My friend Jane made up a blog meme and then tagged me. She asked us to take everything out of our bags right when she emailed us, and to put the contents list on our blogs.
The bag is a messenger bag, World-Map orange, goretex-lined, waterproof, bought at the Jack Spade store in New York because I needed a good shoulder bag before going to Paris, in 2005. Emotional baggage often being literal, I saw how the list was an index to some of my favorite posts from the year here on this blog.
So, here’s the contents of my bag and my year-end wrap-up.
- Mac Powerbook Pro laptop
- Powercord with extension
- Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber
- The Wolfman’s Magic Word, by Torok and Abraham
- A Better Angel, by Chris Adrian
- Rayban Wayfarers, black, size large
- student stories
- laminated travel version of birth certificate
- US Passport application receipt, dated May 23, 2008
- 2 Pence coin
- Exotic Princess bumper sticker
- Deborah Eisenberg’s mailing address on Amherst College post-it
- pin number for credit card
- Echinacea tablets, bought in London
- Post-root-canal care instructions
- reimbursement check stub
- bill from accountant
- silver Sharpie and acid green highlighter pen
- architectural drawing pens in several ink colors: pink, brown, green and red.
- Girls Against Pain minicomic
- tarot card reading, written out
- Ticket stub for Vaux-le-Vicomte, dated 10/11/2008
- Starbuck’s Beauborg receipt, 10/9/2008
- Les Arts Decoratifs plan de visite
- Paris Rue St. Germain apartment rental inventory, from 9th of October to the 14th of October, items covered by the security deposit
- London Underground receipt, dated July 14th, 2008.
- T-Mobile international SIM card
- SNCF Ticket, Paris Nord to Compiegne, dated 10/13/2008
- Postcards purchased in Sifnos, unsent
- Faculty travel and research funds summary
- notes from the Plot day of my Wesleyan Writers Conference novel class, from June 2008
- Two pages of notes from my unfinished, finishing novel, The Queen of the Night, written on yellow legal pad paper, including the line, crossed out, “Though I am an orphan I am from a long line of“
- New legal pad, orange cover, price sticker says ‘E5’, bought in Paris
Thanks for a great year.
Koreanish 
I carry one of those cloth shopping bags around these days. In it is last week’s NYer, cheap sun glasses, mittens.
RJ: What can I say, but that I’m in awe of your minimalist approach.
Also, the mittens bit is cute.
I forgot to tag people on this meme. I’ll update with tags shortly…