Thing #194: 150 Baking Cups

Over the last year or so, I've slowly used up 150 baking cups by making batches of muffins:

• blueberry muffins (three different brands)
• Cinnamon Toast Crunch muffins
• banana nut muffins
• oatmeal muffins
• chocolate chip muffins
• almond poppyseed muffins
• cornmeal muffins

I thought the Krusteaz blueberry muffins were the best, which reminds me of an old Jack Handey joke about dolphins.

Thing #186: Fruit Loops Pillow

A small bean bag pillow I've had since college or sometime around then. I don't know if you can tell from the photo, but it was getting kind of worn, so I decided to retire it (in the mob sense, meaning I threw it in a dumpster).

Sometimes you own something for so long that you don't even realize it's weird to have a pillow made to look like a cereal box.

Thing #185: Duffell Bag

I tried to clean this by sending it through the washing machine. It looks washable, but evidently there's some kind of cardboard piece keeping the bottom flat and sturdy. That piece -- which is completely sewn into the bag -- got all soggy and folded over itself and was never really going to be sturdy again, so I decided to just chuck the whole bag.

It was a useful bag, but I think I can substitute a suitcase or a backpack in most of the scenarios where I'd use it. We'll see!

Thing #184: Muppet Magnets

Muppet torsos with interchangeable hair and shirts, stuck to the refrigerator for years. Gonzo seems pretty upbeat, despite not having legs.

Thing #182: Spring Break 2k2 Mix CDs

Paul made this four-disc collection for our 2002 spring break road trip. There were 62 total tracks, although Dream On by Aerosmith somehow ended up on discs one and three. Other artists represented more than once:

• Dave Matthews Band
• Foo Fighters
• Fuel
• Hootie & the Blowfish
• Jimmy Eat World
• Matchbox 20
• R.E.M.
• Semisonic
• Third Eye Blind
• U2

It was definitely 2002.

Thing #181: Washington Hoodie

Super comfortable hoodie, but it sprouted a bunch of holes in and around the cuffs. I still have a few others, so I don't mind sacrificing this one. It means I'll have to do laundry slightly more often next winter, but that's probably not a bad thing.

Thing #180: Mini Marathon Shirts

I ran the Indianapolis Mini Marathon in 2004 and 2005, and back then they gave out these cotton long-sleeve T-shirts.

These have been in my closet for quite awhile, but I just never wear them.

Thing #179: CD Cases

I used to carry CDs and/or DVDs to and from college in these album-style cases, to avoid lugging a bunch of jewel cases across the country.

Thing #174: Backpack

I had two backpacks, and then a cat peed on one, so instead of trying to clean it, I threw it away.

Thing #170: Big Pile of Jeans

I have previously waved good-bye to one pair of jeans, then two pairs of jeans. By pleasant coincidence, this photo features exactly four pairs of jeans. Powers of two!

By unpleasant coincidence, all four pairs of jeans began sprouting holes in various places that prevented regular wear. So I tossed out these four and replaced them with two new pairs. ("Consolidating jeans" is a phrase I will Google later to see whether this page has cracked the top ten results.)

I actually had to throw away a fifth pair of jeans after this photo was taken, which makes me wonder how I've managed to have this many pairs of jeans in my possession, considering you can only wear approximately one at a time. So you can see why I needed to start this project, and why I need to finish it, eventually.

Thing #169: Synthetic Running Socks

A few months ago, I switched to minimalist running shoes, which don't require socks. Since these were kind of falling apart, I just threw them away.

Thing #165: Broken Mini Flashlight

This far into the project, I'm still finding things that don't even work. I think I have another mini flashlight somewhere, so hopefully that one does work.

Thing #159: Green Halloween Makeup

Many (it seems like) years ago, I went to a Halloween party dressed as The Incredible Hulk, by which I mean I wore shorts and sandals and then covered the rest of my body with green makeup (and glow-in-the-dark lipstick, which is also shown). Apparently I didn't know how much to buy, so I ended up with three extra tubes of the stuff.

It ended up extra cold (about 30°F) that night, so walking the half mile or so to and from the party location was a chilly experience. Then, I couldn't sit down or really even touch anything, so generally I just stood around awkwardly (which is basically what I do at parties anyway).

The main thing I remember from the evening is that some lady-devil kept telling me how much she liked my costume. Needless to say, I was thrilled to finally get home and rinse everything off in a nice, hot shower.

I've been storing these since then, but I finally just threw them away. I'm unlikely to repeat that whole experience anytime soon, and I couldn't think of anything else to do with three tubes of cheap Halloween goop.

Thing #158: Keyboard Wrist Rest

Wrist rest. Wrist rest wrist rest wrist rest. Rist wrest?

I was mildly surprised to find that www.compusa.com (as shown on this wrist rest) is still a real website.

Looks like I got there just in time, because in 15 days they're merging with TigerDirect.com.

Thing #153: Lock De-Icer Keychain

This little gadget has a protruding metal piece that heats up when you protrude it, for de-icing your car's lock. It also has a little mini-flashlight.

I never got much use out of this, and now it appears that the battery has died, and also I no longer own a car.

Thing #152: Glove Box Paperwork

Seven repair invoices, one insurance card, one parking meter receipt, three state registration cards, one city sticker application, and one vehicle registration carbon copy, all for a vehicle I no longer own (but keep linking to).

Thing #150: Wooden Kabob Skewers

I had a pile of these in a kitchen drawer, from a party long ago, and I'd been using them for various things, mostly food-related. I thought they were all gone, then I found this last (?) stash in a pile of stuff I'd salvaged from my car.

When I first bought the car, the driver's side mirror was attached using two wood screws. It looked funny up close, but it stayed in place so I didn't mind.

Some time later, I went through a car wash and the mirror broke off of the screws and was just kind of dangling there. Being the resourceful guy that I am, I tried to use a handful of these skewers (for structural support) and duct tape (for obvious reasons) to reinforce the connection between the broken portion of the mirror and the part still fixed to the door. It never really worked very well, or it never really worked very long.

Apparently I left the rest of the skewers in the car, then moved them into a paper bag with some other junk, and then now I threw them out, so I think they're all gone, finally.

Thing #149: Cotton Socks

One day, I decided that cotton socks weren't good for letting my feet breathe, so I decided to throw away all my cotton "dress" socks -- various black/brown/beige pairs -- and stick with socks made of better moisture-wicking materials.

I've had other socks in the rotation already, so essentially I'm committing to a smaller overall cache of socks. There were ten pairs in this photo, and then I've found (and tossed) two more since then. I also bought another three-pack of "good" socks to add to the rotation, but overall I'm certain that I have fewer total socks since whatever year it was this project started.

If you're interested, here's information from REI on sock materials and why your feet sweat so much: How to Choose Socks (see especially "Understanding Sock Materials" section).

Thing #148: Electric Mixer

Megh tried to use this to make cupcake frosting, but it didn't work. It turned on, but the motor wouldn't start up and the beaters wouldn't turn.

I did what you would have done: I grabbed a screwdriver and took the whole thing apart, then put it back together. That didn't fix it, so I threw it away.

(Megh borrowed one from Nate after that.)

Thing #146: Orphaned Pillowcase

A single pillowcase with no matching sheets.

I guess that makes my closet a sort of linen foster care system, except let's not continue with this extended metaphor because I decided not to keep the pillowcase and this will get sad in a hurry.