martes, 15 de febrero de 2011

the miscellaneous pile

I'm all packed. In about twelve hours I'll be on my way. I've packed my life into my backpack. My backpack has a name. It's Alex, and when packed to full capacity, it's the size of a six-year-old child. I got a Camelbak as a present from D and have yet to name it. I'm also taking a purse and my longboard (skateboard) with me. I feel like that's about all I will need.

I'm a good packer. Everything fit. My mom taught me well. I don't particularly enjoy packing, and that's mainly due to the items I categorize as miscellaneous. You see, before I pack, I always sort my stuff. Shirts, pants, skirts, dresses, underwear, socks, shoes, etc. But then there are the items that don't fit in any of these categories, the not-wearable items that for some reason I keep trekking across the world with me.

The miscellaneous pile is a total pain in the ass to pack. I always stare long and hard at the miscellaneous pile and it makes me not want to proceed with the process. I'm not sure why I insist on having a miscellaneous pile, but it's always there and it always sucks. Except it doesn't really, it's awesome. The miscellaneous pile has items like:

* My wooden turtle, elephant and moose (buffalo?...whose legs and horns have broken and been super-glued more times than I can remember)
* My plastic goat and cat
* 17 or so pictures that just live freely in my luggage or nightstand (whenever I have one)
* My iPod, kindle and camera chargers
* A Juan Manuel Serrat cassette tape
* Belts
* My penguin mirror
* Gori
* Sunglasses (these are the worst)
* An elephant made out of buffalo skin

Now you would think I could do without the traveling zoo, but I can't. And every time I move, I realize that it keeps growing. People tend to give me animals, and sometimes I buy them too. This before-mentioned collection would be larger, but some have deserted the pack. There's a lion (Boduka) somewhere in Venezuela. There's Onte, my trusty rhinoceros; he keeps an eye on mom here in the US while I'm away. There used to be a dinosaur (Tuani) somewhere in D's car, but that was three cars ago, so who knows where he ended up. Then there's Gori. He hasn't deserted, in fact, he is king of all. Gori is a stuffed gorilla that has gone everywhere with me. He's the definition of awesome. He's cool enough to rock a hot pink climbing rope and If I'm spending the night anywhere, he's there.

Anyway, as I always do, I managed to successfully find a spot for each of these items in either Alex, the Camelbak or the purse. My zoo and my pictures and my mirror and everything else I didn't list may be a little difficult at times, but there's nothing I love more than settling in somewhere new and lining up all my animals, and setting up all my random little things. And just like that, the miscellaneous pile is the reason I'm able to make wherever I am my home.

1 comentario:

  1. didn't know you had JMS tape. Recorded with all the love that can be given... years later, intended to be used at the onset of a precious life: a couple of eyes looked for first time to the world, to the left, to the right...

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