Confession

Okay, I'm going to tell you a secret.  I go through Lost and Found bins, and sometimes I take things that I didn't lose.  I feel a little better getting that off my chest.  Here's the thing.  I'm really careful of my possessions. I wash my clothes carefully.  I get my shoes repaired.  I mend things.  And I also know that, for the most part, if I lose something or it breaks or wears out, it can't be replaced.  It's one of a kind.  If I went to big box stores and bought lots of interchangeable stuff all the time I might value my possessions less, but that's not how I work.  So when I lose something, I go back and look for it.  For example, I have two water bottles.  One I from Starbucks that I got with a gift card several years ago, and one big silver metal one that Lindsay left in my rental car in Boston, which used to belong to her ex-boyfriend.  I take one with me everywhere, and I can't tell you how often I leave them places.  Just this week at the yoga studio, in fact.  And often I'll leave one at the theatre.  But I always think about where they are and go looking for them.  Which is how come I might be browsing through lost and found bins, noticing that some of this stuff was here the last time I lost my bottle.  So obviously someone has forgotten about it and won't be bothered if I take it.  But don't you think that if individual items had more personal meaning to us we would be more careful of them, and less likely to misplace or break them?  Don't get me wrong, one of these days those bottles will go the way of the world, and I'll have to replace them or go without.  And that's fine; as much as I love collecting things I also try not to be too attached.  But in the meantime I will make them last as long as possible.  And if you happen to see me wearing a scarf that you recognize, yes, it probably is yours.

Wanty-wanty

For whatever reason I went to Hollywood and Highland center three times in a week.  Once to meet a friend, once for an audition (classy) and once to buy some foundation for a shoot.  Makeup falls under my toiletries caveat as far as used things only, especially since it was for filming.

It was interesting observing the mall from the point of view of buying nothing new.  I've never been a big mall shopper obviously, but before I made the conscious decision to buy only used items I would've given in to the feeling I had when I was surrounded by Bebe and Lucky and... the rest of the forgettable stores at the mall.  A feeling of wantingness.  A feeling like what I have or what I am is not enough.  A feeling created by that little voice in the back of my head who sees a window display and says, "Go check out the sale rack.  Just to see what's there."

I didn't need anything at the mall.  I accumulate new (to me) things all the time, regardless of buying used things only.  But this time I was able to observe that wanty little Golem in my stomach and say, "No.  You don't need those shiny things.  Get over it."

And let's be honest, in some ways this nothing new thing has just given me an excuse to shop the thrift stores more.  Because when you can get things new you have to be looking all the time.  I don't go intending to buy one hard and fast item.  I have a shifting list of things I'm looking for, and if I don't find them it's not the end of the world.

I'm thinking about extending this thing to a year.  So far six months doesn't seem that tough.  I do feel like I've been a bit lax about documenting it lately, but I'm not sure people want that many boring details...  Check back and I'll post some photos of some of the used stuff I've picked up lately.

First and Last Date

"Sometimes," she said as she reached across me and took the lemon wedge off my glass, "I don't clean my ears for a couple of weeks." She squeezed my lemon into her water, and then she squeezed her own as well.  "That way, when I finally do clean them out, the q-tip is like, really gross." She mixed five packets of sugar into her water.  "You know, it's kind of exciting, like an accomplishment." She stirred vigorously.  "Ta-da!  Lemonade!  And you don't have to pay four dollars for it."  I didn't say anything.  "You don't mind, do you?  You weren't using it, so I thought..."

"No, I don't mind." I paused.  "You don't have many friends, do you?"

Traveling Boutique!!

I'm planning a pretty awesome blog post for the holiday season (which also happens to be my birthday season, FYI).  But this weekend I became compelled to give you all a little sneak peek.  So without further ado I give you:

the Nothing New Guide to Shopping: Chatty Cathy Goes Thrift Wild!
Okay, maybe that title is a bit much.  Whatever.

Anyway, I was leaving yoga on Sunday and saw a small moving van parked by the farmers market across the street, and had to go in.

What is this??

Who wouldn't want to shop here?  Well I wouldn't want to be friends with someone who wouldn't want to shop here.

 This adorable store is called Tin Box of Curious Artifacts (tra-vel-ing bou-tique).  They sell mainly vintage items, and a few new things.  I was so charmed I felt absolutely compelled to purchase something.  There was an old school Parcheesi game that particularly caught my eye, but in end these amazing Sophia Loren glasses came home with me.

Looking good.

Not that they're my prescription.  Not that I really need glasses.  Not that I'll wear them frequently.  $10 totally well spent.  Oh yeah, did I mention that Tin Box is very affordable?  All the clothes are in great condition, they're perfect for hipsters, and everything was priced surprisingly low.  If you see this store I urge you to check it out.  It's really cool.

Clowning around

A couple of years ago my Locke took a few photos of me wearing this clown nose.  He gave me a sweater to hold as a prop, had me face the wall for a moment, and started shooting when I turned around.  This was the middle of a several year period during which he took photos of everyone who came over, all wearing the nose.  Now he's having an art show. It opens on Friday, and I'm really honored to be a part of it.

Putting on that nose transported me to the summer of 2004, when I was working with a theatre company 30 hours a week, doing physical theatre, viewpoints, and a lot of mask work.  I love the physical transformation you go through-if you're open to it, when you put on a costume or an outrageous outfit.  Or even something as simple as holding a sweater and wearing a nose.

And I also love seeing my friend take this random thing he did and turn it in to a public event.  I love seeing him follow through on something he has been doing for years.  And I love that I was able to participate, along with countless other of his friends.  Very proud of you, friend.

Please check out Locke's work.  Please go see his art show.  I will be at the opening on Friday (after work, of course), but it runs for two weeks.  Don't be square.  And besides, going to look at photos in an art gallery is FREE!

It's October. Let's get dark.

Take a bone saw
and cut through my breast bone.
Peel back all the skin and muscle
and crack open my ribs;
Spread them to the side
like wings
And you have me
standing there
trying to give myself to you.
All of me, open and unprotected.

Then painfully close up
my ribs
And sew everything up
with giant Frankenstein stitches
And you have me
achy and broken
with an ugly suture up my front.
Damaged goods.


It's October, Let's Get Dark by Catherine Frances Weiss is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.