Thinking inside the box

I might actually have Glee-cred if I could say that I willingly watched the pilot episode last May and recognized Ryan Murphy's genius.  I didn't.

After hearing my friend Gavin rave about the show at a wedding last May, I decided to make my favorite person in world watch the pilot with me on Hulu.  We were hooked and enthusiastically followed the New Directions glee club on their journey to regionals.  While the season finale could have been better - Vocal Adrenaline could have performed the made-for-Glee-Queen-classic "Fat Bottomed Girls" instead of "Bohemian Rhapsody - the episode still included amazing one-liners, including Anchorman Rod Remington's nostalgic recollection of his wilder days:

I partied with Freddie Mercury and I partied hard if you know what I mean. Back then people weren't so obsessed with labels.

Queen references and labels...It's so nice to finally be a television writer's target audience.

1. I love Queen.  I've only been proposing an all-Queen-all-the-time radio station since I was sixteen.  (Such a station probably exists on satellite radio, but I'm entirely dependent on my iPod and my favorite person in the world's superior taste in music these days.) My mother takes credit for my Queen obsession, claiming that she frequently listened to her Queen's Greatest Hits tape, (which I later commandeered), while she was pregnant with me.

2. I, unlike Rod Remington, am obsessed with labels.  And making labels.  And adding labels to boxes.

Everything in our home has a specific place, almost every type of item has a designated Ikea Kassett box, and every Kassett box has a label.  (A recent dinner guest laughed when he overheard me saying that I needed to change the label on our "tape" box to "general adhesives" because I had decided to store glue and heavy-duty Velcro with the tape. How else will a house guest or burglar know where to find the glue?)  

I go overboard with boxes and labels because it is the only way I know how to organize a home for two people.  It also saves time if I am in a hurry. Three years ago, I spent fifteen minutes looking for a pair of sunglasses that were perched on top of my head; now I know my sunglasses are either on my head or in a box next to our cell phone charging station. I hate when I am unable to find a camera before racing out the door for a party, so I have a camera/camera equipment box in a cabinet next to the front door.  My favorite person in the world can pack for business travel much faster knowing that iPod and laptop chargers are in the "chargers" box, and outlet adapters, leftover foreign currency, and pocket translation books are in the "world travel" box.

There are boxes in our office for post-its, paper clips and binder clips, sewing notions, checkbooks, extra pens, and old greeting cards.  There are boxes in the bathroom for extra toothpaste, floss and lip balm, backup hair care products, skin care products, and nail polish.  All of our utensils are divided into clear boxes with labels identifying the particular type of utensil contained within.  Scarves, gloves, and winter hats have a box. Guitar supplies have a box.  Extra light bulbs and batteries have a box. Shoe polish has a box. 

 

 The boxes and labels have become a joke in our home, ("I would have disposed of that ink cartridge, but I couldn't find the discarded cartridge box"), but they keep our lives organized.   Take that, Rod Remington; you and your disdain for labels.

Notes: After a long hiatus, I'm back.  I've done some traveling, writing, and soul-searching, and discovered that souls need as much organization as closets.  Sorry for the silent treatment and thanks for your patience.