spring cleaning?

its time for the annual spring clean-up in these here parts.

I call it time to re-decorate your house early american garage sale style.

I am always amazed at the sheer amount of CRAP that ends up piled up on the streets of our fair city. you are allowed to put anything out (yard waste, broken furniture, old bbqs, drywall, office supplies, fish tanks, stuffed toys...you get the picture!), except hazardous waste, explosives, and ammunition (b/c we all have a stockpile of bombs, bullets and dynamite in our garages!) for disposal and the city brings front loaders and huge trucks to haul away your no longer wanted junk. (of course, we pay for this service via our electric bill.)

I am also amazed at the huge piles in front of the same houses year after year. where do they keep all of that stuff? you'd think that after one year, their pile would be smaller. maybe they invite their friends and family to dump their unwanteds too!

the annoying thing about this "event" is everyone and their brother, aunt, uncle, sister, and pregnant cousin of the drummer of Def Leppard scavenges the piles. they drive slowly along the streets, holding the rest of us up, darting in and out of the road. they must lose their heads in the excitement of the find!!! jerks. makes running difficult. why anyone wants OPJ (other people's junk) is beyond me. I like a deal too, but I don't want someone else's icky cast offs! I guess that's just me! I'm thinking tho' if you were in college, what a perfect way to decorate that frat or sorority house. then again, I live right by Santa Clara University. I bet the student's parents pay for feng shui decorators and would be aghast at early american garage sale.

anyway, I was gonna take some of my own photos of junk for your viewing pleasure, but this pix is much more entertaining.

image by Geoff Kirk-Smith, animator.