Kicking Down the Door (or, A Housecleaning)

I am kicking down the door, baby! Well, I'm opening it a crack to peek my head in for about three minutes since I'm at Will and Jaime's computer (I don't have my cable or internet up yet) and I just wanted to drop a note to all my cult members that I am doing fine. I have moved into my new place and am getting ready to commence the Mother of All Housecleaning.

For those who don't know me, I am what we call a "pack rat." Imagine a person who collects item they have ever accumulated throughout the course of their life and has not thrown out a damn thing.

Imagine that person has done so for a full three decades and can't throw anything out. That's me. And there are two reasons I can't get rid of anything:

1) Sentimental value. I always say to myself, "What if I get rid of that Wegman's receipt from the day in 1999 when I got that postcard in the mail from my doctor confirming my follow up to my first prostate exam? What if I miss it?" I am realizing that I will not miss these things.

2) The What-If-I-Need-It Factor. That wallet I got in 9th grade? The one with the cigarette burn holes and that mildewy smell? What if I need that someday? I won't. I'm starting to get it.

So what you have here is a massive undertaking. Taking 30 years of little knick-knacks, all packed into shoeboxes and plastic grocery bags, and weeding out the things I know I will never need again, but thinking that someday I may. It's daunting, but dammit I am gonna do it. My new place just doesn't have enough room to not do it.

Speaking of cleaning house (yes, this is the greatest segue in the history of segues), I also must make a brief comment on the Midterm Elections. I am incredibly proud of this country for the first time in a long time. People saw that the country was/is going to hell in a handbasket and decided to oust the majority. Yes, I did go straight down the line for Democrats. And no matter if John McCain or Abraham Lincoln had run, I would still have voted Democrat. This election was that important. The hubris of the Republican Party and President Bush in particular was brought crashing to earth. The wanton misuse of government and the bullying of the Neo-Conservatives was roundly rejected. Religious people finally figured out that the Republicans are using them. People who supported the war in Iraq initially (yours truly included) swallowed their/our pride and decided that we were led down a path that was untrue.

Now, it's time for the Democrats to earn what we've given to them. I hope to God they don't screw it up. It's time to rebuild this great house that has been trashed by an erstwhile cokehead frat boy who has used the country as his own personal Barbie Doll House. It's time that the adults took over, Dubya. Maybe we can finally start to get some semblance of national pride back.

Okay, that's all. See you in a few weeks.