In Search of a Simple Life

 Normally I am not a neat person.  Neatness demands constant attention to trivialities; I am too engaged with important thoughts to be bothered with miniscule and redundant tasks like making beds and dusting picture frames or putting books back on shelves. 

This is not to say that I am un-hygienic.  Lord knows,  some folks think me to be an "obsessive germophobic". (Like my friend George who, despite my complaints, will seamlessly go from checking the dog for anal warts to handling the ice cubes to freshen your cocktail. echh.)   

I admit to being a little disorganized, maybe even messy.  Is that so wrong?  Disorder is not against the law, nor is it specified as an affront against the Almighty in scripture.  Please do not lecture me.  I am unlikely to change my ways after all these years. 

However, every now and then,  I am possessed by an inexpicable desire to put things in order. Often it comes upon me after viewing an episode of  "Hoarders" on cable TV.  If you haven't seen it, it's one of those reality shows where they film some deranged old hag or toothless fellow living alone in an old house which is filled with so much crap that the occupant cannot use some of the rooms.  The subject of each episode is simply unable throw anything away - even garbage, cat feces and ... other stuff that makes you feel itchy just watching.

Each episode starts with a video tour of the dilapidated and unkempt dwelling.  Some well-meaning relative or concerned neighbor has notified the authorities, who come, on camera to evaluate the situation.  Usually, the occupant is depicted as a bull-goose-loony.  Then,  they clean up the mess.  It is a walking ad for 1-800-got-junk.  Then they wrap the nutball in wet sheets and cart  him or her off to the funny farm.

Even if you are clinically sane and can prove it, watching the outrageous behavior of some of these crazy people makes one feel guilty -- even if you are only a minor league collector -- who saves old neswpapers and magazines, maybe some old plastic bags and other stuff  that might come in handy someday.  Maybe your wife claims that people who can't make room in the garage to park the car may be in need of an Intervention.  (Which is another reality show I do not want to be featured on.)

So, I am entering one of those phases where I put things away, coil the hose, put the wheelbarrow behind the shed - that sort of thing. 

Recently I have also been cleaning up my social networking debris. 
 - I dropped-out of classmates.com  - which has the clunkiest interface, sleazy ads, and virtually no useful content.
- I 'de-friended' a bunch of people on Facebook for inane postings, egregious postings of kid pictures or habitual religious quotations.
- I even cancelled Netflix.  We got tired of subsidizing their marketing -  intrusive popup ads and free membership for new subscribers.  Besides they just installed a redbox kiosk at Roche Bros market $1buck a night.

- We are also letting our WSJ subscription run-out.  Since Murdock took over,  the slant of news and opinion has become embarassingly biased - worse than the left-leaning media that they constantly criticize. Talk about pot calling kettle black.  The WSJ was once a fine source of real news; now it is merely a New York Times for neocons.  The drone of anti-Obama ranting is just so over-the-line that it almost  makes you want to vote him into a second term, even though you suspect that would be like gnawing off your arm just to make a point.  So the easiest thing is to stop reading the nattering naybobs of negativism.

So, goodbye to the clutter and complexity of the past.  Hello to the new and simple here and now.