The Inspiration Index 4: Junk Drawers
Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008
They always say you can tell a lot by a person by going through their medicine cabinets. I say, to hell with that. Go for the junk drawer, that cornucopia of forgotten crap. Every home’s got one; a home that doesn’t have a junk drawer is like a person whose reflection you can’t see in the mirror. You’re better off getting as far away as you can, as quickly as you can, because nothing good can come of it.
The junk drawer reveals a lot about its owner(s). What do they save? How organized is it? Have the rubber bands and paperclips started to multiply like rabbits yet, making the whole thing one enormous ball of unidentifiable detritus?
Personally, I think that scientists and physicists are barking up the wrong tree with all this nonsense about string theory and black holes. Anybody that’s had a junk drawer for any length of time can tell you plenty about string theory, because every last thing they’ve thrown in that drawer since 1979 has acheived some kind of critical mass, a combination of twist ties, twine, thread, and goop from leaky bottles of unknown origin, all of which attracts dustbunnies, AA batteries, and feral cats. The best junk drawers are the ones where you can find nearly anything, because they’re the one thing in the universe from which nothing can escape.