Putzing around on E-bay…having finally gotten paid, I’m splurging a bit before returning to my normal frugality. Bid on a couple of snazzy masks, got outbid on a gorgeous one of Ganesha. I have a thing for Barong masks. It’s not quite a collection, with only four specimens at the moment, but I can see it heading that way fairly rapidly, particularly since the sight of a nice one turns on my drool reflexes, and has since childhood. (So do some of the batik drama masks from Bali, but I know one would feel lonely, and then I’d have to get more, and the next thing you know, I’m out a hundred bucks and another wall.) Same with teapots. I have a couple of lovely teapots. I know in my heart that given my natural tendencies, even though I don’t NEED teapots, have no earthly use for teapots, and really need to buy a damn teakettle, come to that, instead of drinking brown water from the coffeemaker–well, I could easily wind up with a collection.

I try not to collect things anymore. There is a fine line between being a collector and being a psycho packrat, and living in a shoebox as I do, I don’t have the luxury of dancing on said line. When my grandmother died, she left three whole households worth of crap that had to be sorted through and sold–some of it was lovely, much of it was…well, not in the lovely category, let’s leave it at that. With this sterling example before me, I therefore attempt to keep my naturally acquisitive tendencies into certain boundaries–practical ceramics are okay (I consider matched dinnerware a sign of lack of imagination) the occasional random statuary only if it Really Really speaks to me (Being a fan of many things, including foo dogs, frogs, fish, and random deities, I’m really trying to curb myself there. I don’t need more Stuff.) and wall art, although I’ve hit the upper limit there and no longer have a square inch of available wall space. This is not due to my purchasing tendencies, but the fact that my parents send me a copy of all of their prints, which means I have hundreds of the things jammed in my closet, and maybe a dozen out on the walls.

I’m starting to hope we do wind up moving to Arizona. I could really use the wall space.

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