Day 119: Ethernet Cables

Seriously, how many ethernet cables does a woman need?

In a previous post I mentioned that when I was a teenager there was another family living with us for a few years.* This other family had a computer in their room. We had our own computer of course, but we only had stuff like Commander Keen and Number Munchers. They had King's Quest 5.

I was not supposed to use their computer unless I had permission but back then I would do whatever it took to get as much computer use in as possible. If I knew they wouldn't be back for awhile I would sneak in and play. That was a strong theme of my childhood, fighting for access to computer and video games.

*They were actually one family of many.

Status: Dibbed

Day 118: RATS by Robert Sullivan

This book belonged to a guy I used to date but I've tried returning it enough times to absolve myself of responsibility for it. Plus he moved across the country. I read the first chapter but it wasn't a priority on my reading list so I never made time for the rest of it.

Status: Dibbed

Day 117: FIT Food: Eating Well for Life

I own a lot of cookbooks considering the lack of variety in what I actually choose to make myself. I just picked up Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything so I think it's time to let a few of my unused volumes go. Stay tuned, Alton Brown's I'm Just Here For the Food might be showing up within the next few weeks.

Status: Dibbed

Day 116: Super Bust A Move for PS2

That guy I dated for a ridiculously long time was obsessed with this Dreamcast game called Marvel vs Capcom 2. It was a complex fighting game with 56 different characters and he played it almost every day for the first three years I dated him. I used to tag along to his tournaments at Quarters and the arcade in South Center. I never managed to get proficient with the game since he refused to lend me an arcade stick (of which he had four) and would beat me down before I had a chance to try anything. Instead I would kill time playing Super Puzzle Fighter Turbo II and games of the Bust a Move franchise. I got pretty good at Puzzle Fighter but I still suck at Bust a Move.

Status: Dibbed

Last chance!

I'm ashamed to say it, but I don't always get rid of things within the one week timeline I set for myself. It's difficult to give up hope on finding them a new home, since it is not uncommon to get a dib weeks or even months after I initially post an item.

Magical Drama Queen Roxy

Shackeltons CD

Oh My Goddess! pencil board

Blue Monday one shot: Dead Man's Party

WoW Collector's Edition Box (incomplete)

My prom dress

Day 115: Aux Jumper by Hierapparel

I am addicted to Etsy. I don't particularly like browsing by item so I check the front page and clothing showcase daily and read the blog. My favorite necklaces, knuckleduster ring, hoodie, dress, and my  bikini are from Etsy. In fact I've loved everything I've purchased except this dress. I don't think it's a bad dress but it's definitely not my style and it doesn't look quite right on my body. I'm hoping someone else will like it despite my lack of ironing skills.

Measurements:
Bust: 37 1/2
Waist: 26 1/2 (The dress cinches with the ties so the actual dress has 2-3 extra inches)
Hip: 37

My list of favorite sellers on Etsy

Status: Dibbed

Day 114: Garage Sale Labels

Last summer the Capitol Hill Seattle blog hosted a community garage sale in the parking lot on Pine street. Last year I participated but somehow I don't think I have enough possessions left to be a part of this year's sale. I mostly got rid of stuff lying around my parents' house but there were some gems too - the Nintendo, my copy of Munchkin, a Japanese school girl outfit I used to wear to anime conventions.

The best part of the garage sale was that I met one of my closest friends that day. A couple friends had joined me for the sale and we were sitting around chatting and playing guitar. One of them had started a new job a few weeks earlier. While we were sitting there a couple guys came by to check out our stuff and they turned out to be her new coworkers.

One of those guys was my friend Cody, posing with me in the photo below. We discovered that he lived only a block from me so we started hanging out with increasing frequency. I think our record was seven days in a row. Cody's a great sport and one of the sweetest guys I know. Whether we're going out to meet people (I'm his wingwoman) or staying in and playing board games, everything we do is legendary.

Status: Dibbed

Day 113: Othello (Complete series)

Anime and manga were my first real hobbies. When I bought these comics I was convinced that not only would I never get tired of them, but I would want to pass them on to my children. As I've gotten older my feminist awareness has increased and there are few titles I would want any daughters to read.

Common themes in shoujo manga: love triangles, peer bullying, nice but dumb-as-bricks girls. Not that these aren't real issues, but holy crap are these girls abused. As the storyline progresses they have to keep outdoing themselves with the dramatics.

In Hot Gimmick, the main character is characterized as being timid, easily manipulated, and having low self-esteem. She is bullied, blackmailed, and sexually harassed by the rich son of her dad's boss. Her happy ending is at the end of it all she gets to be with that asshole.

Peach Girl starts off benign enough when another girl buys a handbag the main character likes after telling her that it was ugly the day before. Later on in the series the same girl has her kidnapped and tries to set her up to get raped. For no reason other than she is jealous.

I would read Hana Yori Dango again but the abuse Makino takes is just as bad. She is kidnapped, beaten, locked up, and finally ends up with one of the biggest abusers of all (she just happened to bring out his softer side). She gets some credit for being plucky and standing up for herself.

Othello is a cute shoujo manga about a girl with a split personality. Normally she is a timid and unassuming girl, a target for the school bullies. One day she is hit on the head during a session of teasing and her other half comes out for the first time: a tough, no-nonsense girl who wants justice. Not as bad as the other titles, her alter-ego deserves a series of her own.

Status: Dibbed

Day 112: The Settlers of Catan Card Game

There was a time, not so long ago, when I was painfully shy. I rarely spent time with anyone other than my old boyfriend and his friends, whom I found intimidating. One day when I was just out of college I discovered a Livejournal community called Seattle Settlers. It was a group of people (mostly associated with the UW) who gathered every Sunday to play the board game Settlers of Catan.

I had never played Settlers but I loved board games and needed to meet some new people. I gathered up my courage and showed up alone. It was intimidating being around so many people who were already friends but having the board game to focus on helped ease me in to the situation. It took me a long time to not feel like an outsider but everyone was welcoming and friendly and we already had something in common.

I didn't truly break my shell until I left my boyfriend years later but meeting the Settlers group changed my life. Sunday became the highlight of my week for the next year and I gained many new friends. I disappeared from the radar for a few years when I moved to Lake City with my boyfriend but when I finally emerged again the Settlers group was still there for me.

The Settlers of Catan card game is definitely not as good as the board game but it's still pretty fun.

Status: Dibbed

Day 111: Assorted Kandy

It probably doesn't surprise you that I went through a raver phase during my first few years of college. I wasn't very serious about it but I was cute and I enjoyed making the plastic jewelry. I was reserved at school so it was a helpful venue for making friends. Plus my boyfriend was really in to parties.

One summer I went to a happy hardcore party in Canada called Kandy Shack. I drove up to Canada with my friends Sarah, Sarah, and Leeloo. I used to go by my first name when I hung out with both Sarahs because it was more fun to introduce ourselves as the three Sarahs. I remember we were all nervous about crossing the border so we hid all our kandy and tried to tone down our outfits as much as possible before driving through. I was so hardcore, I took a caffeine pill that night.

The party was held on an Indian reservation in a remote location. I have no idea how we managed to find it. The Canadian kids were incredibly friendly and we had so much fun. There was a moment when the generator blew and all the music went out. We stood around the campfire and everyone sang Bohemian Rhapsody and other Queen songs until the music came back on.

The next morning, around 5 am, we piled back in the car and drove slowly out of the reservation. Not even five miles per hour. There were a bunch of kids sitting on the car, hitching a ride to where they had parked. We had our music up loud and were goofing off when suddenly all the kids scrambled off the car and ran off. We had a moment of confusion before realizing that the car was just about to cross train tracks and there was a train about fifty feet away. We were on a steep hill so the driver let off the gas and we rolled back just in time. The train passed probably no more than two feet from our car.

It was the most terrifying experience of my life. There was so much finality in the huge machine bearing down on us. We barely talked the whole ride home because we were so freaked out. I was merely caffeinated so I had to suck it up and take care of one of my friends but as soon as I was safely back at the dorms I called my boyfriend to come take care of me until I calmed down. That took a very long time considering how much caffeine I had in my system.

Status: Available

The frequent questions and statements post!

I've been meaning to do a few experience posts now that I've passed one hundred items. Don't worry, if you still want to grill me in person I won't mind!

What inspired you to start your blog?

On Christmas eve, my sister and I packed up the last of our unwanted items and drove them to Value Village. When I returned home I looked around my room and thought, "Wow, I still wish I had less stuff." The problem was that everything I had left had been kept with at least a glimmer of desire or attachment.

I needed a way to systematically remove things from my life and a blog keeps me accountable. Since the new year was coming up it made since to hold off for a few days and make it a year long project.


Wow, you must have a lot of stuff!

I wouldn't say that I have more than your average person. In fact, I probably even started out with less.

Do you know what you are going to post in advance?


I don't decide what I'm going to post until just before I start writing. I usually gather up stuff to photograph when it's sunny outside because they turn out so much better but that is the extent of my planning. Other days I will wander around the apartment and wait for inspiration to strike.  Rock Band is an example of an item I had no idea I was going to get rid of until that day.

What has been your most difficult item to let go of?


The RF adaptor for the Nintendo. I still feel bad for forgetting to give it to the kids who bought it from me.

Have you regretted any of your choices?


Nope. The beautiful thing about this blog is that everything sentimental has gone to someone who will use it. I feel lightened by the experience.

You should post once a week so you don't run out / giving away other people's stuff should count / are you going to start buying things to post


This blog is supposed to be a challenge, otherwise it wouldn't be very interesting. I know you guys are concerned but I need to give this my best shot and I'm feeling optimistic.

Day 110: Estee Lauder eyeshadow palette

In a previous post I mentioned that I invested in a private makeup lesson so I thought I'd go in to greater detail.

I used to dread doing my makeup. I rarely experimented with it growing up and by the time I was an adult I found it intimidating. From time to time I would go to MAC counter and get made up with wild looks that I could never duplicate at home (probably for the best). I didn't enjoy it at all so eventually I just gave up trying.

Two years ago an email from Daily Candy showed up in my inbox that profiled a makeup artist named Suresh. It said he offered private makeup and blow dry lessons. I thought I'd try it out as kind of a last ditch effort. I joined his mailing list and when an email went out announcing a special I jumped on it.

Makeup lessons are a hell of a lot more useful when they aren't trying to sell you something. I brought along my own makeup and since I had made some surprisingly good choices he only recommended that I purchase a new concealer and an eyelash curler.

I told Suresh up front that I needed a very simple routine and I think he delivered. I am now able to achieve a polished look with a minimal amount of effort. For years I had been using techniques that did not make sense for my mixed-ethnic features. I haven't highlighted under my brows since. I don't use foundation and only use concealer in a few key places. I can apply blush properly. I can do all of it in approximately five minutes.

Suresh Beauty

You can kind of see it here :) If you're concerned about the picture behind me, I straightened it as soon as I saw this photo.

Status: Dibbed

Day 109: 22" Orange Zipper

I can not remember what I purchased this zipper for. It is the right color for my Portal costume, so perhaps I was originally planning to sew it from scratch. Eventually I plan to post my Portal jumpsuit on the blog but I still don't have any photographs of me wearing it. Unfortunately the gun my friend made me did not hold up well so I don't have any props left. If anyone has a Portal gun they're willing to let me pose with, please let me know!

Status: Available

Day 108: The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler

I love Pride and Prejudice so for some reason I keep thinking I'll enjoy Jane Austen inspired novels. It is so far from the truth. Especially Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. The writing was atrocious and the author failed to accurately express the spirit of the original characters.

The Jane Austen Book Club was yet another Friends of the SPL purchase. I read about five pages before I got bored and put it down. My sister loves chic lit so it's possible that she read it. It it wasn't for her I wouldn't have gotten anything out of that book sale. She made a cake out of the Cake Bible I picked up and it served as my breakfast for three consecutive mornings.

Status: Donated

Day 107: ChuChu Rocket!

I can't think of anything interesting to write about ChuChu Rocket! so I'm going to tell you a memory about mice instead.

When I was in middle school the house of a friend of my parents' burned down. Naturally my parents invited him to live with us. He had three daughters who were with him every other week. Imagine having a house with six girls, thirteen and under, and one shower. It was something like a five year old, a six year old, a nine year old, a ten year old, a twelve year old, and a thirteen year old and they lived with us for two years. I was the eldest.

One day we found four baby mice living in the compost behind the house. I have no idea why we would have been looking in the compost, probably we were being forced to empty the compost bucket. Anyway, we decided to nurse them till they were old enough to survive on their own. We found a shoebox and created a suitable environment for them to live in.

The twelve year old stayed up most of the night feeding them every few hours. Unfortunately(?), three of them passed away the next day and the final one didn't live much longer.

Status: Dibbed

Day 106: Fatal Frame II for PS2

The original Fatal Frame is the only survival horror game I have played until completion. This is because I am a huge wuss. I've made attempts at Clocktower 3 and one of the Resident Evil games but I had to give up after a half hour because I'm so terrified. My sister can affirm this; she was in the same room as me when I was playing Clocktower 3. I had headphones on so she had forgotten I was in the room until she was startled by a loud shriek behind her and reacted with her own scream.

I managed to beat Fatal Frame by sheer determination because I was so impressed by the ingenuity of gameplay and the atmosphere. In case you have not heard of it, the main character is stuck in a haunted Japanese mansion armed only with a camera. You "fight" ghosts by capturing them with your camera and the nearer you let them get the more damage you inflict. Let them get too close and you're done for.

While I don't often play survival horror games, I do enjoy watching them. I've seen Resident Evil 4 played through almost to its entirety and loved it. I need to find someone to play through more of these games for me...

Status: Dibbed

Day 105: Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

This book was from that box of Friends of the SPL books that I never read. 

I mentioned before that I only buy books that I will read more than once. Since I have nothing of interest to say about Fingersmith, I thought I might as tell you about the books I have kept.

Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen

This is my fall-back book when I'm sick or tired and don't have the energy to read anything new. I have probably read it twice a year for ten years. 

Howl's Moving Castle by Dianne Wynne Jones

I have been reading this book every year since fifth grade. It is my absolute favorite fantasy book. As you can imagine, I was overcome with excitement when I heard Hayao Miyazaki was making it in to a film. I was sure that he was the only director who could do it justice. Then the movie came out and I didn't like it at all. Removing so many good characters and adding the element of war; why couldn't they have left the story alone .

The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson

This is my favorite Neal Stephenson book and a recent acquisition. My closest friend had an extra copy so I was thrilled to take it off her hands. 

Fruits Basket, Paradise Kiss, Skip Beat

These are the last of my manga.

The Arabian Nights

Almost everything else is non fiction.

Status: Dibbed

Day 104: Green belt with studs

I love this belt and have had it since 9th grade. Unfortunately when I really love something it often means I do not use it much. This belt is in great shape considering it is over ten years old and plasticky. I usually wore this with black pants that had green stitching and a green t-shirt with smiley face* on it that winked when you looked from certain angles. It was probably the most interesting outfit I ever wore until I finally developed a sense of style in my twenties.

* As seen in the documentary Escape from Affluenza

The belt is a size M.

Status: Dibbed

Day 103: Cast Iron tea kettle

I desired a cast iron tea pot for years before I finally picked one up at City Kitchens. It just seemed like the kind of thing a heavy tea drinker like me should own. I don't take tea consumption seriously or anything but I pretty much only drink water, tea, and cocktails.

Unfortunately these things take a little more effort than I realized. It is important to preheat the kettle with hot water to prevent it from leeching out all the heat from your batch of tea. Also it is opaque so I kept forgetting to remove the tea leaves until I rediscovered them weeks later. I don't want to go in to details as to what happened to the strainer but it became necessary to toss it.

Without a strainer the poor tea pot fell in to disuse until I discovered how great it was for flattening chicken. It is a little awkward but the heavy flat bottom is perfect for whipping thighs and breasts in to shape. I feel a tiny bit guilty using the tea pot as a meat pounder however, so I am ready to give it up to a more appreciative home.

Status: Dibbed

Day 102: Hoity Toity

I love buying gifts when I'm feeling inspired but I hate buying gifts out of obligation. For birthdays and holidays I only buy gifts for my immediate family but if I see something I'd like for a friend I'll snatch it up any time of the year.

Christmas shopping for my family takes a lot of consideration and sometimes I will not settle on the final gift until Christmas day. Fortunately we're in the habit of giving coupons instead of physical gifts. For example, last year we gave my mom a coupon to have us take her shopping for a pair of boots. My sister's last two gifts from me were yoga classes and a knife skills class.

Hoity Toity was a gift from my parents a few years ago. My dad went to the neighborhood game store and told them what games I like and this was their suggestion. Hoity Toity is by the creators of Settlers of Catan and was an award winning game so I guess I can understand why the clerk recommended it but it is not really my sort of game. Kudos to dad for his efforts though!

Status: Dibbed

Day 101: Shinomori Aoshi pin

Sometimes I feel like this blog overexposes my anime geek side. It was a large part of my identity during my late high school and early college years but I'm disconnected from it now. I did have friends growing up but when I developed an interest in anime it was the first time I felt like I really had an identity. I was finally excited about something for my own sake and not because I thought I should like it (although the story of how I got in to anime involves some manipulation).

I went to my first anime convention as a junior in high school. My best friend and I managed to pull together last minute costumes from the Lakeside rummage sale. We were dressed up as characters from the tv show Battle Athletes. That year was just the beginning; I was anime con staff for four or five years after that.

My second year I dressed up as Misao the purple ninja girl from Rurouni Kenshin. It was the best one mostly because someone else did the majority of the sewing. I made my own kunai knives which were surprisingly realistic looking.

This pin is a character from Rurouni Kenshin.

Status: Dibbed

Day 100: Rock Band

I bought my first Rock Band set for my housewarming when I moved to Belltown. From this party we developed a core group of players: me, Emily, Nicole, and Chris. We would gather at my place regularly to play and drink. At some point Nicole was inspired enough to buy a drum kit and I started shopping for an electric guitar so we could play real music together. 

The original incarnation of our band was "The Emily Syndrome" but Nicole and Emily were soon wrapped up with more serious projects. Nicole is guitarist in the all black women punk band NighTTrain and Emily was rocking the bass in High Tension Line. Emily has since moved on to be a part of Nicole's new band Lawndree. They only just started playing shows last month but they already sound amazing.

This is the copy of Rock Band that started our journey. It includes a working drum kit (blue has been fixed with electrical tape  but is totally functional), a guitar, and the original game. I'm keeping the mic because we have too many singers in my house.

Status: Dibbed

Day 99: Kimono/yukata pattern

Here we have more evidence of my intentions to sew my own yukata. Instead this pattern sat in a drawer for eight years or so. I am envious of my friends who are competent sewers. I have dabbled quite a bit, especially during my cosplaying years, but this has mostly resulted in many unfinished projects. I just don't enjoy it enough.

Status: Dibbed

Day 98: Cinebarre tickets

I've been out drinking with friends tonight so I'm going to post something my sister has already dibbed :)

Status: Dibbed

Day 97: Marketing textbook

I haven't opened this book since 2002, I do not know why I still seem to think I'll come back to it someday. This thing is a monstrous brick too. Good riddance.

Status: Donated

Day 96: Hopeless Savages

I had a very specific taste in American comics and they generally involved punks, mods, scooters, Brits, with some manga influence. Hopeless Savages fit nicely in to my small collection: the story of a couple of old-school punks raising their family in the suburbs. Their kids have names like Arsenal Fierce and Skank Zero. Hmm, I kind of like Arsenal Fierce. Might have to remember that one.

Status: Dibbed

Day 95: Agatha Christie's Detectives: Five Complete Novels

More Agatha Christie! This time you get five books in one, what a deal.

Status: Dibbed

Day 94: 19" TV

The only reason I still have this TV is because my old rhythm video games will not work on the LCD TV. The timing is completely off. That said, I haven't used the bedroom TV in over a year and I think it's time to move on from my Playstation rhythm games as well.

Status: Dibbed

Day 93: Computer Desk

I completely forgot to post on Sunday. I don't feel too bad though, because I gave something away anyway. This desk was one of the first pieces of furniture I have ever owned and I've had it since high school. These days I have laptops and use them in the living room so the desk had become a table. My friend who lives down the hall was looking for a desk and was happy to take it off my hands.

Status: Gifted

Day 92: How to Self-Destruct - Jason Seiden

Jason Seiden is the author of a popular career blog that I follow. Last year, to celebrate the release of his new book Super Staying Power he gave away copies of his previous book for free by the case. I sent my old manager a link and he was cool enough to order a box full for the office. I grabbed a few of the remaining copies to distribute.

How to Self-Destruct is not your average career book: it's pretty damn funny. Each chapter is organized in to two distinct sections - the part that tells you how to destroy your career and the part that offers advice for those masochists who for some reason still desire to succeed.

Status: Dibbed

Day 91: Foodie Fight

This game was a very thoughtful gift from a friend who knows how much I love to eat. The only problem is I can never get anyone to play it with me. Usually I'm terrible at trivia games but this is one area where I can dominate.

Status: Dibbed

Day 90: Golden Sun for GBA

If I remember correctly, this was the first game I purchased for the Gameboy Advance. I've always been a sucker for this style of RPG.

Status: Dibbed