Bag-Dad

I have an addiction… perhaps “dependency” is a better word. I trace the roots of this dependency back to when I was 5-years old and I just started kindergarten at St Lawrence O’Toole. That was when my parents bestowed upon me my first backpack. I remember it vividly. It was a simple daypack style Jansport with one main compartment and a secondary pocket. The color was dark forest green and the material was a simple nylon blend. Two padded shoulder straps could be adjusted perfectly to fit my little frame, and the loop centered between the straps must have been specifically designed for hanging the pack on kindergarten coat pegs. In fact, that very bag is still functional and is stuffed in the coat closet somewhere. Since that day, you’d think I’ve permanently grafted some type of backpack or shoulder bag to my body. This practice was ingrained into my personality by years upon years of schooling. Seriously, 16+ years from kindergarten through college I’ve been required by circumstance to use some type of book bag. That’s more than half of my life. This bag addiction was further agitated by years of using public transportation. If you’re taking a bus somewhere you need a book or magazine and a Discman with an assortment of CDs. Every time I try to break the habit, events occur that make me either breathe a sigh of relief that I had my trusty man-purse with me or breathe a string of obscenities about not having my backpack with me. My bag addiction has taken many forms from the simple green kindergarten Jansport to professional business-style shoulder bags embroidered with my initials, SMH. My current bag is one of my all-time favs. It’s a single strap shoulder bag with plenty of separate pockets for pens, cell phone, glasses, and whatnot. The bonus attribute is that it’s made out of hemp, which is just fun to brag about. So what, you may ask, do I use the bag for?

Four black pens
One red pen
Fine tipped Sharpie
Mechanical Pencil
Eraser
Tire pressure gauge
Nail art pen
Excedrin
Butane lighter
Four tabs of pseudoephedrine
Prescription glasses
Prescription sunglasses
A tin full of spare change
Wallet
Dirtbag style hackysack
One herbal teabag
Pencil sharpener
CD: Yes, Keys to Ascension
CD: Yes, Keys to Ascension 2
Small Swiss Army Knife
HP 48G Calculator
Little black (phone)book
Business card portfolio
3.5” diskette, contents unknown
Little metal business card case
CD case with 24 assorted CDs
Composition notebook used as gym/workout log
Book: The Dylan Companion edited by Elizabeth Thomson and David Gutman
A small assortment of photos
Checkbook
Random bills
Three steno notebooks, contents unknown
Two old legal size notepads, contents unknown
Folder containing random short stories, scribbles, and poems

And until 15 minutes ago it also had an Earl Grey tea bag. I was forced to make tea because the office building is currently at near-Arctic temperatures and I need a warm cup of tea or coffee to snuggle up to. This is one of those time I yell, “Oh yeah! Praise be the shoulder bag and its untold secrets!” Unfortunately, my hemp bag is past retirement age and is ready to visit the Back of the Coat Closet Country Club. It’s wearing thin in many places and has several holes at the corner. I tried to force this bag into retirement a year ago, but the snazzy leather business brief replacement lasted one month before it croaked. Piece of shit!

SSDiabolique has informed me that for my birthday she’s going to take me out to find a new shoulder bag. Sweet! The other day we watched The Nineth Gate and I really connected with Johnny Depp’s character. And why was I empathetic with this character? And how does this connect to the current topic? He plays a rare book dealer who appears to be emotionally and intimately connected to his brown suede satchel. I felt the sense of security when he had his bag with him and I felt his insecurities when he couldn't rely on his bag. I laughed when he laughed; I cried when he cried. ;-> Here is a partial picture of Mr. Depp sporting his book bag. So, now I have a clearly defined goal as far as material, style, and shape. This weekend is bag-hunting time!

Let loose the hounds!

...and so it was written, shenry at 6/26/2002 02:10:00 PM.
...and so it was appended with .