Happy September, Primetimers!

Mother Nature definitely decided we weren’t fully baked here the last couple of months, but if you peek out of your back door most mornings now you are starting to catch a sense that maybe, just maybe, it’s starting to cool off. Time to start using those evenings for something other than sitting inside with the A/C turned down to 60 degrees watching The Wheel of Fortune.

I was really happy to see many of you brave MoPac and Research for our second Pinballz Wizards night at Pinballz Lake Creek. A fun time was had by all, with a “Mystery Pinball” tournament and perhaps the only chance you’ll ever have to see me cram myself into a go cart and race around a track.

We also had nearly record turnout at our Primetime Backyard Movie Series Special Sing-A-Long Edition: A Hard Day’s Night. I was actually born a little late for the whole Beatlemania thing, but I was really gratified to hear all your personal stories about just how much of a part the Beatles played in your lives.

This month I thought we might try something new. We have all seen the TV shows and books that encourage us to declutter our lives and live more simply by clearing out things we no longer need. Yet like many of you I have closets, tool sheds, and storage units full of crap that I thought I might need some day…but didn’t. None of the “gurus” ever really spurred me to want to take action until I read a short, thin book called The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter by Margareta Magnusson. One of the things that makes Magnusson’s book stand out is that it is aimed in large part at people of a certain age, although she always claims that everyone should do it. The premise of the book is an attempt to explain an actual Swedish tradition embedded in the culture in which older people are encouraged to get rid of unneeded or unwanted things later in life and before they shuffle their mortal coil. The idea is that the more you can do this, the less your loved ones will have to deal with your crap when you pass away or are no longer at home. It was the book’s (and now TV show’s) focus on your descendants that attracted me. It turned the question from “Do I really need this?” to “Does my daughter really want this or know what to do with this?” It’s amazing how that small change in perspective opens up your willingness to do something that can be really hard.

Get rid of our unnecessary crap.

So introducing our pilot Great Semi-Annual Primetime Swedish Death Cleaning and Swap Meet event on Wednesday, September 13 in the Backyard.

I’ll set up tables in the Backyard and invite you to bring all of your still useful but unwanted crap. The idea is to bring things you are willing to part with for free or nearly free with the aim of it going to a good home. Think of it as a Goodwill donation, except you are helping out your friends instead of a random stranger. One of the reasons we will only do this twice a year (if it is a success) is so we don’t have to worry about sales tax permits.

Note that this event is not restricted to people who are getting rid of stuff. For this to work we also need people who want to get some cool stuff for free or nearly free. To encourage both cleaners and shoppers, I’ll get out the hot dog and popcorn machines, and we’ll have some tunes going. Feel free to invite non-member guests. Just make sure you RSVP with the total number of people coming so I can ensure there’s enough food.

Here’s the event page for more details and to sign up. Heck, at the very least, we’ll treat it like a picnic with a purpose.

https://www.meetup.com/primetimeatx/events/295386112/

Fall and a relief from the heat is on the way Primetimers. Till then, keep on truckin’.

Gregg, on behalf of Louise, Andy, Lisa and Barbara