Tripod
Tripod

   Letters from Tripod
From Maria Trimarchi, Site Manager:


I carry a bag. I repeat, a bag — not a purse. I carry this bag to and from work, and that's only because I can't carry CDs in my pocket. Generally, I am anti-bag. I usually stuff my license/ATM card/dollars into my pocket, and I'm good to go.

Actually, I'm not even using my own bag. My bag had an accident; this one's only a replacement. It's a quasi-messenger bag. I'm sure there's a technical name for it, but I don't know it. It has two main compartments (and some small, zippered pouches that I can't fit anything into) and a flap top. It's black and it sits at a very satisfying hip level.

I think you can learn a lot about a person by what they feel they need to carry with them. Here's what I have in my bag:

Front compartment:

  • Chap Stick — medicated (I like the tingle)
  • Key chain — house keys, car keys, all attached to a Tripod bottle-opener key chain
  • Sunglasses case — the sunglasses live in my car
  • A Camel Lights cigarette box with one old, frumpy cigarette left in it
  • Matches
  • Cinnamon gum
  • One scraggly, chipped Advil
  • Lactaid tablets
  • Contact case — you never know when you're going to want to take your eyeballs out
  • One orange Iomega Zip disk
  • A Washington, D.C., metro SmarTrip card with 15 cents left on it
  • Round-trip airline ticket stubs from Washington, D.C.'s Reagan National Airport to O'Hare

Main compartment:

  • Wallet — full of cancelled credit cards, demagnetized ATM cards, my key card to get into work, and an old college ID I use for discounts. (Yes, that's bad, I know.)
  • Checkbook — I just opened a new checking account, with no irrational ATM fees, friendly customer service, and no charge for new checks. How cool is that?
  • Blue pens, and one extra-fine-point Sharpie
  • Sketch book
  • Address book
  • Post-it Notes — all stuck together, stuck to the cover of my address book
  • A postcard that says, "Hug it, drive it. Hug it, drive it." It's for the New Beetle and it's from my friend Maria. I'm not sure why I carry it around in my bag; I don't even drive a Volkswagen.
  • Hairbrush — black, with a red elastic band wrapped around the end
  • Case Logic CD-carrying case and requisite CDs
My bag sits under my desk when I'm working and I never use anything that's in it. 'Cause what I need is in my pocket.

—Maria