#using things up

I still check on what the monks are doing now that they have finished their Walk for Peace, and today I found out the head of the walk is planning to write a book about the walk based on the extensive journal he kept during that time. That made me laugh, but not for the reason you think. Here is this guy who got up before dawn every morning, meditated for an hour, walked 25 to 30 miles (half the…

I went ahead and bought myself some things that I wanted for a long time, a finer nib and a converter pump for my fountain pen. (I will buy the ink bottle/s and fully transition to refilling when I run out of cartridges.) It's not a huge purchase but it feels like it is, maybe because the upfront cost looks like a lot compared to a 20-pack of cheap ballpoint pens.

And I already have a lot of stray ballpoint pens at home, pens that I bought before my tastes changed and pens that I got as promotional swag and pens that I have no clue how they got here. I recently went over them and threw away the ones that were no longer working, and still I am left with too many.

The ones that still work I do my best to use up, even while I do most of my writing at home with the fountain pen, but the writing experience is so miserable in comparison... I know it's privileged of me to say, but if you can afford to buy one good quality, comfortable, refillable pen for your home? Do that, and get one simpler pen for the road if you don't want to risk losing the good pen, and that's really all you need (assuming you're not an ink artist).

It's just so me, to buy a hair product (frizz control spray) and then shave my head 3 weeks later. Oh well! My partner can spritz a bit of it on his beard every now and again until my hair grows back a bit in a month or two. It won't do much for facial hair but it does smell like fruity bubblegum, and he likes to smell nice.

I also got around to finishing that hand cream and the deodorant I've been struggling with, and some liquid soaps - which means I can finally get around to using the bar of soap that was sitting untouched in my cabinet. The conditioner bottle is also (finally) on the way out, as I've been using it as a shaving cream substitute just to get rid of it... and there was a lot of shaving to be done recently (see prev. paragraph).

Still struggling to use up my makeup, especially now that I barely leave the house (being unemployed and all). Can't give it away because it's unsanitary to do so. Don't want to throw it out because I do use it, on special occasions. So I guess I'll just trudge on with it. I'll stay focused and try to finish one thing at a time. I think I'll target the never-ending cream blush and the loose powder, because these are the two products I'm least satisfied with and would love to be rid of them ASAP.

In a fun bit of irony, my partner's sister decluttered some mugs and teacups... and foisted them on her brother (and by extension, me). The mugs are cute so I agreed to keep them, but now I'm trying to find who might want to take two cute sets of teacups, because we barely drink tea, and when we do, we just drink from a mug...

Handling the flow of objects into/out of the house can be pretty taxing!

It's good to go over your things and figure out what can be used up as-is, and what would serve you better after a bit of repurposing. My backlog of cosmetics is an endless struggle in this regard, but I am always finding ways to make my things work. Two new stories about my so-called project pan:

I have a years-old palette of oil-based face paints. They're intended for stage makeup, but I ended up not working in the field. I wasn't sure what to do with them and didn't have the heart to throw them out; the paints themselves are in good condition despite being technically expired, and if I have hygiene concerns they're easy enough to disinfect. So, in a moment of inspiration, I decided I would use them as cream eyeshadows instead of buying some new product for the purpose. One tiny problem... they're literally greasepaint! Which means they require setting with loose powder after application. Good thing I already own a loose powder; It was supposed to be a powder foundation, but it is not remotely the same color as my skin, especially once it oxidizes. So I might as well use it for setting my eye makeup. It mutes the colors because it's skin-toned and not translucent, but I'm fine with that. So the 'problem' ended up being a 'solution', letting me use up two products at once :)

I have bars of soap at home that I have no clue why I own. A recurring theme with the purchases I made in my 20s... I guess I was going through some experimentation and self-exploration at the time. In any case, I do not use soap bars to wash myself, and neither does my partner. But after I tried to create a makeup look with the aforementioned greasepaints, I found that my regular liquid soaps just did not dissolve the material from the brush, no matter how many times I applied it! I was desperate to clean my brush before the product crusts up the bristles, so I took one of the bars and gave it my best shot. To my immense relief, it worked :) so now I know what to use for cleaning my makeup brushes (they're all synthetic, so no need for a special brush shampoo either way).

After I'm done with my face paints and have physical room in my life for a new eye product, I'll buy a palette of powder eyeshadows from the same company, because I already spotted something in their product line that would fit my needs. But that is for later, much much later.

Yesterday began my invasion into my partner's domain (the kitchen). I decluttered the tea drawer and spice cabinet, throwing out expired things and rearranging what's left, with his supervision.

Today I did the same for the dry ingredients cabinet (but on my own), the first aid kit and the office supplies drawers.

I also went over my sweaters and my hats, and found a few items I was willing to let go... and one that got promoted from "folded away" to "hanger space" :) There's no bigger joy (in the context of housekeeping) than the feeling of giving something you truly love the spotlight!

I also finished up the bottle of pink hair dye. Next time I buy dye, it'll be my signature color (Directions, Alpine Green, for anyone curious).

Unemployment is really giving me the time to help get my home together. I'm truly blessed to have the space to do so, with a partner providing for me as well as unemployment benefits.

Today I said, "I don't need to wait until my current dye fades. I'll put this pink on top of it and see what happens." Turned out a cute purple. Not hating it, but not loving it either; good thing it's only temporary until I finish the bottle of pink dye and never have to see it again.

I also finished up the bottle of makeup remover, and am well on my way to being rid of the scrub, too.

The "political hot garbage" books went straight into the paper recycling. Before anyone comes at me that this is "pro-censorship" or "practically book-burning", these are books that either I or my partner paid for and gave them a fair chance. me discarding these copies and not persuading anyone else to do the same is not censorship.

I finished painting a miniature :) And will soon start the next one.

Still need to muster the strength to go over my face paints and think what to do with them...