Ten minutes to write. Less time to read.

The next primaries aren’t until this Saturday, January 19, so I’ve entertained myself with watching the premier of the new season of “American Idol.” A couple moments even brought soft tears to my eyes, which is more than I can say for the political rhetoric.

But “American Idol” isn’t something that consumes one hundred percent of my attention. (Neither do the current political campaigns.) While I watched I started a project that has been waiting in the wings for years; that being culling the thousands of photographs that have ended up in boxes in our guest bedroom. It is my hope to discard the odious out-of-focus ones, organize those that make the cut, and then continue going forward in a planned manner.

Today, many people keep their photos on their computers, the better to manipulate them. I was even succumbing to this idea. That is, until I spent last night sorting through the real blood and bone type of photo, the kind you used to wait a few days to view. I have photos that cover the entire twentieth century, starting with tintypes, moving through Brownie cameras into Polaroids and Kodak moments and then into one-hour finishing. They are all sizes and shapes and color quality.

And each yields a certain moment in time. Sure, digital photos do the same thing, but who ever sees them when they’re stored on one’s personal computer. My photos have physical substance, and I believe they are a better aid to memory.

I found the photo of my eighth grade friends the day we all went to the Highlands for a swim party in 1957. How young we were. Then there was the photo of my Mother and her second husband on their wedding day in 1968. And photos of my children as infants. Photos of family members long deceased and other family members certainly alive. Certainly older too.

This isn’t a project I can finish in a week or even two. But then “American Idol” is going to be around until spring. So I’ve decided that each week I’ll revisit my photo project during “American Idol” and eliminate the unworthy in the spirit of the show.