Flat Rabbits

They usually come in shades of white with various odd markings on them, although other colors can also be found. I'm fond of them - probably overly fond - and I adopt them on a regular basis. They breed rapidly. They don't take much care and feeding once you file them away, but after years and years, they can overwhelm your life. Flat rabbits. Simple, garden variety information on paper.

Everything you see on the chair except for the file folders and a couple of envelopes has made its way through my scanner in the past two days. I'm on a roll or on a tear, take your pick. Digitizing and trashing.

This flurry began when I was contemplating buying yet another filing cabinet - then two related bits of information came my way. First, I read that you can now forget keeping all receipts for seven years, and three will probably do in most cases. Since bank statements and such are downloadable, you don't even have to keep those past their useful date. With both business and personal records stored not only in file cabinets but also in overflow boxes, this was fantastic news. I don't know why I hadn't heard it sooner, but better now than after having another four-drawer delivered. I love file cabinets, but in limited quantities. Second, I paid attention to the NeatDesk scanner ad I'd been seeing on TV, and I bought one. More on that another time. I love it. It's not perfect, so don't throw all of your originals away just yet, but it's about as perfect as it can be and still be fast and efficient.

I started with the unclassified piles around my office, then moved on to vendor receipts and such, but I have numerous categories. For the past couple of days, I've been into the tapir archives. There are an obvious few that will be refiled and kept (and I'm only in the paper file drawers, not even into the image drawer yet), but for the most part I am lightening the load and plan to make the useful stuff available online . . . very soon instead of "in my dreams." Meanwhile, it is on my hard drive (and, yes, backed up onto Carbonite), which is also new in my world, and what a cool discovery!

The project I really want to get to is that history thing. . . . More on these exciting developments coming your way. Stay tuned.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Posts and plugs

A couple of days ago I started a blog about my father. It started with a post on the Tapir Preservation Fund blog about the sad and untimely death of Nico van Strien. You can read the post. While writing it, I began thinking of my father. My dad's birthday was a couple of weeks ago, and the anniversary of his death is coming soon. The one post led into the other thought, and then I wanted to make a blog in honor of my father. After his death, I intended to collect some material about his life and put it into notebooks for some of the family. I bought the notebooks, collected a couple of things, and got sidetracked. Then I moved. At the moment, I can't find the original collection of things. They aren't gone, they just haven't been found yet.

It's been a busy couple of years. It's time to find my other creative side again (the more personal art, writing, and synthesizing) and play with some of the less-work-related projects I enjoy. I can't really say non-work related, because for the past 11 years tapirs have been my work. They are still a passion and part of my fun, but I need to approach them again from another angle. Ideas are beginning to flow again. That's good.

Oh, and here are the plugs. One of the things I was thinking about was using CafePress for some of my art ideas (and for the tapirs). This came about after a discussion of using that site to sell tapir items for World Tapir Day. Anthony from Australia and Kendra from the US brought up the idea, I checked it out and liked what I saw - for myself as well as for the tapirs. So I was talking with my brother (Gary Todd), who was also needing to find an outlet in something besides work, and he put up a couple of products while I was still noodling around with research and thinking. I especially love his "Corporate Helpers" slogan. It's subtle. One of the jokes is, he IS from Corporate and he has been travelling to the satellite companies. But he gets it. He's got a few more, too, and I hope they sell. That would be fun. [Edited March 2, 2008: Another favorite is Buzzword Bingo. Follow the same link to his store.]