Intentional Frugality

Lately--given the whole laptop and car thing--I've been thinking about how I'm saving, spending, and consuming, which is a large part of the journey I've been on since October 2010 when I decided to de-clutter my life, apartment, and closet.

For the most part, that work is done. I have successfully donated, sold, thrown out, or given away almost all of the household items, books, DVDs, CDs, tapes, and clothing I selected for those ends. I still have some pieces left, but by summer 2012 the house will be empty of everything save paper clutter, and then I can take that on.

The next phase of this project is going to be tougher, because what is left is still too much, but I am emotionally connected to it, even though some of it is clutter.

But... money. I am embarking now on a three-month journey to change my eating/shopping/cooking habits, for the better. I love to cook, love to eat, and even enjoy grocery shopping, but I waste money and food along the way. Rather ridiculously, for one fairly small woman.

This week I am starting by creating a shopping/cooking menu for next week, built on the things I already have on hand, using the cookbooks & recipes I already love. I am putting myself on a budget:

• $50/month for the cat's needs (food, treats, & litter)
• $160/month for my groceries (excluding eating out and liquor)
• $50/month for health & beauty stuff (shampoo, vitamins, etc.)
• In May, I'll revisit these numbers and adjust, based on buying/eating/wasting records I'll keep
• I'll be closely shopping sales, coupons, and using my 3 regular grocery stores, pharmacy chains, pet chains, and big box stores for comparison

These are still big numbers for one person. My goal is to become a better shopper and a better user of bought goods.

Here's how I shop:

• of my 3 grocery stores, I buy produce, cheese, and organic meat at one, because the quality is higher; the price is usually comparable, if not lower... but not always
• I prefer name brands in some items, but buy store-brand in most (milk, dairy, beans, frozen goods)
• I would prefer organic, but the two foodie organic stores in town are quite a bit more expensive, and more for the cachet than the quality, from what I've seen
• bulk is great and enables me to buy smaller amounts (pints sized jars, remember), and keep them fresher
• I go to the store once a week for groceries
• I go to the store once a month for wine, health/beauty, some pet stuff (canned food I buy 2x monthly, because of storage)
• I am not a Costco shopper any more: the only thing I miss is the salmon, and I can get that elsewhere for nearly the same price, so bye-bye, Costco
• Two of my grocery stores and one chain offer the best incentives: I'll be figuring out how to use them more, and the others less

A lot of saving money and being frugal is thinking consciously and long-term about your money. Do I spend a little today--and every day--for a Starbuck's coffee? Or spend a lot later for a used car? Sometimes, in my head, the two don't seem related, the $2 today vs. the $10K next September. But $2 five days a week (at the coffee bar at My U) = $10/week = $150/semester, or $300/year. Ok, not a huge drop in the 10K bucket... but something. And if I can save that $2, where else can I save?

Right now I've got $140/month under review: three monthly costs I could cut. That's $1.4K by next September. Nearly $2K with the coffee savings added. See?

This week: groceries were $37, with an additional $18 for flowers, tissues, and a magazine. I'l be finishing up the pork loin, then cooking chicken with goat cheese, red peppers, and capers, scrambled eggs/omelet, and beef with shallots.

Nell Gwyn--Aquarian

Nell Gwyn is  best known as the scandalous mistress of King Charles II of England, a symbol of the bawdy world of the Restoration, the king's own form of flipping the bird at the Puritans, but taking a mistress who was also a working actress -- in comedy!

Gwyn was, in fact, in intelligent, humorous, outspoken woman who had, by any standards, a very tough life before she met Charles.

Born February 2, 1650 -- during the Interregnum -- information about the where is sketchy. Possibly London, possibly Oxford, she and her mother and sister were deserted by her father (some speculation about who) shortly after her birth, in dismal circumstances. Nell's mother became the manager of a brothel in London, where Nell worked as a child, possibly running errands, possibly as a child prostitute. By 1662, she had a lover; their relationship lasted two years.

Most details of Nell's early life as mythical: meaning fictional, true, or something in between.

When the theatres re-opened in 1660 -- with the "restoration" of Charles II to the throne, Nell and her sister Mary were hired by "Orange Moll," a former prostitute, to sell oranges and other snacks to the patrons of the theatres during performances. She carried messages between male courtiers in the audience and the actresses, It is also possible she worked as a prostitute during this time.

Nell and Charles II began their relationship in 1668. Between that time and 1671, when Nell definitely left the stage, she bore the king two sons -- who he declared openly were his -- and went back and forth on and off stage. By 1671, she had definitely retired, and Charles gave her a house (or had the state lease it to her...). During their long relationship (1668-1685, when he died) Charles continued to have other mistresses, as well as his wife. But he not only looked after Nell and claimed her sons as his, but made certain his brother James who succeeded him to the throne, would continue to care for Nell.

During her life, she became friends with many of the leading literary and theatre figures of the time, including Aphra Behn and Samuel Pepys. She has been a character, central or tiny, in books, plays, films, operas, and mini-dramas.

At the very least, Gwyn appears to have been a courageous, practical, witty, charismatic woman, who succeeded in doing more than surviving her low birth -- she also continued to support her sister, mother, two sons, and friends, no matter what. She was a gutsy intelligent dame who made lemonade out of the rather crummy lemons handed to women in the Restoration period, like her pal Behn.

William Morris Experiment, Week 4

Things were entirely thrown off-track this week by The Laptop Debacle, as I have now, very dramatically, named it.

Or not... since I got so very much done around the house.

I am still working in the dining room to eliminate clutter. The table acquires an amazing amount, simply by being the only "empty" flat surface big enough to create a new pile of stuff on. It is close to both entry doors, so I can unload purse, computer case, groceries, shopping bags, and bags of random "stuff" on it. Then that stuff stays there.

That habit has to change.

Beyond that, the material still on the table requires action, not simply being returned to another part of the house or disposal into the trash or shredder. It requires me to do something else with it... that I haven't the time to do. Sooooooooooo.

The rest of the clutter requires time and energy to be cleared: decisions, relocation, disposal. In other words, I have not set aside the dedicated time to handle this. Saturday and Sunday: time's a'comin'. Probably an hour each day will be more than enough to make a solid dent, if not eliminate part of the load entirely. Once the clutter is gone, I can make more decisions about movement forward in terms of the bookcase, the records, the stereo (where would I put it?), and the cookbooks.

Saturday:

• clear dining room table top down to one pile, which will be eliminated in one week
• clear the pile of paper bins, the shopping bag, and the pile of receipts

Sunday:

• make decision about stereo (and thus vinyl records)
• clear bread bin, framed art, mirror, and lone bin
• clean floor, dust shelves and walls, dust hutch

By Monday, I want to move into the next room/phase of my W.M.E.

Gertrude Stein -- Aquarian

"But the problem is that when I go around and speak on campuses, I still don't get young men standing up and saying, 'How can I combine career and family?'
Gertrude Stein

Gertrude Stein is probably best known to us as the rather formidable, rather masculine-looking woman of modernist Paris, one half of the Alice B. Toklas Brownie couple... sadly. In fact, she was a writer and artist in her own right, as well as someone who celebrated the work of other modern artists and nurtured their growth, often when no one else did.

She was born in 1874 in Pennsylvania, the youngest of five children. When she was 3, her family moved to Europe living in Vienna, then Paris, before resettling in America in California, where she spent the bulk of her youth. She attended Radcliffe College and studied philosophy with William James, Henry's brother and the great American philosopher. Obviously, she was very, very intelligent. She had already experienced a connection to "salons" on her late teens. At Radcliffe, she experimented with what others called "automatic writing," although she did not; it was in the style later called stream-of-consciousness. She studied at Johns Hopkins for two years, left without a degree, and moved to Paris in 1903, where she spent the rest of her life.

During her first decade in Paris, she lived with her brother Leo, and they collected art: Picasso, Matisse, Gauguin, Cezanne, Renoir, etc. Between Leo and Gertrude, and their siblings, there was much Impressionst and post-Impressionist art bought and hung in Stein apartments.

27 Rue du Flerus was where the Steins lived--you can still walk by there and a little plaque commemorating it. It is just outside the Jardins du Luxembourg.

Additionally, Gertrude and Leo started inviting artists and others around to the apartment for evening salons. Eventually, Leo left Paris, and they divided the art collection. Alice B. Toklas moved into the Stein apartment in 1910, three years after having met Gertrude for the first time.

Between 1903 and 1913, Gertrude began writing seriously, her prose and poetry published for most part in small presses. It was not until 1933 that Stein published and became famous for The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas; people are much less familiar with her early works.

Stein and Toklas lived in Paris during WWI and in the French countryside during WWII. They worked for the war effort both times, and successfully avoided arrest. Stein continued to buy and sell modern art works, her collection now based more around Picasso and Juan Gris, while Leo had taken the Cezannes and Renoirs, for example.

Stein is also a writer of some of the earliest lesbian fiction from an American, much of which was not published until long after she wrote it. Her writing crossed genres and subject matter, her politics were often conservative (including remarks now controversial about Hitler and Franco), and her techniques avant-garde. She is "modern" in the extreme, even saying she had no interest as an artist in the audience. But she is present in all her work, reinventing basic technique and reinventing words, point-of-view, character, dialogue, etc. Like the artists who explored Cubism and other new forms of representing reality and the psychology of the human, Stein tries to reinvent language and its use for a modern world. The audience who follows her is small, and continues to be so.

But as one who bought, sold, and displayed the work of artists from Renoir to Juan Gris, opening them to the worl, who brought together poets, writers, painters, journalists, politicians, patrons, and photographers in Paris to discuss and produce art, as a conversationalist and a public figure, even a maternal artist spirit to many, Stein remains an influence on our own post-modern world. 

Etta James--Aquarian

It seems fitting to begin the 2012 roll-out of famous female Aquarians with Etta James, who recently passed on.

Born in 1938, James started her career in the mid-1950s, and continued singing publicly until her death. Her early life was difficult: born to a mother who was only 14 at the time, Etta was more or less raised by others (often physically abusive), while her mother dated various men and was mostly absent. She never knew her father, or who he was. James started singing at around age 5, in her church. At 11, her mother moved her to San Francisco. Around 1953, she and her girl group were "discovered" by a musician, Johnny Otis. They recorded with him, as backups, and went on tour with Little Richard. In 1960 she signed with Chess Records, where she made her most famous recording, "At Last!" and had continued success across a variety of styles--R&B, rock, jazz, gospel, etc.--through 1978, when she left Chess.

The next ten years James struggled with addiction to drugs (mostly heroin) and alcohol. By 1990, her past hits had become standards, classics, and she was touring again, known now to a new generation as well.

From the 1990s on, James toured and sang at all the best known jazz festivals, as well as smaller events across the US and internationally. In 2008, Beyonce portrayed her in the film about Cadillac Records, and while some interaction between the two was friendly, some was not.

In her last years, James was diagnosed with dementia, leukemia, and bacterial infections. She struggled with drug addiction and bad relationships throughout the 1970s and 80s, but left two sons who performed with her during the last decade.

James is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, the Blues Hall of Fame, received 6 Grammy Awards, 12 nominations for Grammy Awards besides, a spot on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and saw two songs inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. And more.

She was a powerful woman who overcame huge personal problems to leave us with a glorious legacy of song.

New computer--no joy

Well, now the new laptop, shiny as it is, isn't reading my thumb drives. Sigh. Must bring it in. Must get it looked at.

Days lost... four?

Later: only 1/2 of today gone... by noon I was home, with my thumb drives copied onto a newer 16GB drive (all 3 of my small drives in the physically smaller but digitally mightier thumb drive!), donated to me by the IT guy who never wants to see me again... or at least not until next week.

Next idea:
1. buy a netbook that is portable for back-up work
2. move hard drive and thumb drive contents to DropBox
3. start emailing myself drafts of "in process" articles, reviews, and research on a consistent basis

What happened to any notion of safety? If I had a hard copy of my lecture-in-progress, I only had to have one, or maybe a back-up two. Now I save to hard drive, DropBox, thumb drives, and email it to myself... because digital devices (laptop, hard drive, thumb drive) will fail, and email (DropBox, email) will go down... for "maintenance." To be sure of having what I need, I have to cover myself four ways from Sunday.

This is easier?

Wednesday... no laptop joy

Monday, I was told by 4 pm... then it turned out I needed a new laptop. Overnighted, have it Tuesday by 11 am.

Tuesday, at 11 am, I was told 3:30 pm... 3:30 pm, told Wednesday morning.

Wednesday, at 10 am, told noon. At noon, told 2 pm. At 2 pm, told "close of day... " and still waiting.

Lesson: buy a back-up laptop.

Question: what do people do do have no laptop, back-up laptop, wi-fi, digital stuff... at all?

Answer: Live serenely.

What did I get accomplished since the laptop crashed? (On Saturday/Sunday still had laptop without wi-fi or anything but basic word processing...)

• Hung handles in kitchen (final WME piece for kitchen) and placed IKEA tin buckets of utensils on then, instead of counter
• Took out trash and recycling (pile of cardboard boxes) twice
• Washed five cashmere sweaters and all tights in gentle cycle of washer
• Did 2 other loads of laundry
• Cooked pork loin in slow cooker
• Cleaned out old food from fridge
• Cleaned off/decluttered top of dining room table
• Brought 2 bags of books to my office on campus
• Recycled pile of magazines
• Shredded old bills, letters, etc., waiting in pile
• Cleaned out car of garbage, extra "stuff" and bags
• Took pillows and old quilts to vet for use with sick/boarding animals
• Took load of clothing and household goods to Goodwill (after photographing for taxes)
• Took a long, hot bath
• Shined all my sinks
• Cleaned and de-calcified my humidifier
• Swept and cleaned off front and back porches, including dumping old dirt in planters and pots
• Baked brownies
• Watched 2 Netflix movies on DVD, several movies via Netflix streaming, and most of Dexter season 1 (I am teaching a class on that right now)
• Prepped 4 classes without laptop, "old school" with notebook, pen, and post-its
• Travelled in to on-campus locations twice to check email... twice in 4.5 days--weird
• Enjoyed the quiet in my apartment without digital "noise"

Yeah. Quite a bit... because I couldn't write my book review, my novel, my lessons, or my blogs. No wi-fi world at all to distract me... weird. Quiet. Serene... unless I was worried someone was trying to get in touch...