Cruftbox: My Box of Cruft

Michele, my wife, and I are voracious readers. She tends toward Scandinavian crime novels and I tend toward hard sci-fi, with us both dipping our toes into fantasy novels from time to time.

Over our 20+ years together, we collected quite a library of books, filling upwards of three Billy bookshelves. When the girls where little, our date night usually consisted of dinner and then a trip to the book store where we’d wander and each pick up 2–3 books to chew through.

Once the Kindle arrived, things began to change.

Reading a paper book, I found myself frustrated that I couldn’t press on the word to see a definition or highlight a passage. Fairly quickly, we moved to only reading on Kindles and not buying paper books.

After some time, we began to look at our wall of books with different eyes. Michele wanted more space for art and knick-nacks, and I was happy to get stuff out of the house.

So we basically gathered up all the books we had and donated them to the library.

It was simple, easy, and we felt good about making an improvement to our local library. The hope that others would have a chance to enjoy these books exists when they are in the library, but not when they are on our shelves, gathering dust.

It’s been 5 years now since we gave them all away and we regret nothing.

Recently there’s been a lot of hyperventilation about Marie Kondo “keeping only 30 books” recommendation.

The truth is, she’s right. You don’t need all those books.

We still pick up books from time to time, either with art/photos or books with far more design than simply text. But the vast majority of what we read are novels with only text.

Coming to realize that having the books was more about keeping score than ever going back to reread them was half the battle. Books are often deeply associated with the time in your life you read them, and I can understand the emotional connection. Happily, your memories don’t leave your home when the books do.

In the end, it’s just a book. With so much amazing new books being written, it’s unlikely we’ll ever go re-read a novel, and if we wanted to, we’d read it electronically, not on paper. Even better, most libraries are now offering to check out books electronically via Overdrive and other systems for free.

Take a look at your own bookshelves and ask yourself honestly; “when was the last time you touched, let alone read them?”

Cruft Manor has Halloween traditions: Every year, we give out full size candies, made a listing of all costumes, and make a timelapse movie.

I let the kids choose their favorite candy themselves. This can sometimes lead to a prolonged choosing process and debate. The moments of “OMG” and “wow” are wonderful as they realize the candies are full size.

As has become tradition, I made a timelapse movie of handing out candy to the kids. This year, I started when the first trick or treaters appeared a little after 6 PM.

The time-lapse takes place over a little more than three hours that is reduced to just over ninety seconds for your viewing pleasure. My old GoPro is still shooting 4×3 and I need to move to 16×9 next year.

When people come to the door, I ask every person what they were dressed as and wrote down their answers. I am careful to ask what they are, accepting their answers rather than interpreting what I see.

This Halloween makes it 14 years of data to compare, though 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017.

Wonder Woman took the top spot this year. Fairly generic costume versions also stayed high, with variations on zombies and skeletons popular. As I saw last year, there we literally no politics oriented costumes this year. Not a lot of standout stuff year that stuck me as a new trend.

Here are few of the fun costumes I saw this year.

Our total number of visitors was a little down, well under 200. Several families nearby had their lights off and probably lead to lower traffic to our house.

This year’s complete costume list of 157 people:

5 Wonder Woman
4 Pirate
3 Devil
3 Skeleton
2 Clown
2 Harry Potter
2 Skull
2 Unicorn
2 Werewolf
2 Zombie
2 Bee
2 Big Bad Wolf
2 Bunny Rabbit
2 Captain America
2 Chuckie
2 Cow
2 Fortnite Skin
2 Incredible
2 Iron Man
2 Myself
2 Princess
2 Purger
2 Spiderman
2 Superman
1 “payday”
1 50s Girl
1 A Bush
1 Air Force
1 Angel
1 Anna from Frozen
1 Annabeth Chase
1 Ariel
1 Ash (Pokemon)
1 Barbie
1 Bat Fan
1 Batgirl
1 Batman
1 Beanie Baby
1 Belle
1 Bike Rider
1 Black Panther
1 Bob Ross on a Dinosaur
1 Bumblebee from Transformers
1 Cat
1 Charlie Brown
1 Chubby Baby
1 Cinderella
1 Danny Zuko
1 David S. Pumpkins
1 Daygo — anime
1 Deadly Knight
1 Demon
1 Día de los Muertos
1 Dinosaur
1 Drug Dealer
1 Elena from Avalon
1 Elf
1 Flapper
1 Flash
1 Floppy Man from Car Dealership
1 Foxy the Pirate
1 Frankenstein
1 Furby
1 Gangster
1 Gingerbread Man
1 God
1 Goddess
1 Grim Reaper
1 Gryffindor
1 Harleen Quinzel
1 Harley Quinn
1 Hermoine Granger
1 Huntress
1 Inflatable Green Suit
1 Kevin from Up
1 Killer Clown
1 Koala
1 Little Red Riding Hood
1 Little Soldier
1 Massaba Bella
1 Max
1 Michael Meyers (with soundtrack)
1 Michael Meyers Jester
1 Michael Phelps
1 Miguel from Coco
1 Minnie Mouse
1 Monkey
1 Monster
1 Panda Bear
1 Phantom
1 Police
1 Princess Jasmine
1 Princess Leia
1 Pumpkin
1 Puppy
1 Queen of Hearts
1 Ravenclaw
1 Rosie the Riveter
1 Sad Dodger
1 Scarecrow
1 Scary Skeleton
1 Shark
1 She-Hulk
1 Shredder
1 Skater
1 Skeleton Bride
1 Skull Trooper
1 Slappy from Goosebumps
1 Spaceman
1 Star Lord
1 Stitch
1 Supergirl
1 SWAT
1 Taga — anime
1 Television Set
1 Tinkerbell
1 True from Magic Kingdom
1 Unicorn w/ Wings
1 UPS Box
1 Vampirina
1 Wolfman
1 Yoda
1 Yukata
1 Zom”bee”
1 Zombie Cinderella
1 Zombie Princess

157 Costumed Visitors

Nothing.

I was less distracted.

Cruft Manor has Halloween traditions: Every year, we give out full size candies, made a listing of all costumes, and make a timelapse movie.

~300 Full Size Candies, ready for the trick or treaters!

This year I had sugar-free, gluten-free, and vegan options just in case.

I let the kids choose their favorite candy themselves. This can sometimes lead to a prolonged choosing process and debate. The moments of “OMG” and “wow” are wonderful as they realize the candies are full size.

As has become tradition, I made a timelapse movie of handing out candy to the kids. This year, I started when the first trick or treaters appeared a little after 5:30 PM.

Michele had done a great job of prepping the house and the set up was easy.

My daughter Zoe and her friend Danny were here to help out while I was away from the door, but they mainly watched Strange Things.

The time-lapse takes place over a little more than three hours that is reduced to just over ninety seconds for your viewing pleasure.

When people come to the door, I ask every person what they were dressed as and wrote down their answers. I am careful to ask what they are, accepting their answers rather than interpreting what I see.

This Halloween makes it 13 years of data to compare, though 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016.

Nerds, out of nowhere topped out the list. Most were the stereotypical glasses with tape and suspenders version. Evie from the Descendants movie was popular and one of the newer costumes I saw. Strangely, there we literally no politics oriented costumes this year.

Some great work put into the costumes with great make-up and even some EL wiring handiwork.

Our total number of visitors was a little down, under 200. Maybe the cooler weather or the World Series game keep a few families inside.

This year’s complete costume list of 193 people:

7 Nerd
5 Batman
4 Cat
4 Evie from the Descendents
4 Pirate
4 Superman
3 Baseball Player
3 Batgirl
3 Elsa
3 Ninja
3 Skeleton
3 Vampire
3 Witch
2 Black Suit Guy
2 Cheetah
2 Dragon
2 Fox
2 Frankenstein
2 Mal from Descendents
2 Minnie Mouse
2 Police
2 Rosie the Riveter
2 Snow White
2 Spider-Man
2 Stitch
2 Stormtrooper
2 Supergirl
2 The Flash
2 Zombie
1 80s Girl
1 Alice Through the Looking Glass
1 Anakin Skywalker
1 Antman
1 Assassin
1 Banana
1 Bank Robber
1 Barcelona Soccer Player
1 Beaver
1 Belle
1 Black Cat
1 Bumble Bee Boy
1 Bumblebee
1 Butterfly
1 Butterfly Princess
1 Captain America
1 Carebear
1 Catwoman
1 Cinderella
1 Cleopatra
1 Clown
1 Count Olaf
1 Cowgirl
1 Curious George
1 Dead KISS Member
1 Dead Seeker from Watchdogs 2
1 Dead Ugly Ninja
1 Deadpool
1 Death Trooper
1 Deb from Dexter
1 Dexter from Dexter
1 Día de Muertos
1 Dodgers Fan
1 Dogman
1 Dragon Ninja
1 Dwight Schute
1 Egyptian
1 Error 404: Costume Not Found
1 Ever After Doll
1 Georgie from IT
1 Ghost Clown
1 Ghostbusters
1 Grim Reaper
1 Harambe
1 Harley Quinn
1 Homeless Man
1 Hulk
1 Huntress
1 Irrelevant
1 Jack O Lantern
1 Jawa
1 Jerrod
1 Jester
1 Jigsaw
1 Joker
1 Juggler
1 Killer Clown
1 Kitty Cat
1 Kubo
1 Lemony Snicket
1 Leonardo — Ninja Turtle
1 Leopard
1 Little red Riding Hood
1 Luigi
1 Mario
1 Max — Where the Wild Things Are
1 Mermaid
1 Michael Jackson
1 Miley
1 Moana
1 Monkey
1 Ninjago
1 Optimus Prime
1 Owl
1 Pajama Girl
1 Panda
1 Peter Pan
1 Pigeon
1 Pikachu
1 Pirate Skeleton
1 Poop Emoji
1 Princess
1 Princess Elena
1 Pumpkin
1 Pumpkin, Scary
1 Raccoon
1 Rainbow Fish
1 Rapper
1 River Vixen from Riverdale
1 Scary Clown
1 Scream
1 Sexy Man
1 Sheba
1 Skeleton Knight
1 Slytherin House
1 Snow Princess
1 Sonic
1 Spidergirl
1 Squirtle
1 Sriracha Doge
1 Star Trekky 60s Alien
1 Thomas the Tank Engine
1 Tigger
1 Tinkerbell
1 Totoro
1 Unicorn
1 Waldo, Where’s
1 Wednesday Adams
1 Werewolf
1 Willy Wonka’s Corpse
1 Wolf
1 Zombie Gas Mask

193 Costumed Visitors

Last year, my friend Syd and I began planning a bicycle ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles to celebrate our birthdays, each a day apart. We looked a how to ride between the two cities for a bit, and then the winter rains came.

The rains were wonderful for drought stricken California, but for our bike ride, not so much. The storms wreaked havoc on Pacific Coast Highway, the jewel of our route.

The area closed off by bridge collapse and rock slides is literally the most enticing part of riding the coast.

In May, Michele and I went to Cambria to celebrate our anniversary and ride up as far as we could the coast. We enjoyed the quiet and open roads north of Cambria, sharing it with deer, elephant seals, and turkey vultures. We were hooked.

We stopped at Ragged Point, where the road was closed, smiling from ear to ear from this kind of ride.

Our planning for a birthday ride changed, and we switched to several looping rides from towns along the coast. We had heard that there was a way to ride the closed off section of PCH by entering near the top of Big Sur at Pfeiffer Big Sur Park. We didn’t have exact details, but various cycling blogs were mentioning that the ride was doable and amazing.

By July, were locked in with a plan. On the birthday week, Syd, his wife Kate, Michele, and I rented a giant Sprinter van and headed north to Carmel.

Brian, my college roommate, met up with us in Carmel. Early on Sunday morning, we rode out without a lot of detail toward Big Sur, hoping to find our way.

After a bit of riding in circles, looking at maps, and stressful conversations, we found the entrance to trail up to Big Sur.

The trail up is switchbacks with stairs in places with about 800 feet elevation gain over a mile. Not a huge hike, but carrying bikes made it hard work.

We got to the top with no real idea of what we were going to find. After a few miles, we rolled past the remnants of the hiker crowd and were alone on the road. The fog was in and we couldn’t even see the sea. Only the road ahead of us.

With 5 more days of riding ahead of us, we were leary to head too far and turn the day into a sufferfest, but the hook had been set. Riding PCH without cars was unique opportunity.

The next five days we spent riding in Monterey, Paso Robles, Solvang, and Los Olivios, returning home to South Pasadena tired and happy.

Michele and I knew the window was closing on riding PCH again, as CalTrans was making a huge effort to build a new bridge and re-open the road. The estimate we heard was re-opening by the end of September.

After July’s week of riding, Michele and I couldn’t stop discussing PCH and made plans to make a special trip for it for her birthday. This time, we’d be ready and ride as far as we wanted.

The sky was drizzling Friday night when arrived in Carmel and we hoped for good weather, as this was likely our last real chance to ride PCH before it re-opened.

We headed to Pfeiffer Big Sur Park, parked, and began our adventure.

The highway has a lot of ups and downs, so we went back and forth from dramatic, enjoyable descents to slow, arduous climbs. We made it to Lucia, which is basically a wide spot in the road with a small gift shop. Lucia is 20+ miles in from where we hiked up onto the highway. Other cyclists were here as well, refueling. We sat down, ate the sandwiches we had brought, and smiled.

We decided to turn around here and head back. The actual edge where the road stopped was another 12 miles down. This would turn an already long ride into a painful 70+ mile ride. We opted for fun instead.

The ride back was uneventful, drama-wise. I had prepped with extra tubes, chain breaker, patch kit, etc., but never got a chance to use any of it.

The sun came out and our views got even more beautiful. We stopped to look and listen to the elephant seals. Climbing out, we rested several times after the longer climbs. I daydreamed about eating a chocolate bar. Michele daydreamed about jumping into a jacuzzi.

After the ride back, we hiked down the path to the campgrounds, slowly descending back to civilization.

Back at the car, covered in sweat salt & dirt, we were nothing but smiles.

It’s unlikely we’ll get the opportunity to ride PCH without cars again and I’m glad we made the effort. If you can squeeze a ride in before the highway re-opens, DO IT.