Paper

It's been a nice mental health night. Much needed and much enjoyed.

After taking the simulated MBE today, I knew I wasn't going to be able to get any work done if I tried. So I figured, why try? Take a night off when you know you won't get anything done, don't feel guilty, and just relax.

So I did. I'm too exhausted from the past week to go out to do anything fun and crazy (and I'm going to Taste again tomorrow, so conservation of energy is a good idea), so Alvin and I have just been relaxing around the apartment. Watched the Kenshin OVA, some Food Network, some L&O. Had a light dinner and a lot of blue corn chips. Sprawled out on the carpet and thought about nothing.

And, since I never have time to clean out clutter during the week, I filled a 5 gallon paper garbage wastebasket full of paper.

5 gallons?! Yup.

Lots of Westlaw printouts. Old notes. Old course packets. I have this tendency to save things. (I'm a packrat.) It's not that I necessarily feel some sort of attachment to my old course packets, but after an exam, I usually just put all the relevant class papers into a plastic bag and store it under my desk (in contrast to some people who throw their outlines and stuff straight into the garbage on the way out... I can't do that). It's insecurity, really. I never feel sure about passing an exam (we went through this back in the "am I graduating?" phase), so I keep the papers "just in case." I'm supposed to go through them to throw them away once I get my grade for the class, but usually, since it's during another quarter, I just don't have the time.

But I'm certainly not taking the papers with me when I move this time! I've had this box labeled "old class notes" that I was supposed to go through from way back in September 2003. All my 1L stuff. But with OCI and then one thing after another, it just sat under my breakfast bar and I piled more stuff on top of it (since it's a large box) and I never went through it. And then moved it under my desk when I switched apartments last September (as a footrest). I finally cracked it open a few months ago when I was looking for scrap paper (I print on the other sides of old paper since I've already killed enough trees). Going through that and the plastic bags full of paper little by little.

So the paper garbage can is almost completely full. It's going to be nice and heavy when I take it down to the building recycling cans tomorrow. Exercise. ;-)

And I haven't even gotten rid of that much. I trashed a lot of the cases, law review articles and other Westlaw stuff that I used for my substantial paper, but considering what I threw out, I know there are at least 2 more bags of substantial-related materials. Right now, I'm going through a course packet that I printed out on the back of scrap paper. The class was from Fall 2004.

So I'm a little slow. We've known that for awhile. :)

But it feels so cleansing to get rid of stuff and to know that it's never needed again (at least, not for the same purposes). Sort of like completely finishing a bottle of soap or a tube of toothpaste, or nowadays with Barbri, pens. (I've finished my Lexmark black pen and this blue pen from Memorial Sloan Kettering, and now I'm onto a plain black Bic pen.) Just me? Yeah, maybe.

And now, it's time to get rid of more paper, watch Star Trek: TNG on Spike and then a good night's sleep. The only thing I've wanted to do tonight that I haven't is watch March of the Penguins, but it's not playing in Chicago, so it's impossible to do. I'll see it eventually. And then hopefully get it on DVD. :) I love penguins.

And I love getting rid of paper! :)