Author Archives: Mathew Bell

Music & Tattoos

Last weekend I was in the mood to listen to my record player. So, I started going through some of my vinyl record collection, all housed in old shipping boxes, and I came across one of my favorite albums out there.

https://youtu.be/ybuy6iuvbRo

For me, being able to really digest an album in its entirety means a lot more than “listening to music” as most people do today. Songs are the moneymakers in today’s music industry, which has unfortunately driven a lot of artists away from the art that is making an entire album. While I may be generalizing some, pop music has taken off and stayed strong through the last few decades simply because those musicians are willing to sacrifice their art for far more money. You can’t even blame them, though, because who wouldn’t want to get paid more?

But some artists aren’t willing to sacrifice their artistic design and their own influence on a record. They know the process, the emotions, the creation, and the experience of it all is far too intertwined to compromise for fame and money. They’re the few who prefer to keep it to how it used to be. They want to make real music.

Sturgill Simpson is one of those artists, and he’s my favorite musician out there because of his take on the music industry. He’s too old school to care about fame and money and big lights. Instead, he forges his path through experimental country music. And if anyone ever fit the bill of against the grain, it’s Sturgill.

So as I listened to his second album on my record player, I got to thinking about life and expression and art, and I realized I finally came across the perfect image and idea for my first tattoo. You see, I’ve long been the guy to say “I want a tattoo, I just never can decide on something once and for all”. But that suddenly changed when I settled on a tattoo idea based off of one of Sturgill’s tracks on his second album.

Such introspection and deep thought (combined with my favorite artist’s classic voice) led me to a better realization of myself and being able to finally be decisive on a topic that I really do need to be absolutely certain about. If I had never dug through my shipping boxes to find a few records I wanted to listen to, I’m not sure I would’ve ever come to the decision that I know what I want for a tattoo now.

Picking Up Your Home Can Pick Up Your Mood

I get pretty stressed when the house is out of order, things are laying around in places they shouldn’t be, and for the most part, everything is just in a state of constant disarray.

Honestly, I’m probably like most people who find these things bothersome and stressful, and by the time you even want to do something about it, it’s too big to tackle all at once (which only adds to the stress even more).

The problem with handling this sort of recurring situation is getting to the root of it all: and that’s organization.

But organization is an intangible sort of thing, you know. It’s hard to nail down what it means to be organized and how to instill such a “skill” in yourself. The good thing is that a lot of it starts with the type of storage and supplies you have around your home. The more tools and containers you have to be organized, the more likely you are to be successful at keeping everything cleanly and in order.

So, that’s where I started recently with my girlfriend. We got a few containers meant for storage purposes and some other basic shipping supplies like packing tape and sharpies so that we could mark on the containers to show what goes where. The good thing about such tape, too, is that it can easily be peeled off and replaced if you happen to dedicate that container to other items.

Since we’ve taken the time to actually get things in order and have dedicated spaces for an assortment of items, things have been so amazing around our home. Nothing is ever scattered out and about anymore. And we’re so, so much better about keeping things picked up and in their right spots. It’s amazing how a few containers, some shipping supplies, and a will to do it all can completely transform the way you keep your home in order.

And even better than all of that is how happy and relaxed we are in our home as of late. The amount of stress that can build up within you when you’re surrounding by a state of disarray is criminally underrated. Only after getting everything cleaned up and constantly spotless did I realize how much less stressed I felt each evening after coming home from work. There’s no other way to put it than saying I’m just genuinely happier and healthier (mentally, especially) because of the changes we’ve made.

What Is “Too Many” Boxes?

I grew up in a household absolutely stocked with cardboard shipping boxes. While that may bring to mind a house stuffed full of different sizes and shapes of boxes in every room, that’s not exactly the case.

For a little bit of context, both of my parents have worked for the post office all of their lives. So, it’s really no surprise that we always had a gajillion cardboard boxes on hand for any given scenario.

Heck, Christmas time was always super easy considering there was always another box to use for wrapping gifts in. I never had to seek out bags or other containers to wrap any gifts in. I’d just go to the back room, grab a handful of boxes that fit the various items I wanted to wrap, and went to work. It was always super convenient around the holidays that we had so many boxes.

The funny thing, though, is that we never really got much use out of these abundant shipping boxes for the rest of the year. I mean, if we ever actually had to ship something, I’d know where to look for a box that fit whatever it was I’d be sending. But in regards to other uses for boxes, we didn’t find many.

It comes as no surprise that we’d have such an overabundance of cardboard boxes in our home, though. Considering that my parents basically lived at the post office, they happened to bring home a lot from time to time to keep our stash up to date and fully stocked.

When I look back on all the boxes we had, I can’t help but feel like we could’ve made more use of them throughout the year. Whether we wanted to do crafts, use them for practical things like kindling or storage, or even recycle half of the stock of boxes since we never used even that many, I feel as if we had far too many boxes.

In reality, though, my mind is probably imagining far more boxes than we actually had, especially because my most vivid memories of that back room were from my childhood. And when you’re a kid, everything is much bigger and grandiose than when you’re an adult and have a greater sense of perspective. Overall, the impressive collection of boxes never cost my family a penny, so I suppose that’s why we always had an “overstock” of boxes. Why not have more than you need if it’s not costing you anything, right?

Your Hobbies Should Make You Happy

For the past half year or so, I’ve been talking about how great it would be to have live plants in our home. I mention it to my family on phone calls home to check in. I mention it to friends in random conversation. I’ve mentioned it to my girlfriend a heck of a lot.

But I finally found an excuse to get a handful of houseplants this past month with my girlfriend’s birthday coming and going, and we’re proud parents of about 6 different succulents and two other houseplants.

It was actually quite a fun process to go pick them out and find the pots we thought would fit the aesthetic of our home. While buying plants at a local shop and not a department store likely cost us more than it could have, we felt better knowing the plants were taken care of and probably healthier in general.

Repotting when we got home, however, was slightly more of a task than we realized considering we haven’t done such a thing ever, so we wanted to make sure we had the right soil, were handling our plants and their roots with care, and knew what pots were perfect for which plants.

One thing we were lacking, though, was gardening supplies. Luckily, we had a few different shipping supplies that sufficed, such as a boxcutter to churn up the soil and a few cardboard boxes to put excess soil in.

The process was more fun than I would’ve imagined, simply because it felt like we were really taking care of the plants as living beings, not just as “decor” to our home. Sometimes, it got tricky to plant some of the succulents since they had spines that would prick my hands, so nestling one of the chunkier guys into a small pot and putting new soil in with it was extremely tough. Again, we were lucky to have some of those shipping supplies handy, though.

But so far, it’s all paid off. We get compliments on our succulent table. We enjoy having the blinds open far more often so that they can get sunlight. We feel happier to have them around. And heck, they’re great for giving us a sense of responsibility while also having us respect the life around us outside of each other and our dog.

It’s just been one of the best decisions and I feel we’re only bound to get more here in the next few months while summer starts to pick up.

Gifting in Boxes or Bags?

With spring finally here and Easter around the corner, gift giving is in session. It’s only been a few months since Christmas was here, but a few months is all it takes in the gift-happy culture of the US.

When it comes to giving gifts, though, I prefer to wrap mine in boxes. Any old shipping boxes usually do for whatever I’m giving away. I just think that a gift in a box wrapped up shows a lot more effort went into the gift than just placing something in a bag, stuffing some tissue paper in on top of the item, and calling it a day.

But that’s to each their own, I suppose. While I like to have my recipient think there was a lot of thought that went into the gift, not everyone else does. And I can’t fault others for being more efficient with their time and gift giving even if it does make their recipient think of the gift as less special than a wrapped box.

My gifting habits are a main reason as to why I do have a lot of old shipping boxes and other cardboard laying around my home, though. I’m always using them for something with how versatile they are.

It’s funny to see what people think when I give them Easter gifts all wrapped up in the style of a birthday or Christmas present, though. People always expect baskets or bags around this time of year, but a fully wrapped box just seems to say a lot more in my opinion. It stands out a lot more, too.

I’d say my favorite part of wrapping gifts in boxes is honestly the type of paper I wrap it with. Whether it’s a specific pattern tailored to the occasion or just plain, thick brown paper (which is actually pretty classy, I must say), it’s fun to change it all up and keeps me, the gifter, interested and excited in the whole process.

That’s not even to say how many compliments I usually receive on my wrapping and the paper I chose. I’m always getting asked where I got my paper or how I wrapped my gift, and it’s honestly kinda nice to have that recognition for my efforts.

Overall, though, I do it for the recipient. I get joy in the whole process because I know it’ll bring joy to whomever I’m gifting the item to. If you can’t get joy out of that, what’s the point in gifting someone a thing you don’t truly care to spend money on? If that’s how you approach it, don’t bother giving them anything at all.

Odds and Ends for Your Hobbies

You know that hobbies can be quite niche, ranging from things like collecting rare spirits to raising a garden inside your house. People enjoy different things for different reasons, and almost always there’s certain gear that just cannot be substituted for extremely in depth hobbies like painting needing palettes and oil paints or even baking requiring specific pans and ingredients.

But for most hobbies, there are a few things that can be substituted, and this usually allows you to have an array of supplies that can span across multiple hobbies. When versatility is allowed, it’s best to make the most of it so that you can save money, save space, and ultimately still get the job done without losing out on whatever supplies you needed in the first place.

One of my favorite hobbies as of late is camping. While I enjoy hiking and carrying my pack with me to set up camp somewhere in the wilderness, I also don’t ever shy away from trips with friends that involve packing up the truck and getting on the road to the nearest campgrounds for a weekend of fun.

Sometimes, though, we’re in need of basic supplies that we always end up forgetting. So instead of planning last minute what we need, I like to keep these common shipping supplies in my truck to be accessible whenever we actually need them.

Scissors.

Scissors may perhaps be the most useful thing to have when you’re out camping and most people don’t realize how useful they really are. From cutting twine to opening foods, you can’t go wrong have a pair of heavy duty scissors available on your camping trips. Heck, they’re even good for cutting, cleaning, and preparing tougher meat.

Tape.

While tape doesn’t work so well on anything that’s dirty or wet, it can still do well patching any holes you have in your tent, binding together broken stakes, and even sealing together food packages that you don’t want being broken into by raccoons. Out of all the shipping supplies on this list, tape is probably the most versatile at repairing.

Cardboard boxes.

You can use them for kindling, for storage, or even as makeshift “pads” for the hard ground you’ll be sleeping on. The best part is that you can break them down to save space when traveling with them so that they’re not all boxy and in the way while driving.

There Really Is No Place Like Home

This past weekend I had quite the blast from the past. My hometown hosts an annual alumni basketball tournament for fundraising, and so many people from the area come back to get a little competitive with other classes and teams to see who’s still got it and who’s the most out of shape.

While I definitely fall into that latter category, I find the camaraderie and sportsmanship super fun to come back to. The amount of physical exertion I subject my body to may be another story, but it’s honestly such a good time to make a trip back home for the weekend and catch up with old classmates, teammates, and buddies.

Breaking out an old pair of basketball shoes in some random shipping boxes at home shows how much I play regularly, so it really comes as no surprise that my body is protesting quite a bit now that the weekend is concluded.

I think the most fun part of it all, though, isn’t the competitiveness and playing aspect itself. It’s hanging out with everyone after the games are over on a Saturday night. We ended up going to a small local bar that likely doesn’t see too many patrons on any given night, but that evening it was quite packed with all sorts of friends, classmates, parents, and other family members. Just catching up with everyone and enjoying the moment meant a lot to me.

I was actually talking about this with my girlfriend while we were there. We’re huge on experiencing different cultures and really observing how different things can be from one place to another, and that night we saw it happening before us in a small midwestern bar that was pretty much filled with people who all went to the same high school at one point in their lives. There’s nothing else like the silliness and weird conversations and music that went on in that bar this past Saturday, and that, to me, is one of the coolest reasons to visit my hometown from time to time.

So now that my few pairs of basketball shoes are back in their old shipping boxes, it doesn’t mean that that part of me is also put away in storage. Rather, I feel quite revitalized and happy to know that I come from a community full of unique and fun people that can all claim they were from my hometown.

When is the Right Time to Buy a House?

I’ve recently been trying to convince a friend to move to the city where I live, and I’ve had a rather tough time of it for reasons that are hard for me to explain. But basically, it boils down to him wanting to own a house here so he’s waiting a bit longer instead of getting an apartment here first to make sure he likes the area.

While we seemingly have differing opinions (and I know my own suggestion to him may not sit well with some of you out there who are advocates of pulling the trigger and buying a home), I’d like to think for someone his age at 26, he’s not ready to buy a house here considering he doesn’t even know if he’ll like it in whatever area he forecloses.

So, though not every item on this list is something you must stick to by the book, these are a few suggestions on when buying a home may make sense in your life.

When you’re getting married.

This one is fairly common among Americans. If you’re marrying someone soon and don’t yet have a house, it could make sense to do as the joint income will help with any expenses you may deem tougher to handle compared to being on your own. Just as well, married couples most likely lived in an apartment together prior to their marriage, so it’s only natural to make the step up to a home if you know that you live well together and are ready for your own place. All that’s required is a little sweat equity, some cheap moving boxes, and a trailer to move out of your old apartment and into your new home.

When you have a child.

While I’m fully aware that raising a child in an apartment can be a cost-effective way of handling child-rearing, I’m still of the mind that owning your own place can be safer for you and your child. Not to mention, you have much more space and privacy to yourself if you were to get your own home while raising your kid opposed to being sanctioned away in a smaller place connected to other tenants.

When it feels right.

Buying a home ultimately boils down to moving forward when you’re ready. There’s no one out there that can tell you you’re not ready or you should already be living in a house. It may never fit your agenda in life or it may only make sense for you to shop around from one home to the next rather than move into an apartment temporarily. Just trust your gut on when you should be looking to buy a home, but make sure it’s for the right reasons and you’re in good financial standing while you’re searching around.

There’s likely no worse feeling than moving into a place, looking at all your unpacked cheap moving boxes, and regretting what you just did if an apartment still makes more sense.

The Era of Quick Shipping

Today’s gold standard for shipping is getting tougher and tougher to refine simply because we’re maxing out the speed at which an item can be bought online, packaged, and shipped to that person’s front door. It doesn’t get much faster than 2 to 3 days without expecting someone to pay a ridiculous amount of money for one-day shipping.

Recently, my mom sent me a small parcel as a joke based on something we had just talked about a few days prior. I was so surprised that the package made it in two or three days time, simply because it wasn’t labeled as having been shipped on one or two days shipping but was merely priority mail through the post office. Yet still, here the package was in just a matter of two days. While the contents weren’t anything special or a must have for me, it was just funny how quickly it got to my doorstep without having extra postage on it for quicker shipping.

Much in the same way, I recently bought gifts for my girlfriend since her birthday is fast approaching, and those shipping boxes arrived at my doorstep two entire days before they were supposed to. Was I bothered by this? Not really at all, no. Sure, I had planned on them arriving two days later, so I wasn’t even looking for them on my doorstep in the snow this past weekend, but nonetheless, they made it to my door on a “non business day” and came as quite the surprise to me. I was pretty happy to have them safe and stored inside rather than having to worry about it sitting out in the open on my doorstep while I was at work two days later.

It ultimately surprises me how quickly items are shipped without paying extra for shipping these days. If we wanted things this fast just a decade or two ago, the price for shipping would’ve increased significantly. But again, today’s gold standard is just two or three days with hardly any extra cost, making online shopping seem as if it were on par with shopping at the mall.

Shipping boxes need merely a label and their contents to get out on the road and onto your doorstep nowadays, especially with streamlined shipping processes in bigger companies. If your shipping setup has a hitch in it or seems outdated by any means, customers will move on to other companies, because today’s era is one of demand and impatience.

The Usefulness of Random Supplies

The other day my parents were over dog sitting for me and my girlfriend while we were out of town. They live 2 hours out of town in a small rural town, so coming to the city for a weekend has been their little getaway from the rise and grind of their jobs. I was happy to let them stay at our place for the weekend.

While they were at our place, I asked my dad if he would install a steel tip dartboard cabinet that we got for Christmas. I would’ve done it by now, but the problem was we were going to put it in our basement, but the walls are concrete. So, we were pretty reliant on the tools he had at home, meaning we had to wait for them to make their way to our place at some point to help put it up.

Anyway, they were able to eventually get the board and cabinet up, but not without some hitches in the plan. Apparently we were missing some sort of screws and the alignment of the board was off in such a way when it was hanging that we needed to shim the backside of the board it was adhered to.

Luckily, we had some random shipping supplies laying around the apartment that he was able to use to make final adjustments, even if it was a bit of a roughshod piece of work.

I couldn’t believe he made it work with mere shipping supplies. Somehow, though, it worked, and that’s all I really care about. It just goes to show that having some things laying around can be used in a pinch.

It reminds me of the usefulness and utility of other common items we overlook all the time. For example, cardboard can be used in so many different ways that you’d never really think about. I’ve made compost with cardboard, shredded it up and used it as mulch, and even used it to soak up things like oil leaks in the garage.

All of this is just proof that you can make something out of seemingly nothing. By giving your house a quick sweep through anytime you’re missing an item or need something in particular and don’t seem to have it, you’ll be able to find a lot of things that may actually be of use to you in your current situation. It only takes a little bit of creativity and a will to get the job done.