Friday 29 May 2009

Doing An Oprah


Once upon a time in a galaxy, far, far away I read that Oprah put all her kitchen utensils in a box. Ground breaking I know. Oprah has a box? Who woulda thunk it?

Well it gets better.

Over the next month, when she was cooking (she cooks!) whatever utensil, tool, gadget etc that she used, it got put back into the drawer.

If, by the end of the month, certain utensils weren't used, they were given away to an op shop.

Sounds good. Yes?

What's good enough for Oprah is good enough for me. She hasn't married Stedman. Neither have I. She has her own talk show. I sometimes like watching it (preferably when they're doing makeovers). She appears on the cover of her own magazine. And so could I if I was rolling in money and had my own magazine. Well if it's good enough for Oprah, it's good enough for me. Will you join me in evicting errant cutlery and utensils cluttering up your drawers? Let's face it friends, I am kerrrr-azy.


image via (clearly not mine, I'm not that organised... or bored)

9 comments:

LBA said...

I seriously want to re-do my drawers .. not because they are flooded with spazzy gadgets, but because the Dangerbaby has rifled them so bad I have no idea what's in there ( 3month old chicken breast ? probably ).

Which is the whole reason I am avoiding it. Because he will just do it again. Ditto for my filthy windows.

*le sigh*
My time will come.

Anonymous said...

You know we recieved this egg-flippy thing for our engagement (198mumblemumble) and it has three flips stacked on top of each other which will fan out when you puch a lever to make one mega-flip.

never used it...

it's still in my drawer full of kitchen stuff...

want it?

I bet Oprah has one.

Uli said...

But I like finding that random stuff in the back of my drawer that I only ever use once a year. I figure that so long as I can still comfortably open and close the utensil drawer (second drawer, of course) then I don't need to clean it out.

As for the photo, who needs that many identical tea pots anyway?

CurlyPops said...

You can do a similar thing with your wardrobe.
Everything that is hanging gets turned so the hanger is facing the wrong way. After you wear and wash, re-hang the right way. After a year, anything that is still hanging the wrong way hasn't been used and gets given to the op shop.
PS - I don't know whether I have the guts to play along (I'm a hoarder from way back)

Miss Crafty said...

They may be bored and organised but boy do they love tea! 4 teapots??!

Joy said...

Ok, but you know full well that as soon as you throw that thingamebob out your gonna want it ;o).
Hugs,
Joy :o)

Anonymous said...

The real truth is being covered up by public figures. We are not getting out of this depression anytime soon. Its going to get a lot worse for most of us. It didn't have to be this way.

"As mass production has to be accompanied by mass consumption; mass consumption, in turn, implies a distribution of wealth -- not of existing wealth, but of wealth as it is currently produced -- to provide men with buying power equal to the amount of goods and services offered by the nation's economic machinery. Instead of achieving that kind of distribution, a giant suction pump had by 1929-30 drawn into a few hands an increasing portion of currently produced wealth. This served them as capital accumulations. But by taking purchasing power out of the hands of mass consumers, the savers denied to themselves the kind of effective demand for their products that would justify a reinvestment of their capital accumulations in new plants. In consequence, as in a poker game where the chips were concentrated in fewer and fewer hands, the other fellows could stay in the game only by borrowing. When their credit ran out, the game stopped."

Marriner Eccles, FDR's Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank - 1959

In other words, the first Great Depression was caused by greed. The rich couldn't settle for reasonable pay. They had to have more and more and more. That caused a giant shift in buying power from the majority to the rich. When the majority lost their buying power, they lost their ability to support the economy. The rich stopped investing because they knew that it would be tough to squease the last few dollars from the majority and make further profits. So the economy tanked.

Its even worse now. Because ordinary people havn't only lost their relative buying power. They have also lost their savings, home values, pensions, benefits, and nest eggs. This didn't happen overnight. Its been happening gradually for the last 30 years. Meanwhile, the rich have become super incredibly rich. The richest 500 Americans are worth almost two trillion dollars. More than the bottom 1/2 of American housholds combined. The richest 1 percent are worth over 15 trillion dollars. More than the bottom 90% of American households. Thats just insane. It can't be justified. I don't care how much work for humanity the rich claim to do. Its nothing but a cover for their incredible greed. We don't need anymore rich people to inspire us or entertain us or create jobs or make donations for humanity. We need them to just get reasonable about how much money and assets they keep for themselves.


Don't believe it when the rich claim to be getting poorer. Property values have gone down worldwide. Not only for rich people but for all people. Thats because of the concentration of wealth and income. When the economy slows down, property values tank. So when rich people complain about a lower net worth, thats a trick. They still have the same obscene buying power on average.

Everything that is happening with the economy is happening because the wealth has been taken away from the majority and concentrated into the private vaults of rich people. The same ones on TV and radio telling us how much we need them. How much we should love them. How much they want to help the world. Its a big lie. They don't want to help the world. They want to own it.

I wish I had something positive to say but I don't. There will be no bailout for the people because the ones with all the money just won't give it up. Say goodbye to the American dream and hello to the American nightmare.

Thea said...

A hard comment to follow BUT I think it's an excellent idea. I always feel good when I declutter and it goes to someone that will use it.

Cindy said...

Oh dear, umm, not quite such a nightmare I so hear what you are saying. I think that constantly moving helps you to get rid of the clutter, but we have been in this house for a while and I think there maybe a few treasures gethering some dust.