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perzephone
I started cleaning out my computer a little bit. I went through a shelf in my desk & had all these clip-art programs, some dating back to Win95. Some had proprietary image formats which required the proprietary software to open them, and said software is incompatible w/Win7, and I haven't been messing w/my Linux dual-boot much. I can't be assed to try and find workarounds for that shit, even though I'm sure there are some out there. Into the garbage with those.
As I was mucking around in my computer, I started taking a long hard look at a drive labeled 'Data'. There was about 400GB of empty space on it, and after some poking around & research, I determined that it contains the factory image. My default local drive, more commonly known as the C: drive, is running out of space, mainly because of pictures and music. I actually managed to repartition the mysterious Data drive (Win7 only let me steal about 200GB off it via its Disk Management) and am currently copying all my media libraries over to the new drive. I also managed to redirect the default library locations (the familiar 'My Music', 'My Pictures', etc.) to the brand new partition. It's the first time I've really cracked open Disk Management for anything other than allocating drive names to USB drive ports. I could have gone all out & formatted the Data drive, but my current computer didn't come w/any installation disks, so that factory back-up is the only way I could restore Win7 for free if something catastrophic happened.
Sometimes I look at stuff I've bought or done over the years and wonder, "wtf was I thinking when I started this project?" Why did I feel the need to have a collection of 850,000 pieces of clip-art? Wtf was I thinking when I bought that? I'm not given to buying things just because they're in a bargain bin at a computer store. I must have had some purpose in mind when I did it... was it for creating nifty stationery? Did I just want pretty pictures to look at as screen-savers? Was I considering desktop publications full of stock photography?
I also have amassed an incredible library of books on medicinal herbology, and have my own notes & what-not, collected for the past 27 years. I think, at some point, I was considering writing a book on herbalism. An encyclopedia, of sorts. But considering all the encyclopedic volumes on plants and their common usages, with much overlapping... does the world really need another one? Of course, if I told Rob I was going to start getting rid of them, he'd screech, holler, rant & rave about it. I have invested a huge chunk of money over the years into these books, packing & unpacking them, lugging them around from house to house. Do I want to hang onto them all just so I can win arguments on internet forums? In the US, in most states, being an 'licensed medical herbalist' basically means you're a quack. I never had the intention of practicing herbalism in a medical setting, so why the heck am I hanging onto these things? I don't even use what I know on myself, because honestly, herbal blood pressure remedies don't work as specifically and as efficiently as Lotrel & Toprol, and I'm not keen on having an actual hemorrhagic stroke. Plus, since I'm stuck buying my supplies from outside sources, I can't be absolutely, positively, 100% sure that what they send me is indeed what I ordered, especially when it comes to more exotic, lesser-known (and therefore more expensive) herbs & plants.
Same goes for Tarot books. There are so many Tarot books out there - and I have gotten rid of a lot of Tarot books. I'm not a 'beginner' anymore, and much like Wicca, the majority of books on the market aim at beginning Tarot readers. Does the world need my own perspective of the Tarot put into print? At least I can find practical value in keeping those notes because I do refer back to them from time to time.
I just feel so surrounded by stuff.
edited for idea addition: Maybe Rob would go along w/me just boxing them up & stuffing them in my closet. Then, if I haven't used them for a year or two, I can show him, "yeah, see, I'm done w/these, let me get rid of them".
As I was mucking around in my computer, I started taking a long hard look at a drive labeled 'Data'. There was about 400GB of empty space on it, and after some poking around & research, I determined that it contains the factory image. My default local drive, more commonly known as the C: drive, is running out of space, mainly because of pictures and music. I actually managed to repartition the mysterious Data drive (Win7 only let me steal about 200GB off it via its Disk Management) and am currently copying all my media libraries over to the new drive. I also managed to redirect the default library locations (the familiar 'My Music', 'My Pictures', etc.) to the brand new partition. It's the first time I've really cracked open Disk Management for anything other than allocating drive names to USB drive ports. I could have gone all out & formatted the Data drive, but my current computer didn't come w/any installation disks, so that factory back-up is the only way I could restore Win7 for free if something catastrophic happened.
Sometimes I look at stuff I've bought or done over the years and wonder, "wtf was I thinking when I started this project?" Why did I feel the need to have a collection of 850,000 pieces of clip-art? Wtf was I thinking when I bought that? I'm not given to buying things just because they're in a bargain bin at a computer store. I must have had some purpose in mind when I did it... was it for creating nifty stationery? Did I just want pretty pictures to look at as screen-savers? Was I considering desktop publications full of stock photography?
I also have amassed an incredible library of books on medicinal herbology, and have my own notes & what-not, collected for the past 27 years. I think, at some point, I was considering writing a book on herbalism. An encyclopedia, of sorts. But considering all the encyclopedic volumes on plants and their common usages, with much overlapping... does the world really need another one? Of course, if I told Rob I was going to start getting rid of them, he'd screech, holler, rant & rave about it. I have invested a huge chunk of money over the years into these books, packing & unpacking them, lugging them around from house to house. Do I want to hang onto them all just so I can win arguments on internet forums? In the US, in most states, being an 'licensed medical herbalist' basically means you're a quack. I never had the intention of practicing herbalism in a medical setting, so why the heck am I hanging onto these things? I don't even use what I know on myself, because honestly, herbal blood pressure remedies don't work as specifically and as efficiently as Lotrel & Toprol, and I'm not keen on having an actual hemorrhagic stroke. Plus, since I'm stuck buying my supplies from outside sources, I can't be absolutely, positively, 100% sure that what they send me is indeed what I ordered, especially when it comes to more exotic, lesser-known (and therefore more expensive) herbs & plants.
Same goes for Tarot books. There are so many Tarot books out there - and I have gotten rid of a lot of Tarot books. I'm not a 'beginner' anymore, and much like Wicca, the majority of books on the market aim at beginning Tarot readers. Does the world need my own perspective of the Tarot put into print? At least I can find practical value in keeping those notes because I do refer back to them from time to time.
I just feel so surrounded by stuff.
edited for idea addition: Maybe Rob would go along w/me just boxing them up & stuffing them in my closet. Then, if I haven't used them for a year or two, I can show him, "yeah, see, I'm done w/these, let me get rid of them".
