New Year! New Planner Calendar! 2017! (clutter culture)

After a week or so of 2016 I wrote a hopeful post about my new planner. It looked like this:

My 2016 wasn't great. I'm still alive, have food, family, and health, but there were some rough parts of the year.

I look forward to a new year.

Here is what the calendar looks like now:

I didn't add very many stickers.

2016 didn't deserve many stickers.

I'm tempted to burn this planner... but I'll probably just put it in my office with the other ones.

I have a new planner!

I have some hope that 2017 will be a good year. Not as much as I did for 2016, but there is some.

Maybe 2017 will be worthy of a cover caked with stickers.

Oh, yeah.

Lots of great people died this year.

I don't really do much of the "remembering celebrities that just died" thing. Everyone else has it pretty much covered. It feels more "look at me" than any real tribute to those that have passed.

So I haven't really done much about Carrie Fisher or George Michael or Debbie Reynolds or anybody else that died.

I'm going to post a couple videos below from my youtube channel. They aren't tributes, but they are disgusting self-promotion.  Both videos are related to someone who passed this year (George Michael and Debbie Reynolds), but they aren't about them. They're about me.

I feel horrible doing this, but I also keep thinking about posting these stupid videos.

I don't feel better, but at least it's done now.

Here's to a great, sticker-full 2017! A year with far fewer deaths.

New Year, New Planner! (clutter culture)

I have to say, 2015 was rough.

No, I didn't get horribly sick, or lose a limb, or have anyone I love die.

But there were a lot of little bummers that added up to a rough year.


It seems like a lot of people had a rough 2015.


One of my little bummers was that I started a new job with older prek children than I worked with in 2014. Since I was going to be working with older children, getting paid more, and have more responsibilities in this job I decided to try to become more of an "adult".

Part of this was dressing a bit more professionally than I cared to.

Another part of it was not covering my daily planner calendar thing with stickers like I normally do.

The job only lasted about 6 months. I'm back with toddlers again and feel much better because of it.

But I kept the planner.

I carried it all year. It didn't get any stickers applied to it, but it did get water spilled on it repeatedly when my water bottles leaked all over my messenger bag on several occasions.

Gross.


I didn't even doodle in this planner as much as I usually do.

I'm glad 2015 is gone.

2016 is almost 10 days in as I write this. So far it hasn't been much better than 2015. Princess Melawesome and I have both been a little sick throughout this first week. A couple days ago I was sicker than I have been in a few years.

But I'm not letting that ruin my optimism!

I still think 2016 could be my year, and your year too!

I even have a new planner!

Work gave it to me!

I was planning on buying a fancy planner (waterproof, if it was available), but I got this for free and I really like the puppy on it.

Plus it already has a "$1" sticker on it!


2016 is My (Our) Year!


Let's cover it with stickers.

Wanna help me make more things like this? Click here! Help me buy more stickers.

Day 113 - Arcade Token Display! - 4/22/2015

So... I made a Thing today...


but not all of it yet.

You see it will take way more game tokens than I have to fill up the frame I bought.

There are plenty of tokens down here:

but not enough to fill up this area:

So I guess I need to get more tokens and fill up the top to finish it.

Or maybe arrange them artistically on some lush fabric backing?

Nah, I'd rather just fill it with more tokens.

(anybody want to donate to my Thing?)

This Thing is reminiscent of another Thing I made (back before I was labeling them as capital letter Things).

It's a shadowbox type frame that I fill with ticket stubs and fliers and programs from shows and the like.


I like stuff like this. Yay clutter!

Tokens! Tokens! Plink plink plink!

Day 42 - Clutter: Day Planner Calendars - 2/11/2015

Look at those cluttered Day Planner Calendars! One from 2014 and one from 2006. Both have all sorts of stickers on them! Let's examine them, shall we?

First, 2006:

I see a big 2 Stupid Dogs sticker I made. A Relient K Back to the Few Tour sticker. A Roper sticker. Some Dr. Seuss. A Telly Monster. Sponge Bob. The Count. Chuck E. Cheese. A chimp or two. Squidward. And one with the Dinosaur guy who wants you to brush your teeth.

A Calvin and Hobbes sticker I made (it's the image I used for my C and H tattoo!). Dexter's Lab. They Might Be Giants. Atari. More Seuss. Ernie. Spongebob and Patrick. Gorilla. I think there's a Build-a-Bear sticker. An otter reading a book? A penguin. And one from a block of cheese!

On to 2014!

John Arbuckle! A fish bowl. Treasure Chest. Another Roper (I have a bunch of those, and tend to repeat stickers on more than one clutter-item). I voted and also Count! Jack-o-Lantern. A Children's Museum Haunted House. And a couple that are too small for me to see as I type this.

A bear. Archie McPhee! New! Mr. Yuck! Chimp! Skeleton! Garfield! Maggie! Matt Wixson (evil ska genius)! Banana! Heart! Smiley face! More small ones.


That's it for these two years. I thought I'd covered at least one more year's worth of a calendar planner thing, but I didn't see it on my shelf that 2006 inhabits.

I just got a new planner for 2015 yesterday. Meet back here in 2016 and maybe I'll tell you about the stickers I find for this one!

Wanna help me buy more stickers? Click here!

Day 8 - Clutter: Name Tag and Play - 1/8/2105

Here's another moment of voluntary clutter in my life! This is the back of my name tag from work. I put a variety of stickers on it because I love clutter and I knew that it would interest the toddlers I look after. They love to point out different stickers and either ask about them or name them.

Let's go through them, shall we?

1. Orange background, white star - I like stars. This fit on the name tag.

2. Purple and green heart - See #1, replace "stars" with "hearts".

3. Skeleton - I love all things Halloween. This reminds me of Halloween year-round.

4. "You Rock!" - you do!

5. Atom - It reminds me of science, "The Big Bang Theory" which I like even though so many people I admire hate it, and the Springfield Isotopes.

6. Umbrella - I love rain and how umbrellas look. I do not like using umbrellas when it rains, though.

7. Banana stickers - I love bananas, I love stickers. And the back of my name tag is where the twain meets.

8. Grover - my favorite Sesame Street Muppet (as I mentioned in yesterday's post). All of the kids think he's Elmo. Kids are dumb.



That's it!

This article is kind of short, so I'm going to include a short play I wrote in college. It's about Clutter. It's called:

Clutter

                                                      SCENE 1

                                                      (Scene opens to a room cluttered with toys and a

                                                      recliner center stage.  Ron is sitting in the middle of the

                                                      mess, playing with the toys.  His mom walks in and sees

                                                      him.)

                                                      MOM

Oh, Ronnie, honestly!

                                    (She starts picking up the toys and continues throughout the rest of

                                    the conversation.)

I don't know how you can stand being surrounded by such a mess.  If my mother saw you in such a state she would spank your little bottom.  When I was your age and I made even the slightest mess, I would get a spanking.  But I am much nicer than my mother.

                                    (Pause.)

I honestly do not understand how you can live in such a messy environment.  You need to learn to be more cleanly.  You need to learn to pick up after yourself.  I won't always be around to clean up after you.

                                    (Pause.)

But I suppose you're still young.  I'll teach you to be clean.  How's about that?  Huh?

                                    (Pause.  No response.)

Yes, you will be quite the organized and cleanly young man.

                                    (She finishes picking up his toys, ruffles his hair then, seeing how

                                    messy she made it, smoothes it back down.  She stands back up.)

Now, to clean the rest of the house.  Remember, Ronnie, dust never totally goes away.  It just floats around a while, waiting to resettle.

                                    (She exits.  Ron starts spreading teenage stuff like magazines,

                                    clothes, books, CDs, etc. around the room.  When he's finished he

                                    sits in his recliner.  His mom comes back in, looking a bit older. 

                                    She looks around the room with disgust.)

                                                      MOM

Ronald!  Do I have to tell you again that this room needs cleaning?!

                                    (Ron ignores her, continuing to watch TV.)

I will never understand how you can live in a room like this.  It's a pig sty!  Look at it!  Would you look at this mess?

                                    (Pause.  No response.)

Ronald!  I am talking to you!

                                                      RON

What?

                                                      MOM

Look at how messy your room is!

                                    (Ron looks around.)

                                                      RON

Yeah... so?

                                                      MOM

We can't stand for such a mess, can we?

                                                      RON

I can.

                                                      MOM

No, Ronald.  No you can't.  When an individual has a cluttered room that tells the world that he also has a cluttered mind.  Do you want that?

                                    (Ron shrugs.)

Of course you do not want that!  You want to present your best self to the world.  Show the world your best possible features.  How do you ever expect to get ahead in the world with such a cluttered room?  You need to keep your room nice and clean.

                                                      RON

So you're telling me that I should show the world that I have an empty room and an empty mind?

                                                      MOM

Watch that smart mouth, mister.  Nobody likes a smart ass.  That will lose you a job just as quickly as a messy office.  No, you want a clean, organized room to show your boss and the rest of the world that you have a clean and organized mind.

                                    (Pause.)

Well?

                                                      RON

Well, what?

                                                      MOM

Are you going to clean your room?

                                                      RON

Oh, no.

                                                      MOM

Ronald!  Clean your room!

                                                      RON

Mom, I like it like this.  I'm not going to clean it.

                                                      MOM

Well, if you're not going to clean it, I will.

                                    (She begins picking up his stuff.)

                                                      RON

Mom, no!  I hate it when you pick my stuff up.  Then I have no idea where it is.  I like to have it out in the open where I can see it.  That way I know where everything is.

                                                      MOM

I can not believe that you can find anything in this mess.

                                                      RON

Mom, I know where everything is this way.  When you clean my room I can't find anything when I need it.  Besides, this is my room.  I should be able to keep it how I like it.  I'm a teenager, my room is supposed to be messy.

                                                      MOM

A lazy teenager's room is a mess, but you, Ronald, are not a lazy teenager.  I will not tolerate a lazy teenager.  Do you see your father or me messing up our rooms?

                                                      RON

I keep my stuff out of the rest of the house, I keep the rest of the house as clean as you and Dad do.  Why can't I keep my room like I like it?

                                                      MOM

Because we are not messy people.

                                    (She finishes picking stuff up.)

There, see, that wasn't so hard.  Ronald, I won't always be there to clean up after you and I'm sure your boss and wife won't clean up after you.  That is, if you can ever get a job or keep a girlfriend.  I'm sure that after any girl sees how messy you'll keep your apartment, she'll run screaming in the other direction.  You need to learn to pick up after yourself.

                                    (She exits.  Ron spreads his adult stuff all over the room and sits in

                                    his recliner.  Denise enters, sees the mess, and takes a deep breath.)

                                                      DENISE

Ron, honey, could you please pick up after yourself?

                                                      RON

Sorry, hon, I like my house like this.  My motto is "a place for everything and everything all over the place."

                                                      DENISE

That's cute hon, but I would really appreciate it if you picked your stuff up once in a while.

                                                      RON

Sorry, I didn't think the mess bothered you.  It never seemed to bother you before.

                                                      DENISE

Well it did.  I never said anything because I didn't want to be all judgmental and make you mad.

                                                      RON

No I understand.  Some people are clean freaks.

                                                      DENISE

Ronald, I'm not a clean freak.  I just don't like to live in a pig sty.

                                                      RON

Jesus, you sound like my mom.

                                                      DENISE

Then she was right too.  She warned me before we got married that you were messy.  I promised her that I wouldn't stand for it either.  Ron, you may like it like this, but I hate living in a messy house.  Could you please pick this stuff up.

                                                      RON

All right, but I won't be able to find anything, and I'll constantly be asking you where things are.

                                                      DENISE

That's fine, just as long as this mess gets picked up.

                                                      RON

Okay...

                                    (He helps Denise begin picking things up.)

I wish you'd said something earlier.  I'm so stuck in my ways that I don't know if I'll be able to change.

                                                      DENISE

Oh honey, of course you can change.  You just need to make an attempt.

                                                      RON

I suppose you're right.

                                    (They clean in silence until they finish.)

There.

                                                      DENISE

Thank you.  I love you so much.

                                    (She kisses him.)

And now that the house is clean

                                    (Seductively.)

I'll be up in bed, waiting...

                                                      RON

Ooo, I'll be up shortly.

                                                      DENISE

                                    (Seductively.)

Don't take too long.

                                                      RON

I won't.

                                    (Denise exits.  Ron spreads old guy things, clothes, photo albums,

                                    etc. around the room  Stacey enters, sees the mess, and glares at

                                    Ron.)

                                                      STACEY

Dad, you need to pick your stuff up.

                                    (Pause.  No response.  She begins picking his stuff up.)

Come on, Dad, when I talk to you you need to talk back.  The doctors say that it doesn't help the depression to sit in the middle of a mess like this and feel sorry for yourself.

                                    (Pause.  No response.)

Dad, Mom is dead.  She's not here any more to pick up after you.  And David and I do not have the time to clean up after you.  You are fully capable of cleaning up after yourself.  I know you've lived in messy houses all your life, but this isn't your house.  This is our house.  We're willing to let you live with us as long as you pick up after yourself.

                                    (Pause.  No response.)

Dad, I love you very much.  I love having you here, but if you aren't going to be able to take care of yourself... we may have to put you in a nursing home.

                                    (Pause.  No response.)

Dad?

                                    (Pause.  No response.)

We'll talk more about this when David gets home.

                                    (She finishes picking his stuff up.)

Okay.  Supper's in a half hour.  I'll see you then.

                                    (She begins to exit, but stops.)

I love you, Dad.

                                    (She exits.  Pause.  Ron starts spreading his old guy stuff around

                                    the room again.  Blackout.)

END

Want more articles/plays like this? Support me! http://www.patreon.com/sethifus

Clutter: Stickers All Over the Dressers!

I don't remember exactly when it started but at some point in my childhood I developed a love of sticker-covered things. It might've been a friend's older-sibling's bedroom door, it might've been one of my cousin's skateboards, it might've been some person on TV's dresser. I don't remember what inspired me, but I decided to cover my dresser with stickers.

Here is the front of my once-upon-a-time completely sticker-covered dresser. When I got older and was in my "putting away childish things" phase (before my "let's get those childish things back out" phase that I am currently in... in which I currently am... my phase which currently I am in an will continue... inhabiting.) I decided to take the stickers off. It didn't go so well, so many of them are still on there! Let's see go through them, shall we?

Many, many Roger Rabbit stickers from the trading card series. I was and still am in love with all things Roger Rabbit. So I put a lot of Roger Rabbit stickers on it.

On the right side you can see lots of little music note stickers. I got these from piano lessons. Collections that add up quickly are addictive.

On one side of the dresser you see lots of Super Mario Bros. and Punch Out stickers. I wish I had more of these for other sticker-cluttering projects.

Here we see some TMNT stickers from their trading card packs. I see a the Rocketeer sticker, too. I don't know where I got that one.

Here we see more Super Mario stickers, some "great job!" style stickers from school, some Dole fruit stickers (I think they were from oranges, but it might have been bananas), and my name from a label maker! Like every other kid, I loved seeing my name on stuff. I had scratched my name on the front of my dresser for some reason. I don't know, dumb kid reasons. And not only had I scratched it, I'd scratched each letter backwards. Not just "HTES", but each letter was backwards as well (the E and S facing the other way). Kids are weird. It's still covered with stickers, though, so you can't see my pre-Auto Correct text mistake.

I wonder what kind of stickers those white paper remnants were.

This other side is kind of hard to see. I couldn't get enough light on it to get a good picture, and it's full of fabric (from my mom's sewing collection) so I was too lazy to try to move it to get a better picture.

I can see a Prairie Public Radio bumper sticker (ND), some Colgate and pro-teeth brushing stickers, a bunch of "Buckle Up" and "Don't Drink and Drive" stickers, and a "Say No to Drugs" sticker. My parents gave me the NPR one, but I think the rest were from something at school.


My dresser was sticker-covered because I was copying someone I looked up to. My brother Kyle covered his dresser with stickers as well. He might've looked up to me, too, but it is equally as likely that I told him to do it, too so there was another place to sticker clutter.

Most of his stickers were taken off, but I still see some of the same Super Mario Stickers, a Ron Jon Surf Shop sticker (I'm jealous), a Link sticker, a Punch Out sticker, a dinosaur sticker, a Christmas tree sticker, and puffy butterfly sticker with googly eyes!

There's a Mr. Man or Smurfs or something like that sticker. I think it's a guy holding a flower. I'm not sure what it is.

I think that's another Punch Out sticker and some TMNT sticker remnants.

And that's it! I'll do more Clutter Culture posts as I find more things from my past that are cluttered or if I do any more cluttering.

Do you have anything that you've sticker-cluttered? I'd love to hear about it! Leave a comment or send me a link.




If you liked this article and would like to see more like it, become my patron! http://www.patreon.com/sethifus!