Hi, everyone,

Long time no write, hehe. ("Long time, no see," is actually a direct translation from the Chinese, btw.)

So I'm toying with the "100 objects" meme - the idea that we should all pare down our possessions to 100 objects. I like this idea a lot - especially if mine can come in under 100 lbs, and fit into two standard-sized airline suitcases. (Well, I'd have to make an exception for the X-C skis, I can see that already.)

By "toying," I mean I'm sorting through my stuff, throwing things away and getting ready to sell other things. So in that sense, I'm simplifying, with the 100 objects as a guide. I don't know if I would want only 100 objects. But my past several summers of living with comparatively few objects has really drilled into me the ways in which stuff weighs you down . . . (I've also learned that it doesn't matter if I have 100 objects or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 - I can make just as big a mess with 100. Alas.)

As I'm going through things, I'm thinking to myself, "If I really *were* paring down to 100 objects, would this one make the cut?" It's an interesting mental exercise, if nothing else. But the more interesting question is this: If you had only 100 objects, how many of them would be:

hangers?
Shoes? (Does a pair of shoes count as 1 object or 2? Louise convinced me that it's one, because a shoe by itself is of no use.)
forks? (I could have one, and maybe a really sharp knife, and a spoon, and a couple pairs of chopsticks. Do pairs of chopsticks count as one item, or two?)

What percentage of my 100 items do I want to devote to cutlery, anyway? In terms of percentages, should a larger quantity go to cutlery, or sports equipment? And what about the apparatus surrounding sports equipment (like bike pumps)?

It's all very interesting. Throwing things out is really fun, and thinking about what really matters is even more fun.