Allergyism

Yeah, I'm allergic to dust in a big way. And we just had a yard sale.

There's nothing like a good yard sale to make one reflect on how ludicrously materialistic our culture is (what, do you expect ME to NOT comment on this?). Impulse purchases, useless gifts that nobody really likes or wants but that are given just because gifts are expected, and then kept around unused for years because figts are not supposed to be sold or re-gifted...stuff that we keep around "just in case" because we're terrified of someday not having enough. Then when we're tripping over all our junk because we've run out of places to put it, we stick a 25-cent price tag on it and somebody buys it so that it can collect dust in their basement. It's fascinating, really.

Admittedly, I'm more anti-consumerist in theory than in practice. I just skip the plastic junk and electronics and consider myself better than other people. I'm working on that one. But today I resisted the temptation to visit the other yard-sale tables on my street and I'm proud of myself. No more junk! Well, Manda gave me a movie. But it's William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. I swear, I'm over Leonardo DiCaprio (who, interestingly enough, looks exactly like Billy H on the movie cover). But I am eternally in love with the work of Baz Luhrman.

Anyway, I'm off to partake of some fresh air that will hopefully relieve the burning in my eyes.