{ things would likely be easier if I got rid of a lot of paper. }

[delga]

The last time I did this meme my handbag was smaller and I was unemployed. That said, I still keep the same crap in there? The more things change etc.

01 My Handbag, Which I Love. I bought this on sale last month when my last bag was proving too small. Evidence: the lining was so wrecked I had two extra compartments. But, guys, I LOVE THIS BAG. It is huge without being too huge! It has two massive compartments and lots of wee pockets! I can sling my brolly between the handles (so, on the zipped compartments) and it doesn't fall out. Plus, it fits all my crap with room to spare. It's a fucking TARDIS. I love it.

02 Letters. I normally pick up the post on my way out of the house or on my way back, so they ned up in my handbag. But I reply to them during lunch/my commute so I like to have them to hand to refer back to. I send a lot of letters, and I keep a lot on me. Actually, anything I've received since November is in this bag. Normally I just flick past them when scrambling for a pen, but I like having them on my person. I like seeing handwriting idk.

03 My Current Book (Jeanette Winterson's Written on the Body). I nearly always have a book in my bag, mostly for unexpected commutes (when EBL has to go home early, for example) and of late some sit in there for months without being opened. I was reading this one a fortnight back when I went to Chesterfield and haven't touched it since, but it'll come in handy soon. I suspect this will soon be replaced by one of the poetry tomes I recently ordered - for a long time I carried Plath's Ariel, mostly forgotten about, but good to have at short notice.

04 Useful Scraps That I Just Now Found? A squished square notepaper leaf with The Flatmate's Australian address on it. To be fair, I have that in my gmail account, so it's not a big deal if I lose it. The white thing next to the book is a blank envelope containing £10 I didn't know I had. Yeah. Emergency funds! I do hide money in places so that it's there if I need it, but the one set back is that I forget it's there. So. Yes.

05 Hair Salon. Kidding. But since I got my hair cut it has needed a heck of a lot more care! What is this! Shorter hair shouldn't be so fucking high maintenance! Anyway, combs, hair grips, clips, and a resealable tube of metal grips that I tend to need at about 3pm when my hair goes beserk. No, really, 3pm every day. Mixed in there is also a travel bottle of cocoa butter body lotion and a little tub of mango-flavoured lip balm that I purchased from Next, of all places, when I was in Swansea. ESSENTIALS.

06 M&S Voucher / Wear&Tear Repair Kit. Hi, I can't count! The first #6 is the voucher I got from The Rents for my last birthday. I recently used it to buy two lovely new tops, including a blissfully cut tee that I am in lust with. I think that brown envelope is another emergency fund? I don't know. The second #6 is my repair kit: lipstick, E45 lip balm, eyeliner pencils, sewing kit, iPod box bound with hair ties and containing my iPod charger. That last one isn't part of my repair kit, natch, but it's as fitting a place as any other to mention it.

07 My Purse. The same one I had two years ago - the same one I've had since I turned 15. It is much worse for wear than the last time you saw it because it's old and full of paper. Receipts, to-do lists, cinema ticket stubs, train tickets, etc. etc. etc. I should empty it out but I'm worried about not being able to find the things I need when I need them most. For example: phone cards, poetry stubs (don't ask), library cards, and everything else I could possibly need in my purse that isn't a piece of paper.

08 My Phone. Things I also love: MY PHONE. I mostly use it to read Merlin fic at work, and keep up-to-date with email/twitter/eljay, but with my current tariff I have also rediscovered the joys of texting and long-distance phone calls.

09 Letter Paraphernalia. Some people have letter desks; I have my handbag. (I have just seen a LAP DESK which, omg need.) This pile contains: one ringbound notepad that is almost empty of paper; two Spectroscope letter writing pads, one of which is full of sheets of loose work notes that didn't even originate from that pad, and the other of which I use to write my letters; a handful of prepaid envelopes that I bought direct from Royal Mail; two collapsible sheets of 100 First Class stamps; my address book. I know people keep nearly all their stuff electronically these days but an actual physical address book is fucking important. I do not lose numbers because of phone mishaps! I lose them because I forget to write them down. I've had my address book for eight years but I can't bear to replace it because I have yet to find one that is the right size or isn't full of irritating formatting. Why the fuck do address book manufacturers feel it necessary to allocate space for telephone addresses and email addresses and home addresses in a six-line space? Fuck that. Let me write what I want where I want it! /tangent

10 Fiscal Matters. It's difficult to see here, but that's my chequebook (yes, some of us still use those), a leaflet I picked up from the community centre yesterday with cinema listings for the local screenings, and a handful of payslips that I haven't gotten around to filing yet. Useful to have because they have my payroll number which I have yet to memorise. Also: leave card! My boss is based at the sub office so I keep it on my person for her to sign as and when.

11 Electronics. Two headphones cases that I keep the extra earbuds in; memory stick; my zen player; my iPod nano in a not-so-fetching-but-entirely-practical purple rubber cover.

12 Writing paraphernalia. At the top is my zen charger that I also use for my phone. I carry that with me everywhere because it's so versatile. I can even use it to connect my camera to my laptop. I love it because it's so short and easy to carry around, but I do have a habit of misplacing it. And then: pens. Pens, pens, pens. Black and blue micro fine ink pens, a couple of biros, some purple gel writes and a HB pencil. This is less than what I used to carry. I took out a lot of the biros.

13 Travel Extras. A cute elephant purse that was given to me by wishes_of_stone for my last birthday. It is stuffed full of copper coins as well as an expired Newcastle metro ticket and a pair of large silver hoop earrings. The elephant is metal and sewn on; the trunk is sharp and I regularly cut myself on it, but I love it too much to get rid of it. The blue thing is my Young Person's Rail Card holder and also contains a shitload of used tickets that I should really get rid of already. In all likelihood there's also probably emergency funds in there, too, but possibly not because that's one place I remember to check when I need cash. Next to the elephant purse are my keys on a hefty, reliable metal keychain that used to read 'barcardi' on it. I think I got it at fresher's week? Anyway, my keys look Too Functional since I lost my last set in some bastard train station over the Christmas period. No longer do I have Splat the Cat or my duck named Tree. The amount of woe this brings me is hugely disproportional to what it should be but I'm still upset about losing that goddamn ring.

14 Earphones. New, white ones because the last lot broke earlier in the month. Unf, so comfortable! Noise cancelling! Shiny! <3

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This post was brought to you by: M was trying to find a letter this morning and then decided to empty her bag. See below for more pointless photographs.