The Simplification Project : Day 1/30

My goals are not lofty. In the interest of stamina and realistic commitment, I am starting small.

My first two goals for this project are related to my weight, which is now clearly out of control and must be checked.

Goal #1: No ice cream. This may seem easy to many people, but this frosty treat is one of my life's greatest pleasures. I will be able to avoid it without too much trouble. This offering is symbolic, representative of my commitment to reducing and controlling my weight. It is a sacrifice of one of my greatest personal pleasures: ice cream.

Goal #2: I will ride my bike to work every day that it is safe to do so.

The third goal is also the general directive of The Simplification Project.

Goal #3: Reduce or remove what Is unnecessary.

I decided to start very small with the project's 3rd goal, but big insofar as I'm changing something I have with me all the time and use every day:

I took everything out of my wallet, and removed everything from my keychain, breaking them down to their component parts.

1. New York Public Library Keychain Card - An absolute necessity. Keeping.
2. Dave's Club Card - This is a card for a four-store outlet in Massachusetts called "Dave's Soda And Pet Food City." They sell, you guessed it, soda and pet food. Throwing away.
3 & 4. Stop & Shop + Star Market grocery discount club keychain cards. There is no Stop & Shop in NYC that I know of and Star Market is a Massachusetts-only chain of grocery stores. Throwing away.
5. ??? - This is a perfect example of why I'm doing this project. It is the clear plastic backing for a keychain card that has long since fallen off. There is no reason for me to carry this every day of my life. Throwing away.
6. CVS Keychain Card - Please. Throwing away.
7. A small white screwtop keychain container - When I was sixteen years old and still smoked pot, I would carry around weed in this. No policeman or security guard has ever checked it, ever. The perfect place to hide drugs. The last time I did drugs I was still in college. The last time I smoked pot was almost nine years ago. Throwing away.

My key collection included gems like a housekey for my mom's house for which the lock has since been changed and no fewer than three keys that I have no idea what they unlock.

Here is a picture of all of my keys, with the ones I'm not carrying anymore crossed out.

My wallet included many receipts that I had carried for so long that the ink had faded away to nothing, ticket stubs for every major concert I have been to since 1995, two invalid student IDs (though I kept one because I still get the student discount every now and again), a credit card that expired in 2004, the business card of the psychologist that last saw me wearing a black lace headband to keep the blue-black hair out of my eyelined eyes. It also included the item below, my first published piece in the Village Voice.

Published in March, 2004.

I haven't tried to get anything published since. That should be a Goal, but not this month. This month is about Simplification.

Tune in tomorrow!