I like these Friday Fives, even if I do answer them tardily. This week is all about organization, a subject about which I know plenty, even though the fiancee would likely beg to differ.

I like these Friday Fives, even if I do answer them tardily. This week is all about organization, a subject about which I know plenty, even though the fiancee would likely beg to differ.

1. Would you consider yourself an organized person? Why or why not?

I am organized but cluttered. Life for me gravitates into piles: a pile of to-do items, a pile of things to put away, a pile of CDs I listened to and haven’t refiled, I pile of receipts I haven’t deigned worthy of the trash yet. Within that clutter, I usually know where my things are.

2. Do you keep some type of planner, organizer, calendar, etc. with you, and do you use it regularly?

I do. Palm Pilot, Schmalm Pilot: I have a Charing Cross weekly planner, in leather and paper and gold foil, filled with black-ink-handwritten notes. It looks like this. I carry it in my back pocket and buy two each year, because the spine tends to wear out after six months of sitting on it.

3. Would you say that your desk is organized right now?

Um … not really, no.

4. Do you alphabetize CDs, books, and DVDs, or does it not matter?

I used to alphabetize, but quantity outstripped utility after a while–putting a new Beta Band CD into the B’s would mean pushing 800 CDs one notch to the right. My CDs are arranged in roughly two dozen self-designed genres. I have labeled dividers waiting to be installed, too. The books in the house are similarly arranged, not for any good reason but because it made sense; the DVD/video collection is too small to require any sorting.

5. What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever had to organize?

People.