Ellen DeGeneres recently went through the audience of her show examining the size of women's purses, and what she found supported my theory that there are two kinds of people when it comes to handbags: worriers who think of their bag as protection in emergencies (i.e., they carry everything but the kitchen sink), and the carefree who want to travel light and have faith that the universe will provide. I'm of the first variety (sample contents: bandages, scotch tape, aspirin, scissors, safety pins, a map of the world, Neosporin), but try not to be too obvious about it because I think the need to carry your life around in a bag is a weakness and, at its most extreme, perhaps even a mental disorder (remember Ally Sheedy in The Breakfast Club?). So my solution, until I get over it somehow, is to carry everything in miniature to hide my illness.

I like to keep a pad of paper and a pen in my purse even though I usually use my Treo for jotting down notes (you can't leave a Treo note on somebody's door or on a broken parking meter). The "world's most popular blogging anesthesiologist" has a recommendation to help me with this: Wallet Notes from Magellan's. A Wallet Note consists of 15 self-stick notes in a silver case the size of a credit card (with tabs for easy retreival from your wallet) and a miniature pen with Flexigrip wings. They're only $12.85 for a set of 3, and of course, are also good for people who only carry a wallet (my ultimate goal).

Via bookofjoe