Friday Shuffle - Baggy Edition

Kim (not the me sort of Kim - this Kim) has made her own meme and thoughtfully tagged me for it. I know it's because she likes looking at my lipstick.

Here's are the guidelines:

~ Take a photo of the handbag/purse that you are using today.
~ Dump it out and take another photo.
~ Make a list of everything in your bag.
~ Post it on your blog (and let me know!)

Before starting this, let me say I have a sort of love/hate relationship with handbags. I love handbags. I used to own dozens but I couldn't bring them all with me when I moved to Germany. I have a hard time resisting a display of handbags and if I thought I could get away with it I'd buy more than I do. Here's where the hate part comes in. I really dislike actually carrying handbags. Let me explain that again - I like having pretty, funky, useful, fun handbags and love having my things neatly stored inside but I don't want to actually carry it around. I'm the world's worst for only carrying a handbag when necessary. If I'm just going to the bakery or down the street to the market to buy oranges I will only carry my wallet and a cloth shopping bag. For real shopping I will take my whole purse with me. I think this stems from the fact that when I'm shopping I'm either walking or on a streetcar and a handbag gets in the way of the other stuff I'm carrying. If I'm going to be in a car, purse okay. Walking, try to avoid purse.

The bag I'm carrying today is my handbag compromise. It's a small version of a courier bag and it's one of those jobs that has a pocket for anything. I can sling it over my head and shoulder and I'm hands free for carrying shopping bags. Not glamorous, but useful. It doesn't quench my desire for gorgeous, funky handbags though.

Here's my bag:



I have a version in tan for summer. I wish I were joking about that.

And here's all what I have stored inside:



Starting at the back and working our way forward you'll find my passport - the old and new one actually because I haven't gone to have my residency visa transferred into the new one yet - a package of five 2mm double pointed knitting needles - you know, just in case during my travels I run into a ball of sock yarn that needs immediate knitting, a card of my diabetes medication, my cell phone, Bixente the iPod tucked into his somewhat grimy white cover, my wallet (now that's the thing where all the good stuff is stored!), Bixente the iPod's earphones, package of tissues, three lipsticks, one tube of lip gloss, a tin where I keep my ever present TicTacs, a compact of powder makeup and the registration and insurance papers for my car. All of it's sitting on the cloth shopping bag that I always keep with me in my purse. Having a shopping bag with you at all times is very helpful in Germany.

All in all I don't think I have a very outrageous collection of stuff in my purse. I never was one who would carry a zillion things with me and I never keep a messy purse or wallet. The only things missing that I would normally carry with me is a comb and a pen but I was cleaning the comb yesterday and didn't put it back and I don't know where the pen went.

Today I saw one of the things peculiar about Germany, or at least it's something I find peculiar because I haven't seen it elsewhere - men carrying a Herrentasche, a hand held...well...purse. There's no other word for it. It's a purse for men. The usually look like this:



I know things like that shouldn't weird me out - because when you get down to it, why wouldn't men need something extra to carry all their stuff in? - but it does. I guess it's because they commonly look like toiletry cases. They're losing their popularity, especially among younger men, but you still see the 50 year old and up crowd with them from time to time.

This is my newest purse:



It was a birthday gift from Aunt Annoying and Uncle Milquetoast. It's a pretty blue suede and it's got all sorts of handy storage places in it as well but it's really too small for me. I'm too big of a person to carry such a tiny bag. It is, however, perfect for something else. It holds a ball of yarn very nicely so it's perfect for slinging over my shoulder so I can go out and knit in public.

Once in a while Aunt Annoying does give me good gifts.

As for tagging - I don't tag all that often but there are some of y'all out there whose purses I'd like to see. Sari? Katy? Sam? Let's see what's you've got. And anyone else for that matter who's brave enough to let us take a peek inside.

Time to shuffle. Bixente the iPod thinks he's famous now that he's been shown on my blog.

1. If You Say Jump, I Will Say No - Irving
2. Little Lover's So Polite - Silversun Pickups
3. Beanbag Chair - Yo La Tengo
4. Levon - Elton John
5. The Stranger - Billy Joel
6. Orange Crush - REM
7. Ghost Of A Rose - Blackmore's Night
8. Move It On Over - Hank Williams
9. Here Come The Weekend - Dave Edmunds
10. I Wanna Be Around - Tony Bennett, duet with Bono

Good weekend wishes to all.