Part of getting old seems to be seeing the things you love become extinct. Tea cups and saucers, clocks, books, hand sewing and embroidery, hand written letters, postcards, birthday cards, silver sets, so many things disappearing or becoming unwanted by the younger generations as they come along with new technology.

But, I notice the old things I love still last longer than the new things coming along. Maybe not in purpose but in strength and durability. New technology is made to break and be replaced. Can it be loved like the old things when it isn't made to last? I don't think there is enough time before a new one is needed and the old hits the landfill.

In the morning I wake up with the wreckage of yesterday, all my yesterdays, around me.

In one corner of my mind, a dusty corner, I can see a place where its tidy, there is just enough, rather than an overabundance. I've cleared away the burdens, the tasks to be done, the responsibilities I didn't ask for, the promises I thought I owed to myself. Life in that corner is uncluttered. Each morning I set about completing things, continuing things and there is nothing holding me back, nothing to feel trapped by or disappointed about myself.

But, I don't live in that corner. I step carefully in the room where I can't really see the corners and I avoid hurting myself. Physically, by stepping carefully around the floor and the obstacle course I've created. Mentally, by keeping everything, as much as I can, safe with me in this room. Its not who I am, its who I have become.

There is, still, something I like about writing by hand that I miss when I'm typing on a keyboard. There is a smoothness to the pen and paper and I like having good penmanship. There is no penmanship at all with a keyboard.

Today I found a note from Perfect Pen, a site selling pens and etc. They say 95% of people write their name first, when they get a new pen. I don't know if its true. How would you find out about that. Chances are someone selling pens and seeing people test them before buying, would know. So it could be true. What did you last write, by hand? I wrote a grocery list. But I also sent out handwritten Christmas cards this year.

I write down ideas for stories or non-fiction ideas for posts to my sites. Sometimes they never become posts. Lots of ideas are written and just don't develop further, or get mislaid somewhere, one way or another. But, I still like writing ideas more than typing them. My brain works differently while writing.  A bit slower and not as directly focused on the idea while I have the distraction of the pen, paper and penmanship. More than likely that changes how the ideas develop. Typing is so instant.

National Ballpoint Pen Day is June 10th. It's the day the patent for the ballpoint pen was filed.

Have you ever gotten into calligraphy, with fountain pens? I did a little of that. In high school I had a fountain pen. It was fun to write with but not as clean as a ballpoint pen. Of course, there have been pencils since the age of the dinosaurs (not literally). Pencils are just not the same, though artists still draw with an assortment of them.

Today, even though it isn't Ballpoint Pen Day, take a look at all the pens you have collected, scattered, around your home. Get some scrap paper out of the recycling and test all your pens. Not many have the option to be refillable and reused now. Or, people almost never seem to do that. Too many freebie pens given away to take the time to recycle them. Unless you have a favourite pen. I did have a favourite ballpoint pen but it was kind of exotic and I couldn't find ink to refill it. If you can find a use for the pens that no longer work, got dried out, or broken, that's great. Most likely the best you can do is get rid of them and have that much less clutter around.

Happy pen testing. Will you scribble something or ring true to the theory that the first thing you write with a new (sort of new) pen is your name?

I am a book hoarder. I knew I had passed the collecting versus hoarding limit when I needed a second bookshelf for the non-fiction books I mostly have not read yet. All those good intentions can't last forever. So I have at least a dozen books about computer software which have not been relevant for awhile. Libraries and second hand bookstores do not want them - computer books in particular they tend not to accept at all. But, I can't just throw them away! All that idealism that went into picking them for whatever project I had in mind. All that stuff I wanted to learn but didn't finish... before it became outdated.

Some books are just obsolete. 

Just because you can't find someone who wants that old book about Windows ME, doesn't mean it's not worth more than the paper it's printed on. There are people who would be glad to have those old books for art projects. Consider donating them to schools for children to use in craft projects. I'm thinking paper mâché but I'm sure teachers working with young people could think of other uses. Artists working with paper could use the pages of your books for practicing, creating a mock up/ rough draft of a project - of cleaning their paint brushes. 

There is hope for your old books so stop keeping them all yourself.

Good Housekeeping - Things its Time to Get Rid Of

I've been trying to declutter myself. It's a slow process. On a good day I've made some kind of progress. But, I count almost anything as progress at this point.

One rule I hope to stick to after this is not bringing in more stuff than I have gotten rid or or used. Too much stuff is the cause of clutter. No matter how much storage space you have or don't have, you can only keep so much stuff around and you only need so much stuff around too.

I have too many books. I know I have too many books but I still keep bringing more of them home. Like lost souls.

I have gotten good at not keeping fiction books. Once I read them I take them to the secondhand bookstore and bring back fewer of them in exchange. Less is more, right?

But, I have a mild obsession when it comes to non-fiction books. I have a book on every topic that has ever interested me. Sadly, that's not much of an exaggeration.

I don't collect books. I don't quite hoard books, in my opinion. But, I do keep books. I keep them in plastic storage containers, on top of my chest of drawers, in piles on the floor and on actual bookshelves too.

I'd love to have a book room, a library. It's a dream. I've never had the kind of space, just to myself, for displaying all my books.

I'd settle for a corner, a reading nook. But, that won't work out right now. Too many people in a small living space and I'm the only one here who actually likes to keep books.

I just have too many books, more than I can keep. But, they are so hard to part with. Leaving a book behind is like giving up on a dream, a plan or a goal you wanted to keep. It's very hard to do. I still remember books I've lost along the way, years and years after they have been gone.

Maybe some day I will have my reading space. I like to look at other reading rooms, places and spaces. I design my own in my mind. It has masses of revisions at this point.

Do you have a reading space, just for yourself and your books?

Wouldn't You Like a Book Nook Too?

Create a Book Nook without Renovations

1. Find the right spot in your home. A quiet corner you can relax in.
2. Get a comfortable chair, pile cozy pillows on the floor or pull up a couch you can stretch out on. Bring a blanket and pillows to keep you warm and content.
3. Let there be light. You need a good reading light. One you can easily reach to turn off if you get sleepy.
4. A little table for your books, a place to set your beverage of choice, maybe something like fake flowers to pretty it up a bit too. You might keep a stash of paper and pens for taking notes and jotting down ideas.

When you really love bookshelves...

• On the Bookshelf

• Bookstore & Bookshelf P@rn

• Bookshelf Porn

DIY Book Reading Nook

• Thrifty Decor Chick: Closet turned book nook

• Perfect Bookshelves | Do It Yourself Home Projects from Ana White

• Book Nook - Workbench Magazine

The Dusty Bookshelf Challenge

1. Write a blog post with a list of all those books that are literally or figuratively sitting on your shelf that you’ve been meaning to read for a while.

2. Pick a level

• Pixie Dust – Read 0-5 books
• Dust Bunny – Read 5-10 books
• Cobwebs – Read 10-15 books
• Grungy – Read 20+ books

EXTRA CREDIT-Say how long that book has been sitting on your shelf!

3. Link your blog post where you are doing the challenge at the bottom of this post (with the blue button) and then enter the giveaway!