how odd to see the old list - and how many (pointless) things i still carry in my black leather triangular shaped pack...

* office photo i.d.
* ny subway metro card
* plastic box of fresh cinnamon flavor peelu sugarless gum
* small folding wooden scunci mirror
* plastic tube of IGNATIA AMARA a homeopatic remedy
  for "nervousness, hyper sensitivity due
  to everyday stress"
* 2 pentel "encore grip roller" extra fine pens (black)
  (does anyone else remember when you could pretty much
  only get blue ink? ball point pens?
* chap stick (original flavorless version)
* small nylon hakuba storage pouch for ultra 256mb
  SunDisk compact flash in case i fill the 1 Gig
  hard drive (which I did last week on vacation in Mexico)
  for my Canon G2
* extra battery for the Canon G2
* Canon G2
* 2 cards from Union Square Cafe good for a
    glass of billecart-salmon champagne at
    sunday lunch through march
* $80 in Chase envelope
* keys
* Advanced reader's copy of Pattern Recognition
  by William Gibson
* small kipling pouch in lieu of wallet containing
  * emery board
  * checkbook and check register
  * 3 credit cards
  * gluten intolerance card
  * 2 more pentel "encore grip" pens
  * aarp card (didn't have that back then)
  * receipt from guadalajara airport duty free shop for
    don julio tequila
    meyers rum
    chocolate
  * 50 mg zoloft
  * chase serviceline info card
  * att access numbers card
  * continental airlines one pass card
  * reminder for april 16 eye doctor appt.
  * busines cards from
    * hairdresser @ aveda
    * gynecologist
    * eye doctor
    * interist
  * oxford hmo card
  * 3 discount cards for 1/2 off admission
    to the loews 34 st movie theater, expire 3/31
  * kim's video i.d.
  * receipt from Aveda
  * 32 cent Georgia O'Keeffe stamp
  * phone number of publisher's assitant
    who liked my photography and wants me to resubmit '
  * loehmann's insider club card
  * america west airlines flight fund card
  * chart to locate street addresses in manhattan.
    do any other cities have these?
  * suggested tip guide card
  * Smithsonian National Museum of the
    American Indian membership card
  * 2 Lotto tickets from December 28,
    never checked the numbers
  * xerox of article entitled 'drinking keeps you sane'
  * ritazza coffee card with one stamp
  * voter registration card
  * 37 cent stamps
  * prescription for bone density test
  * duane reade rewards club card
  * $40 in bills
  * $1.65 in change
  * 2 band-aid brand adhesive bandages
  * eyeglass repair kit containing tiny screwdriver
    and screws

I have two bags - a work bag for commuting and a purse. I also have a gym bag that I carry to work on Mondays and deposit back home on Fridays. I look like a bag lady when I have all three with me!

The gym bag: gym clothes, small toiletry bag with the usual stuff, hand towel, bath towel, earphones, lock, hairbrush, elastics and sneakers.

The purse (very small bag): cell phone, wallet w/ credit cards, driver license, etc. (no pictures though), MAC compact, MAC lipstick in Del Rio, Clinique lipstick in Black Honey, and sometimes sunglasses.

The commuter bag (Baggalini tote from ebags.com): bus pass, umbrella, book (currently Gone With the Wind), hand sanitizer, Sony Clie handheld, pen, outgoing mail and NetFlix movies, occasionally knitting (usually just a scarf).

Yep. I like my bags. =) Was fun reading everyone else's.

My current bag is a relatively small shoulder bag. It has a separate zipped pocket on the outside for my camera, a pocket inside for my mobile phone, a zipped pocket inside for my PDA. The contents are as follows:

Small digital camera
PDA
Mobile phone
Handsfree earphone
Fountain pen
Spare cartridges (Herbin Sueur only - in neat metal tin)
e3 Bic pen (stylus/pencil/pen)
Notebook
Purse (for money, credit cards, gym membership card)
Keys
One lipstick
Tic tacs

I also have a larger bag with the same configuration of zipped pockets and if I use that bag I would probably also pack a book, my larger digital camera and possibly my iPod.

Wow...misty watercolor memories. I was one of the original posters, and re-reading it made me realize how much my life has changed.

Then: freelance writer in San Francisco.
Now: freelance writer in La Fortuna, Costa Rica. (The back of beyond.)

I carry far fewer things than I did in the SF days. Most days I wear shorts with big pockets, so frequently I don't carry any bag. I always have my keys (on a "National Trust for Scotland" fob I got on vacation a few years ago & a silver amulet my friend Laurie cast for me in 1968), baggie with doggie treats (just got a puppy), usually an extra scrunchy, and wads of napkins (easier and cheaper than kleenex for mopping my sweaty face.) Sometimes a teal and pink coin purse (came with a Clinique gwp) full of bulky colones. Hard sunglass case.

Other times I carry a small Eagle Creek guide bag with a real wallet (Calif license, VISA, ATM cards, Seguro Social health insurance card, biz cards), maglite, more hair elastics, lip balm, lip pencil, mini-Leatherman, baseball cap, Aleve, index cards, numerous pens and various lucky rocks and coins. Copy of my passport foto page and a tiny thermometer (the kind you clip on a parka), so that I can torture myself by seeing how hot it is.

Sometimes I put it all into a microfiber tote (Linda Dano from QVC) for trips to the grocery store, etc.

I carry a medium-sized Timbuk2 messenger bag to work every day (black and purple, custom designed by me!) because I lug around far too much stuff. In the bag right now:

Wallet
Checkbook
Little cosmetic bag filled with band-aids, Advil, lip gloss, eyedrops, a small mirror, and a baby bottle of Bath and Body Works lotion (Cotton Blossom)
CD case with 24 CDs inside
CD case with 12 CDs inside
3 or 4 random extra CDs (my commute is only an hour each way, yet I need so many CDs?)
CD player
Cell phone
Tins of cinnamon and sour tangerine Altoids
Extra batteries for the CD player
Assorted pens

I carry a black leather tote (approximately 8"x8"x2") with two shoulder straps. One side has a cell phone holder that I use if I'm carrying the cell phone that my husband and I share.

I keep the following items in my purse:

• beige leather Liz Claiborne wallet with driver's license, Visa, ATM card, copier card for campus copiers, and usually around $10 with enough change to buy juice from a vending machine even if the dollar bill slot is broken
• lime green cosmetic bag that was free with purchase at the Clinique counter a few years ago containing nail clippers, Clinique Black Honey lipstick, Bobbi Brown lip palette with mirror and lip brush, Bobbi Brown opal lip gloss, Bobbi Brown pressed powder, small comb, and gray fabric scrunchie
• black 5"x7" notebook with lined pages in various colors and a burgundy gelly roll pen
• keychain that has a watch face because I hate having something on my wrists
• Visor Platinum in black leather case
• sunglasses in a hard black case
• pages that I've pulled off my cat and kitten daily calendar at work because the pictures are too cute to go in the trash
• something to read, usually a paperback but some times a story or novel on my Visor

Everything has changed since I got married...even what I carry. After trying to find the perfect huge bag (and dragging hubby around Kohl's for an eternity and driving him crazy), I downsized to a handbag. Now I carry: wallet (downsized from a planner), meds, Starbucks after-coffee gum, a Mary Kay compact with eyeshadow, lipstick and blush, lip gloss, pens, a rubber-banded pile of receipts, coupons and the operators manual on my cell phone, the phone itself, and a small purple velvet pouch with a rose quartz pendulum and a stone from Iona (my "magic stones"). I guess I haven't downsized very well.

Purse: right now a red large bag (almost a tote)

black wallet with credit cards, grocery card, cards for Sam's Club, etc., driver's license, work ID, Blockbuster card, AMC theatre card, casino players club cards, various coupons and receipts, a little bit of $$.

comb in a case with a mirror, Motorola phone in a red case matching the purse, small address book, book to read at lunch, my lunch in a ziplock bag (at least in the a.m.; after lunch it's just my used spoon in the ziplock bag), keys.

black and white striped Estee Lauder bag with hand lotion, mints, dental floss, toothpicks in a wooden holder, pens, chapstick, emery board, tiny flashlight.

Kleenex and my gloves -- at least until it gets warmer.

Edited by author 03-10-2003 01:03 PM
Purse (a taupe Sak™):

• small zippered Liz Claiborne leather wallet (old!) with driver's license, various credit cards, library card, grocery store discount card, a few dollars.
  
• small Le Sac floral cosmetic bag with nail clippers, lipstick (Clinique Black Honey), tiny Clinique lipstick mirror, small Clinique Aromatics Elixir perfume spray, bandaids, comb, more hair bands, nail file, pillbox with generic ibuprofen and Aleve.
  
• Clinique handcream, flashlight, Kleenex pocket pack, glasses, sunglasses, a couple of pens, a tiny spiral bound blank notebook, Mentholatum Soft Lips, cough drops, Certs mints.
  
• Key ring: Swiss army knife, tiny LED flashlight, keys.
  
• Motorola StarTac phone.
  

Knitting bag (a quilted faux-Vera Bradley bag with a zipper and a bunch of inside pockets):

• Whatever I'm currently knitting (right now: pair of purple Regia socks), pattern if I need one (not this time), notepad shaped like a foot, several pens, pad of Post-It notes, pack of Kleenex, spare glasses, more handcream
  
• Small cosmetic-type bag containing tape measure, crochet hooks, tapestry needles, knitting markers, safety pins, knitting counter, scissors, more bandaids.
  
• Handspring Visor Deluxe (blue) in a zippered leather Franklin Covey case.
  
• A book (currently: Walter Moseley's "Six Easy Pieces")
  
• A ZIP disk with current projects on it
  

Edited by author 03-10-2003 12:05 PM
Mark at Boing Boing asked what electronic devices readers carry with them every day.

A few years ago, I asked my readers what they carry, and they responded with some interesting lists.

I loved reading those lists, and thought it might be time to revisit the question because I think people (some people anyway) enjoy taking inventory. And also because it would be a good way to test out Quick Topic's message board service.

So, tell me what you carry.