purse inventory

an observation on the contents of my life

In an effort to bide time before going out with friends after work, I am cleaning out my purse. Looking inside, the contents of the bag you carry around could be reflective of the mind- mine might be described as notably eclectic and mildly amusing while also maintaining a thread of logic and utility.

• envelope of tomato seeds
• two single earrings
• three tiny containers of fancy hand lotion, one additional bottle of organic sunscreen
• two tape measures, one resembling a pig, one resembling a cat
• accordion map of manhattan
  
• referral for podiatrist [ :( ]
• one nyc-standard-issue tiny umbrella
• four lipsticks, two lip glosses, two chapsticks
• three concert ticket stubs
  
• one ticket for Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater
• one strip of photobooth shots taken at Archie McPhee's in Seattle, travelling in my purses for approximately two years, waiting to be scanned (in this series, one individual wearing rocker mullet, one individual wearing viking hat)
• two airtrain JFK tickets (expired), one Metro card (active)
• one button
• one wet-nap
• one exploding wallet, full of change I accrue and avoid spending (quarters saved for laundry, pennies are annoying), and an excessive variety of customer "rewards" cards I rarely, if ever, use.
  
• six paper perfume testers (kept for handbag ambiance)
• one takeout menu advertizing deli sandwiches, caviar, foie gras, and "fabulous selection of cheeses."
• one Washington State Department of Transportation-issued vial of hand sanitizer
• one loose dollar bill
• large-lens sunglasses (again, standard-issue nyc)

Of course there's always a ridiculous collection of miscellaneous receipts by the time I get to cleaning them out; my favorites are the ones you get at the grocery store after buying toilet paper and milk- two yards long, full of promotions for seventy-five cents off your next cat litter.

I managed to evict the stainless steel coffee mug (holla holla, cafe ladro in seattle) from my purse recently that somehow stowed away to travel across the country with me, riding around on my shoulder in Seattle and Portland for a week in hundred-degree weather. I have seasonally suspended its work permit.

now playing: wilco- "distance has a way of making love understandable"