There's a terrific vinyl LP in the loft called Songs From The Knee Plays. It's the work of that mad fella David Byrne, who's this week lounging in the all-important top 10 laying down the vocals for XPress 2 on their Lazy single. Nice.

On one of the Knee Plays tracks, DB talks about going into a supemarket. At the checkout he wonders what would happen if, rather than wheel out his own trolley, he took home the contents of someone else's. Would consuming their goods make him more like that other person?

That was flitting about my unconscious when I spotted my trusty and slightly battered Fila rucksack under my desk at work. It ain't pretty, but it makes a dead handy cyclist's carry-all, a biker's briefcase. Not unlike a handbag, I'm never entirely sure of its contents - so I did a lunchtime inventory:

1. Handspring Visor PDA
   • an expensive address book; must use it more
2. E45 dermatological cream
   • ironic, being allergic to your working environment
3. wintergreen Altoids
   • overpoweringly odious and quite unpleasant-to-eat mints, but it would be wrong to simply dump them
4. dental floss
   • to dislodge those p.m. orange pieces
5. two pencils
   • pens are forbidden at the local Record Office lest you leave a permanent mark on the precious things
6. five red dice in packet
   • um, must be a good reason for these, related to numeracy hour at school
7. one rubber band
   • because you never know - be prepared, said my cub scout leader
8. dead 25w bulb
   • prompting me to buy a working identical one; has been in the bag for months
9. 36 exposure 35mm film
   • "process before Mar 2002": never mind
10. pack of playing cards, mint in packet
    • rewatching Groundhog Day, I was impressed by Bill Murray's ability to flick cards into a hat; that's a skill I want
11. balloons, one white, one green
    • a kid's book at home, "Supposing", shows a mother and child releasing balloons from the top of a hill; keep meaning to do this one day
12. mini pack of Smarties & small Bob The Builder chocolate bar
    • rucksack often accompanies trips out with kiddywinks; always good idea to take emergency confectionery
13. two bulldog clips
    • see above comment on rubber band
14. Post-Its
    • got these, but prefer green-ness of writing on back of discarded print-outs

Difficult to draw too many conclusions from that, I'd say. There's gadgetry mixed with everyday items, personal medication (I include the Altoids) and jobs left undone, but also props for future learning. What's in yours?

Be seeing you!

Ed