The Tyranny of "Stuff"
We finally had that yard sale last week, the one we'd been threatening to have for the past two years. As we were clearing off the pool table and lugging all the junk upstairs my wife and I were both struck by how much crap we've accumulated without even trying. I even went through my books and tossed a few dozen outside to be sold.
At that moment, when everything in the house became possible yard sale fodder, I began asking myself if I really need all of these books, many of which I read years ago and have been collecting dust ever since. Some of them I bought in high school and have been moving around with me for years. Chances are I'll never read them again, some of them I'll never even open again. They'd survived past yard sales because they're books that I enjoyed reading at some point, and who knows? I might decide to read them again. But they're still stuff. And when you're looking at all of that stuff on piles on tables, and under tables, and sitting on boxes next to tables, it all becomes junk that isn't ever going back into the house.
On the other hand, they're books.
So yes, there are still shelves full of books in the house. And there are still boxes full of books in the basement. Those books belong for the most part to my kids, so in theory, one day they will be taken away. Some of them are mine though, and they're still in the basement.
Many of them are beautiful children's books that are just too good to dump. Some of them are signed by the authors and/or illustrators. Some of them are remains of my mother's children's book collection, most of which was donated to a local library when she died.
Before she died I always told myself that whichever books my siblings didn't want, I would pack up and bring home. After she died I started asking myself where I was going to put all those books. So I swiped a few of the good ones, first edition Caldecott winners, signed, or stuff I just liked. I left others with my father, and the rest are now being shared (I hope) with local children.
I don't think we sold a single book at our sale. I see books at other yard sales, usually their trashy best sellers, diet books, or other things I'm not interested in. There are almost always kid's books. We had kid books and diet books, but I thought the rest of the books, since they weren't trashy best sellers, would sell. I forgot that most people don't think like me. I took the kid books to school, and they will be donated when school starts in September. Our librarian will be so happy with the extra work these books will make for her, I'd better bring her a present.
We also had clothes, bikes, games, and miscellaneous items. The bikes went quickly. There is a guy, whose house we pass all the time who buys and sells used bikes. They're out on his lawn every weekend.
We got rid of a bunch of other junk, but there was still a lot left at the end.
I'd advertised the sale on Craigslist. From that ad, I got an email from Goodwill. I called them Sunday night. They came on Monday and took away all of the leftovers. I appreciate that kind of service.
As I was looking at the Goodwill receipt it suddenly hit me that it pays more to donate your junk because the tax write off is much higher than the pittance you get from people looking for cheap stuff.
On the other hand, neighbors come over to visit. You meet new people. And I was able to get a lot of reading done.
It is now possible to walk in the basement. When I look around the house though, I still see lots of stuff that I'm responsible for. And there is still stuff that I want, mostly music and book stuff. How do I balance wanting my stuff with the knowledge that most of is is just "stuff", and since it's mine, I have to take care of it, keep it clean, make sure it stays usable and all that? How do I keep from coveting more books and
music?
Labels: books, Music, stuff, yard sale
Stuff
We've finally begun going through my
mother's things. Going through the house, I've discovered why I am such a pack rat. It's genetic. She saved everything; well not quite everything, but enough stuff to make it feel like everything. I've heard of people whose houses were impossible to walk through because all of the floor space was taken up by stuff. It wasn't nearly that bad. There were a lot of old report cards, vases, wrapping paper, clothes, books, and . . . stuff. Since it wasn't my stuff, I felt comfortable throwing a lot of it away; even some of my old MAD Magazines that I somehow missed when I cleared the last of my junk from their house years ago. The clothes will be donated. Jewelry was divided up. I'm going to take the books from the basement to a used book store. We are still debating about what to do with her collection of children's books, which is upstairs. I'm told there are around 1500 volumes. Some of them are signed by the author. I've already swiped the ones I wanted. We could donate the rest to a school, but the thought of these beautiful books being torn apart over the years by careless readers offends the collector in me. So they will sit on the shelves for a while longer.
Someday my children are going to have to go through this. I'm hoping it's easier for them. The only things I horde are books and music. All of the books and music are in one room . . . except for the comic books. They're upstairs in the closet, packed away in boxes and plastic bags. They are another story. Some day I will have to make a list of the items that have value, just so the kids know. Most of it won't mean anything to them though. I think. My daughter might want the Billie Holiday CDs. The music of mine that my son likes is mostly on vinyl, and he won't touch my vinyl. They might want some of the books; the Cynical Man and Sandman comics will be taken by my daughter. They'll split the Calvin and Hobbes. They can sell the rest.
This is morbid, isn't it. I didn't mean it to be, I was just thinking in this direction.
Labels: books, comic books, death, Music
Feel Free to Sing Along
I have to admit, I've never been fond of Christmas Carols. But today, I found one I like. You can listen to it
here, at The Nose on Your Face.Labels: Music
Bartok String Quartets
A concert will be beginning in a little over an hour. A famous string quartet is going to play the entire cycle of Bartok's six string quartets. I can't be there, so I'm listening to them being played on CD by The Juilliard String Quartet. It's their 1981 digital cycle, which if the reviewer in our local paper is to be believed, is not as good as their 1963 recording. I don't know enough about classical music to judge, but the '81 recording is not to be sneezed at.
Playing the entire cycle live, along with two intermissions will take about four hours. That's a lot of music.
I can't remember why I bought this 2 CD set. I may have read it mentioned in interviews with old jazz greats, because, you know, they did listen to other genres of music. I may have gotten it from a CD club. I don't remember. It's great music though. The visceral impact is staggering. It's also exhausting in its intensity. I usually have to take breaks if I'm listening, and I've never listened to both CDs in the same day. But hey, it's Sunday and it's cold and snowy outside.
Labels: Bartok String Quartets, Music
Duke Ellington on Reprise
Being a jazz fan, I love Mosaic box sets. If things were better financially, I'd have a lot more. I hesitated ordering the Reprise Duke Ellington set because, well, he does Mary Poppins, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and some other tunes that just sounded like they had to be cheesy. I was wrong.
As any Mosaic fan knows, it's now out of print, so you can imagine my elation when I scored a copy from a used record shop. The best part was, I got it for $51.00.
The music on this set is superb. Duke arranged all of the tunes to make them his. The band is in fine form, alto sax doesn't get any better than Johnny Hodges, and while there are some tunes that are less than golden, this is a set well worth having.
Labels: Duke Ellington, jazz, Mosaic Records, Music
CHALLAH AKBAR
