagine what else is left to do. I suspect it is pretentious. Maybe I'll need to carve out a meditation nook in a newly cleared pantry.

Today I finished my own kitchen project, predating The Cure, of painting my stained and battered Ikea stool.

Let's see how my colorful kitchen looks now and remember: A Goddamned Adult Lives Here!

( Behold, my kitchen! )
I've got a better angle of it here:( Enjoy...and some more blather. )

Easy-peasy.

Day 5: Friday, October 4
Assignment: Restock Ingredients

You mean there were people who were tossing way-out-of-date spices and such in the pantry clean who weren't immediately making a list of which items needed to be replaced pronto? That night I was picking up containers at the 100 yen shop and ordering baggies of spice. I'm not one of The Kitchn people who is doing this because I want to encourage myself to cook more. I'm doing this because I do cook to a degree where very few things can be out-of-stock for long...and because the dark days are coming.

I did restock my brown sugar.

Let's celebrate the ease of this assignment with Miss. Platinum:

The Kitchn does give an option for those who don't want to spend a good deal:

The Buy Nothing Path: If you feel well-stocked already, or simply don't want to spend any money, use this time to think about how you want to cook going forward. What kinds of dishes do you like? Can you rearrange your cupboards very mindfully, making sure that the ingredients you use most are most accessible? Make a list of dream ingredients and add one each week to your shopping list, then it won't seem like extra spending.

This is already what I do. Except the dream ingredients. I don't dream it. I buy it, cook it, eat it.

(Pinkmaning) Nailed it, bitch!

I am looking forward to having my step-stool back. It's almost all spray painted, sanded, sprayed again...and after a few more spritzes it will be ready to be re-assembled.

I am still going to count this as a decluttering day, because I did freecycle a few things away.

I am grateful to come home to a very clean kitchen.

I'd almost finished all of this yesterday:

Day 4: Thursday, October 3
Assignment: Deep clean every part of your kitchen

So when I came back from my three lessons in two locations I was greeted with a clean, shiny, kitchen. I need it.

Here I am headed to location one...I might not radiate sexy bellydancer here but I've got the cute thing down and enough of a baby-face to sell the dance as YOUTHIFYING!

It's been a disheartening day.

Not all bad:
In my Saturday morning Turkish Roma class I have a new regular student (she's been taking the class for three weeks at the non-member price while deciding and this week signed up/paid for a studio membership and bought a ticket for the classes) .

In my Saturday Zill-Choreo and Turkish Roma classes I have a new student…recently joined the studio and is a member.

Both have previous bellydance experience…which tends to be my core student base. Students who already love the days and want to work on specifics.

The downside?
So far the tally of students lost due to the teacher changes…30. 14-15 at the studio and the same amount or so at culture studios…and we're still getting damage reports. H is in a bad emotional place right now.

I started my new class at the NHK culture studio in Kashiwa. OMG HUGE ROOM.

Two students have signed up for the 3 month course…maybe three. Only one was in attendance today. This is a loss of students but I didn't have the heart to ask H how many. I just put on my cute clothing and taught that student for and hour and 20 minutes.

So…after my new class, my third class of the day, I went and bought groceries AND sparkling sake.

And…I came home to a text from H that we've lost a once-a-month WS teacher at the studio. It's not connected to drama. She lives far away and student attendance is low. I totally understand where she is coming from because I had to make the same choice about her studio almost two years ago. I get it. It's unrelated but it feels like another layer of gloom.

I am psyched that my kitchen is clean. I simply plan to finish the deep clean, only a few items from the microwave to scrub. Then I will make myself a nummy stew:

http://almostturkish.blogspot.jp/2008/07/sour-eggplant-stew-ekili-patlcan.html

I shall eat it slowly, on this rainy day, drink my sparkling sake, reflect on the new students and things I can work on...and then let go and let myself feel tired.( A comparison of my shelves last February and now. )

Day 3: Wednesday, October 2
Assignment: Declutter appliances, gadgets and tools

Because of OMFG CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN last February...which you can read about here on the day with the most photographic proof of how much I scrubbed the kitchen down...this went quickly for me. I don't have many gadgets and tools that I don't use regularly...all my specialty tools (ricers, zesters) get used and cleaned and put away. I got rid of anything I didn't use and haven't had to restock much.

Crazy fact: My kitchen is currently cleaner and more organized than those photos.

I'm actually 75% through the next "Kitchen Cure" Task:

Day 4: Thursday, October 3
Assignment: Deep clean every part of your kitchen

Because last weekend I scrubbed down my kitchen floor, the few places I have to store stuff got cleaned in task 2 and 3...and my kitchen simply isn't that big. I haven't tackled the microwave or my washing machine but that will be quick. I did clean for about two hours tonight while watching episodes of Luther.

I also swapped out my summer time "curtains to protect from the heat" for the fall/winter "OMG I NEED LIGHT" mini curtains.

I am looking forward to finishing painting my step stool...because while spraying it I've come to realize how much I rely on it as a thing to place things on in the cooking/cleaning/living process.

( Goodnight Kitchen. )

Part of the kitchen before bedtime. The kitchen mat is currently in the spray-down area of my bathroom, drying.

I have started to count The Ten Day Kitchen Cure as part of my “100 Days of Goodbyes” in which each day 20 things are banished from my living space. This is because I am getting rid of a bunch of stuff each time I do a cure day.

Also, with tags to 100 days you can play “Watch Kathryn’s Mental State and why she has to report to her shrink that she’s cleaning ALL THE THINGS!! …again.”

Those new here might wonder why I sometimes refer to my meds. I live with depression and anxiety. It has a strong seasonal (winter) component. I am now on medication that goes up in dosage when the seasonal issues start ramping up.

How this relates to cleaning:

The Anxiety, when it starts to ramp up, starts out with a burst of energy and activity. My body is ready to DO STUFF! This can be difficult to detect because I am, at my most functional, a busy person who does a lot of overlapping creative things. The anxiety, when it starts, is hard to differentiate between early mania. I won’t reach mania…I transition through “All This Energy & I Must Do Something” to “There Is Something I Should Be Doing.” and then “What Haven’t I Done?/Why Do I STILL Feel This Way?!” until I am just at “doom. hello, bed. you understand me.”

This year we cut back my winter medication (while trying to figure out if it was causing an ear problem) a little too early . During that time my decluttering/kitchen cleaning got a little out of hand. This actually makes “The Kitchen Cure.” a little easier for me. I did a lot of this earlier this year because…I couldn’t NOT do it 200% when I started.

Day 3: Wednesday, October 2
Assignment: Declutter appliances, gadgets and tools

I did an insane amount of this early this year. I felt like this would be easy for me.

You can read the list here

You can also come to the conclusion that Kimchi has come to that the staff of The Kitchn have control issues. I agree. I kind of hates them. They are unprecious.

In reading some of the bloggers doing The Kitchen Cure learned this fact:

Williams Sonoma used to have a Star Wars line. If I’d known about it when it was out then my kitchen Chewback Clippie would have friends. I would have needed the spatulas.

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/star-wars-storm-trooper-darth-vader-flexible-spatula-set/

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/star-wars-r2d2-spatula/

Epic.

I haven’t gotten to day three yet but I did throw the containers I use for my tupperwear storage into the shower area and hose them down. They are drying. Much of this adventure will involve my putting things in my bathroom and spraying them down. Remember, I live in Japan. My “Bath Area” has a shower area with a floor with a large drain ouside of the tub area. I spray the shit out of stuff there.

When I have finished things I will report back… and count this as one of the 100 days.

Current Location: Japan, Chiba-ken, Nagareyama

"Day 2: Tuesday, October 1
Assignment: Declutter and clean your pantry and food storage areas"

Oh, fuck you, The Kitchn...your 10 day Kitchen cure steps do not take "about an hour"...Tomorrow had better be you telling me to make myself a gin and tonic and sit in my Kitchen.

And THIS is how I started to count the Kitchen Cure as part of my yearlong 100 days of getting rid of (about) 20 things,,,wecause in cleaning out fridges and expired stuff...that's happening.

Let's look at the steps...simplified.

1.Photograph your pantry.

Did you hear me say, "Fuck You?"

2.Toss old food. Go through your pantry areas (and anywhere else you keep food outside of the refrigerator and freezer) and clean up your food clutter.

Hmmmmm. I probably tackled this when my meds were out of whack earlier this year. This will actually be easy.

3.Clean all of your food storage surfaces. Don the rubber gloves and get some rags, a sponge, a mop, a bucket, some hot water, and an eco-friendly multi-purpose cleaner. Prepare a gallon of diluted cleaning solution. Take everything out of your cabinets or pantry and set it a box or on a nearby table. As you remove the jars, bottles, boxes and bags wipe them down with a warm, moist cloth. For containers that have a film (oil for example) you should use a clean sponge dipped in the warm cleaning solution to cut through the grease. Take out any racks and drawers and wash them in a large sink or bathtub. Now wipe down every remaining surface with a rag dipped in the warm cleaning solution. Dry it with a clean towel and put everything back.

FUUUUUUUCK YOU!

4.Identify ingredients that could benefit from a jar.

Yo mamma.

5.Photograph your results.

I burden people with enough photos.

6.Rest up for tomorrow. You now have a really cleared out refrigerator, freezer, AND pantry, so you can really see what foods you have. Make a simple meal and gather your energy for tomorrow.

I have news for you, my energy today (which is tomorrow) is pretty good because I did not do most of this. I got home at 9pm last night. That pantry scrubbing was so not happening...that will happen later if I have time. The joy of my spotless fridge from day one is keeping me from folding your site until it's all sharp corners and shoving it up your internet-tube-ass.

This morning I gathered together some of the food from the food-storage-bins/shelves into one place. I then shoved the food-less washable plastic shelves into my bathtub and showered them down. I then decided that worshiping the coffee fairy was in my interest in the morning in a way that cleaning my food storage areas is not.

I will do a little more between work and the studio...but you TOTALLY tell lies, The Kitchn.

(Edited layer to add)

Done... But how the hell do people who have more stuff and more hidey-holes than me do this in about an hour.?

( Food storage... )

Things we do to prepare for the dark months.

Tonight is a shrink night and all I can say is…GOOD CALL! Thinking that last month was time to up my Lexapro dosage to winter levels. Spot on! Brilliant! Bob’s your Uncle! Crickey!

Sorry, one of my co-workers is a Brit and we take joy here in miss-using his language until he’ll perform his Brooklyn accent for us.

One of the things I am supposed to report to my shrink is when I am trying to CLEAN ALL THE THINGS! RIGHT NOW! NO MATTER HOW MUCH ELSE THERE IS TO DO! It is sometimes a SIGN.

That didn’t stop me from signing up for The Kitchn 10 day Kitchen Cure.

http://www.thekitchn.com/categories/the_kitchn_cure

I don’t plan to photo blog the whole process. The last time I opened up all my cupboards to show my cleaning awesomeness…that was when we’d decreased my dose a bit too early to check if there was a relation between the Lexapro and my winter ear issues. Still, glad I did that. My kitchen is relatively tidy.

I thought this would make sense for me. I can put a little time each day for 10 days spread out over two weeks.

“If you can roll up your sleeves and commit to about an hour a day for ten days, we can help you. It's free, we'll hold your hand, and you'll have a lot of peers supporting you.”

I’ve put my LJ peers through enough when I made it to around 60 days of getting rid of 20 things a day. I don’t feel the need to start getting Kitchn readers in on the crazy ride, or to join their crazy trains.

Yesterday they sent me my first mission:

Day 1: Monday, September 30
Assignment: Declutter and clean the refrigerator and freezer

BAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!

I mean, I have a relatively small fridge and I’ve scrubbed it all within the last 8 months but…damn..I have work, studio time to work on choreos, and two dance classes to teach.

And there are bottles and jars that are not to be disturbed. They radiate mistrust. They hate what I’ve done to them. Why would I anger them further?

Alas, as I had already started the dark-days kitchen prep a few days earlier (My dance space is a spray room right now as I renovate a stained and dinged-up Ikea step stool from my kitchen) I figured I’d get it done.

( Ikea spray room. )

Between things cleaned before bed and a few things tackled before breakfast…I start day two with only my freezer left to scrub…and it’s pretty clean.

This morning is a recycle trash day….so I attacked the bottles and jars, dumped them out, and bagged them. I deposited them in the recycle/trash bin and I hope there isn’t an evil miasma waiting for me when I get home.

Anyone have a good way of storing fish-sauce? (I misstyped it as oil previously) It always comes in these bottles with tiny holes that get gummed up, never properly close, and then begin to drip and stain things. Because I like a challenge, I had allowed two bottles of fish-sauce to wander my fridge, spitting sugary stank hither and yon. I consolidated them in a 100 yen bottle I have but time will tell.

Then I got my next assignment:

Day 2: Tuesday, October 1
Assignment: Declutter and clean your pantry and food storage areas

(They have longer breakdowns of what this means on The Kitchn)

HA! (waving middle fingers at screen) with what time? What part of an hour or two each day did I round down to “This will be, like, 10 minutes a night and my world will be perfect.”?

I am gaining some strength from The Kitchn Cure participants…mostly through looking at their before pictures and laughing. I don’t have a ton of storage space so I don’t have much I will have to tackle. I sit here, drinking my coffee…laughing. YOU POOR FOOLS with millions of baggies half clipped, spilling everywhere.

Later I know I’ll be screaming “Who allowed this 100yen crap into my pantry? I’M A GODDAMNED ADULT…not an adult able to toss my Chewbacca magnet clippy…but STILL.”

Current Location: Japan, Chiba-ken, Nagareyama

I guess it makes sense to actually plan gardens. I've only been at this for a few years. I know that making this balcony work will mean getting rid of a few planters...because in previous years I've bought and planted willy-nilly.

First I started moving around the planters, and cinder blocks, I already have.( Pictures )

I promised myself that at day 25 I would reward myself with getting something framed.

I don't have the cash right now to go for custom framing but I do have DIY abilities.

I went to the As Is area of Ikea today and bought two frames (1,000 yen and 1,700 I think)

I've used one to frame an itaglio print I bought at Design Festa...5-6 years ago..of a running man with a briefcase and the words Step, Father, Step!
( Pictures! It happened. )

I've cleaned most of my apartment now. It took nearly a week and the bathroom could use some organization, but I am impressed. I will get to start the New Year in a clean, mostly organized, bright space.

I've kept up with the cooking, because most everything will be closed tomorrow (the 1st)...so I can be lazy, create, and eat well without leaving the house. I may have a house guest because on the 2nd I'll probably be going with friends to NishiAraiDashi temple (http://www.nishiaraidaishi.or.jp/) for my first temple visit of the year...and be going ass-early so it might take being poked by a fellow person going to help get me out of bed. I've witnessed the first sunrise of the year, over a castle while freezing my ass, before...but I've actually never done the first temple trip. I'm usually not here, sick, or everyone else is with family.

Under the cut...my bright home. There's a lot of keen stuff not pictured but you get the point. I can't imagine what it would look like if I were allowed to paint walls.
( CLEANED! )

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Buggirl's Increasingly Strange Tokyo Tales...

...the all powerful Ozma has spoken.

Entries tagged with apartment

KonWee and Me.

Plus 100 Days of goodbyes: Day 89 (with a review of spring painting)

The dance room progress.

Good Advice: Bad Advice

The craft room...the ORGANIZING.

100 days of Goobyes: Day 68-73: The Big Cleaning

100 days of Goobyes: Day 66: Kitchn Cure day 10

Side-eye for The Kitchn

The Withered Kitchn Cure

The Kitchn: My increasing hatred of The Kitchen Cure...

The quiet Kitchn.

100 days of Goobyes: Day 64: Kitchn Cure day 5

100 days of Goobyes: Day 63: Kitchn Cure day 4

100 days of Goobyes: Day 62: Kitchn Cure day 3

The Kitchn: day 3

100 days of Goobyes: Day 61: Kitchn Cure day 2

100 days of goodbyes: Day 60: The Kitchn Cure begins

Balcony thoughts.

25 day reward!

Into the New Year!