12 Months of Lent Logo

Although my intent this month is to draw purely for fun, the graphic designer in me can’t help but create something practical. That being said, I found myself sketching out a logo for 12 Months of Lent during one of my drawing sessions the other night, whoops! Giving this blog some sort of branded identity has been on my To-Do list forever but I just haven’t made it a priority. What better way to get it done than to incorporate it into a challenge?

I’m posting my very rough, 1st page of sketches which is basically just a bunch of ideas dumped onto the page (hopefully you get the gist of it). I had initially envisioned it as purely type (with super defined serifs), but once I discovered that if you take the “of” out, “12 Months of Lent” has 12 letters, I thought that playing off the idea of 12 elements coming together to make a whole might be worth considering.

Any ideas/comments/suggestions? What about colors? Anyone want to just do it for me? As I've come to find out, it's impossible to design things for yourself...

Kate Bingaman Burt’s Daily Purchase Drawings

I recently came across this great Debbie Millman interview with Kate Bingaman-Burt, a Portland, Oregon based designer and illustrator. Kate has been documenting her personal relationship with consumption since 2006 by drawing an item that she purchases each day. Her book, Obsessive Consumption, was published last year and contains 3 years of these lovely drawings.

I like this project for a number of reasons:

—The drawings are really cute.

—It always makes me feel better (read: more sane) to see that other people put themselves up to unnecessary personal challenges too.

—Like Kate, I’m also fascinated with people’s stuff. Most of my personal photography projects have been focused on telling the story of a person through their possessions.

It’s sort of like if “100 Things” and “For the Sake of Drawing” had a baby, a perfect combination of this year's first 2 challenges.

For the Sake of Drawing

As I’m sure most little kids did, I loved to draw. When I was applying to art school they specifically told me not to mention this in my application. I’m sure they have to read through hundreds of essays that start with: “When I was a little kid you couldn’t tear me away from my crayons”. I think it’s true for most kids though—even the ones that aren’t artistic prodigies can entertain themselves for hours with just a pencil and some paper.

Unless you decide to become a professional illustrator, I think most people put drawing (and a lot of other artistic endeavors) aside once they reach a certain age. But why? If you enjoyed it so much as a kid, can’t you still enjoy it as an adult?

Yes and no. I think most adults would still enjoy drawing, but what keeps us from doing it (and therefore enjoying it) is the little voice in our head that says:

“I suck, why am I doing this?”
“Shouldn’t I be doing something more productive and less self-indulgent?”
“Someone’s definitely going to make fun of me”
‘What’s the point? This obviously isn’t going to make me rich and famous”

…and so on. But the point is that it doesn’t have to have a “point”. It’s fun, it’s creative, it’s meditative, it’s stress relieving, so who cares?

This month I’m embarking on a challenge that’s a little more lighthearted than my last few: I’m drawing everyday just because it’s fun. I don’t care if I have grown-up responsibilities to attend to, if what I draw looks like a toddler did it, or if I ever make it into a gallery, I’m drawing just for the sake of drawing and if they don’t come out too terrible, I might even share a few…

Up For Grabs

The following items from the Danne Dzenawagis Collection are looking for a new home, any takers?



I have a big box of vintage black and white darkroom supplies that I'm looking to give away (I actually got these from my childhood doctor when I went in to see her about a rash that I was getting from darkroom chemicals haha). I also have an enlarger and am looking to hand that off to someone who will make use of it as well. Let me know! Not only can you have these items for free, but you'll also win bonus points with my mom for getting them out of the basement.



I have these lovely bongo drums leftover from my lounge music phase. They still have a special place in my heart but I'd love to see them go to someone who will actually play them. They've been sitting in my closet since 1998. $30?

The Last 100 Things

Remember when I was brimming with confidence about my ability to purge 400 possessions from the Danne Dzenawagis Collection? You know, when I was effortlessly tossing things into my burgeoning donation pile, bragging about how I hadn’t even left the 3rd floor yet and was still going—make that throwing—strong? Well, my morale definitely dropped a bit when I went down to the lower levels of the house because it turns out that I store most of my things on the 3rd floor where my bedroom is, not in the foyer or the downstairs bathroom...duh Danne. Because of this, the last 100 things have been tough. I’m definitely a little more lax on my standards but I’m still as determined as I was at the beginning of the month. 400 things will be gone!

While this last installment of 100 has definitely been the most difficult, I also feel like it's been the most important. I’m going through things a second and third time, discovering hidden pockets of junk that I overlooked the first time, and most importantly, getting rid of stuff just for the sake of getting rid of it. After all, my goal here is to minimize, not just to give away some old clothes that don’t fit right anymore.

And minimize I have! Although I’m still working through the last 100 items, I’ve donated, recycled and thrown away hundreds of things and even managed to get rid of a bunch of old roommate leave-behinds from the basement. And my email minimizing? My incessant unsubscribing has proved to be successful because my inbox has been empty since lunchtime. Seriously, since lunchtime. No offers from Bank of America, no last minute sales, nothing. It's amazing (and honestly, a little weird).

In a way, it’s comforting to have a mental tally of what I own and to know that I’ve pared it down as much as I’d like to. UCLA neuroscientist Dr. Peter Whybrow, said it best in the “Living Better With Less” clip, “The more you acquire, the more in fact you have to worry about…” and I’m sure everyone could use a few less things to worry about.

Snail Mail Junk Mail

Just like with email, before you know it, your snail mailbox can become overwhelmingly overloaded with junk mail. I remember turning 18 and immediately getting bombarded with credit card offers. It's like they had some sort of countdown clock from the second I was born to when I was legally allowed to get myself into financial trouble. Add in a few of those weird Value Pack coupon bundles, a bunch of bizarre catalogs you never knew existed, and the weekly grocery store circulars, and your kitchen table ends up looking more like a mail room than a place to relax and enjoy a meal.

Like with email, you just have to unsubscribe if you don’t want to receive these things. It’s not as easy as clicking a link at the bottom of an email, but with a little work you can reduce the amount of junk mail that gets delivered to your house. Here are a few resources that I’ve used with success:

Tired of getting every catalog known to man?
Don’t need another credit card?
Think the phone book is a waste of trees?
All set with direct mail?

Auf Wiedersehen!

A photo of my donation pile for the vets this morning. See ya!

Note: Before your jaw drops, know that only 300 things from this massive donation pile are mine, the rest are from the ghost of 14 Thurston's past

Some of My Favorite Things

In my effort to minimize, I've been scrutinizing my possessions, deciding what's worthy of making the final "I'll keep it" cut. I thought it would be fun to show some of these "things", the ones that hold enough sentimental value that make them worth holding on to.

So, here they are, a few of Danne's favorite things:



This is an old matchbook holder from Grammy's house that I've loved since I was a little kid



Also from Grammy, her little bible from 1930 and the rosary beads that she gave me that are blessed by the Pope



My collection of old cameras



The illustration of Fanne that Dan drew for me for my birthday a few years ago



My mini cowboy boot keychain from a road trip that Tim and I took and a souvenir change purse from my friend Cristiam



This awesome illustration of a traditional Polish woman that I got from a bookshop in Portland, ME



and last but certainly not least, these light-up praying hands that I found at an antique store in Punxsutawney when I went down for Groundhog Day a few years ago (yes, I really went to Punxsutawney for Groundhog Day haha)

Email Clutter

In preparation for my anticipated technology detox last December, I had started furiously unsubscribing from email newsletters and mailing lists to reduce my digital clutter. When I found myself suddenly unemployed again though, I decided to put the detox on hold, but I kept up with the unsubscribing since I was already on a roll.

I’m pretty good about keeping my inbox minimal, but that’s only because I have Gmail open all day so I can read, sort or delete emails immediately. I hate signing in and seeing dozens of unread emails, so my method has been to check it so frequently that it never has the chance to pile up. While this is fine because my line of work requires me to be in front of the computer all day, it’s probably one of those habits that causes little knots in my shoulders without me even realizing it.

With email (and especially Facebook, but I’m not even going there), there’s just always the feeling that you’re missing out on something or falling behind if you aren’t checking it all the time. When Grammy (that one’s for you Joe) was my age, the mailman came twice a day and that was it. Unimportant things weren’t given a false sense of urgency.Things waited until tomorrow. In our digital age though, everything and everyone is accessible all the time, and while this is amazing, it can be really stressful if you don’t manage it.

While my posts about tiny houses and incessant yoga practice might lead you to believe that I’m gearing up to join a commune of light workers in New Mexico and abandon all my worldly possessions, that’s not where this is going. As with everything in life, there’s a balance that needs to be kept and I’m just trying to find it. Clicking unsubscribe 15 times a day might seem like a nuisance at first but seeing the “Woohoo! You've read all the important messages in your inbox.” message from Gmail is definitely a better way to start the day than a long list of newsletters that you probably didn’t even sign up for in the first place.

Week 2: 202 Things and Catholic Guilt

While most people in New England were watching the Pats game last night (which I was surprisingly a teeny bit sad about missing), I was going through my things, looking for another 100 items that I could purge. When I started this challenge, I felt pretty confident that I’d be able to find 400 things to get rid of by the end of the month—I just didn’t realize how easy it would be. I haven’t even ventured down from the 3rd floor of my house and I’ve still managed to throw away/donate/recycle 202 things since January 1st.

Like I wrote before, by no definition of the word am I a packrat, but in going through all of my stuff, it’s apparent that I’ve been holding on to a lot of things that are of no use to me anymore. When you’re trying to minimize, there are the obvious things that go first: the gifts you didn’t like in the first place, the outdated college textbooks, the ugly yarn you learned to knit with. But then there are the less obvious things; the things that you once loved but that aren’t relevant to who you are right now. In my downsizing, I made the decision to only hold on to things that reflect who I am today, not who I used to be or who I wish I were. While part of me feels a little sad letting all of my old “I Love Lucy” VHS tapes go, the other part of me knows that I don’t need them anymore and that (hopefully) they’ll end up in the hands of someone who’ll give them a greater purpose than they would have had sitting in a Rubbermaid container in my basement.

By completing the exercise from my last post where you write down what you’re getting rid of and the deeper emotion behind it, I can see that in addition to parting with some books I couldn’t get into, my high school CD collection (yes, I decided to get rid of it), and various other “things”, I’m also throwing out: uncertainties about the future, guilt (it’s shocking how many things I wrote guilt next to, thanks Catholicism) and reminders of unmet goals and failures.

Hallelujah, on to the next 100.