Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

T R E 4 5 O N

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Republicans can’t even be trusted with their own money.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

No one could have predicted…

Thanks for reminding me that Van Jones needs to be slapped.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

I really should read my own blog.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

Republicans don’t trust women.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

You are here: Home / Books / Tuesday Morning Open Thread: We Book People Protect Our Own

Tuesday Morning Open Thread: We Book People Protect Our Own

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There is a rich vein of irony that Kondo’s personal habit of keeping only the thirty books that ‘spark joy’ for her has become A Thing now because people are watching her on television. (Netflix released an eight-episode series on New Year’s Day.) But of course we’re defensive beyond ‘rationality’ about our books, because a vast percentage of the American population regards books not as portable information units but as icon/objects. For such folk, having multiple books is like having multiple pairs of shoes or action figures or collectible plates — past a certain point, it’s just an issue of bad brain chemistry, amirite?

And the Yes But Actually snobs are running with the enemy…

As for me and my house, may we always remain.. bibliophibians!:

Reader Interactions

201Comments

  2. 2.

    OzarkHillbilly

    What Dylan doesn’t understand is that my book piles have magical Dorian Gray properties and I cannot die until I finish them

    I am going to live forever.

  3. 3.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Been meaning to pass along this news report of that rescue a couple weeks ago: Texas woman injured in cave rescue in Newton County, Ark.

    “What really happened, was the caving community came together to rescue one of their own,” Sheriff Wheeler said. “We arrived to help manage the mission and to help gather resources, but we let the experts actually effect the rescue. We had cavers here from all over Arkansas and a couple other states. Others were coming from as far away as Chattanooga, Tennessee.” Wheeler went on to say that several agencies were involved in the logistics of obtaining resources and the rescue went smoothly and actually ended sooner than was originally thought, allowing them to cancel some of the farther away resources. “Cave rescues are, by nature, very slow processes,” Wheeler said. “Major cave rescues often last for days and this one had potential to last a lot longer than it did. But, some very experienced folks that knew what they were doing were in the cave with Amanda and made the process go much quicker than we thought it might.”

    ETA that headline got a Shitty Headline of the Year nomination and it was only January 3.

  4. 4.

    Betty Cracker

    I’ve been a bookworm all my life, was an English major in college and have made a career of writing and editing. But somehow, I never acquired a mania for literature’s pulp-and-ink physical manifestations. I was pleased when ebooks became a thing — easy access and less clutter!

  5. 5.

    different-church-lady

    Look Marie, some people love literature and some people love austere domiciles, and those two groups of people should not mingle. Ever.

  6. 6.

    opiejeanne

    @rikyrah: Good morning.

    Oh no! Sweet Marie Kondo has awakened the social media beast, the wrath of almost everyone on the internet.
    I’m not paring our books down to 30 because I have more than 30 Discworld books that I reread periodically. Terry Pratchett wrote 41 but I don’t own several because they were inferior to his other Discworld books. I may have more than 30 childhood books that I thought were excellent, in the hopes of sharing them with a grandchild some day.
    We have culled our 75 linear feet of bookshelves and probably should do it again soon, but we have a lot of open space in those shelves now but I could clear out some more. People have given us books since the previous culling and some of them are just meh. I’ve taken to mainly buying books for an e-reader in order not to clutter up the house any more.

  7. 7.

    opiejeanne

    @different-church-lady: There is a photo of Marie sitting on a couch. On the wall behind her is a single short shelf with three or four books stacked together, and a vase or something next to them. Those books are not for reading, because if you took one down to peruse it you would mess up her display.

  8. 8.

    Betty Cracker

    @opiejeanne: I’ve only seen the first episode of Kondo’s show, but she does seem very sweet, and I am also horrified that she’s being keel-hauled on social media. Marie ain’t personally judging you, hoarders! She’s trying to help people who WANT help! I came away from that first episode convinced that Kondo and her translator are lovely, helpful people and that the couple featured on that show will be divorced within two years, tops. The husband was such a controlling, passive-aggressive prick!

  9. 9.

    OzarkHillbilly

    I just heard my wife say, “I just brood some coffee.” and I envisioned her standing over a mating pair of arabica and robusta beans.

    I think my brain is broken.

  10. 10.

    Luciamia

    Disliked her book,if only for having to read the word ‘tidy’ over and over. Such a prissy little word. I guess she threw out her thesaurus.

  11. 11.

    different-church-lady

    @opiejeanne: I think one of the major reasons people are reacting so adamantly to this meme is because if she moved one of her muscles even a tiny bit she’d be messing up her display.

  19. 19.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    Haha, this is pretty funny as we are having this fight with Kondo right now. My wife picked the book up a year or more ago and I pretty much ignored it as she read me passages. My impression at that point was that she basically wanted you to live in a bare room with one chair and nothing else. And I thought the very title was silly.

    Then we found the TV show a couple of weeks ago while looking for something to watch. And have at this point watched four episodes. She is awfully cute and her approach to clothing makes a lot of sense. And she’s fun to watch. It’s also kind of fun for me seeing the difference in her personality between English, which she only uses for a sentence here and there, and Japanese, which is what she reserves for all her advice and her philosophical speeches.

    Anyway, we parted ways with the KonMari system over the issue of books, and to a lesser extent papers. Her system for papers is literally “discard everything” but then she modifies that slightly by allowing you three categories which you don’t throw out: action, keep for a little while, keep forever. And then you don’t categorize them but basically throw them in three boxes, no more. Nice concept, but that doesn’t work for me.

    We happily KonMari-ized our clothes, and we’re now working with her on “komono” (which is practically everything that you can’t wear or read) and got some ideas. We also parted ways with her on the concept that you do everything at once. It did not escape me that by the end of those TV episodes we’re looking at 35+ days that have been nothing but sorting your stuff. I have a life to live.

  20. 20.

    Ken

    @OzarkHillbilly: Internet p*rn exists for anything you can think of.

    In the strong form, it means that when you try to test it by coming up with some bizarre new combination fetish, a p*rn site devoted to it will spring into existence as you are typing the search terms, complete with an active community and file uploads dating back ten years.

  22. 22.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @rikyrah: Good. I always do ice for at least the first 24-48 hrs after an injury. I used to switch to heat after that but these days I’ll usually just let it be. YMMV

  24. 24.

    Immanentize

    @rikyrah:
    I’m glad you iced. Once the swelling is down, you might try a heating pad — helps blood circulation. Plus it feels so nice!

    Get better soon!

  25. 25.

    Immanentize

    Speaking of rikyrah’s injury — off to the orthopedic surgeon for my consult this morning. Will the surgeon recommend, I don’t know, surgery?

  26. 26.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Ken: You’re saying there’s a pron site for coffee beans? The internet is more broken than my brain.

  27. 27.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @OzarkHillbilly: Rule 34 has NO EXCEPTIONS

    (After typing that I did actually type “coffee” and the p-word into my Google window and got a nonzero number of hits. And now my sidebar ads are going to get really interesting for a while)

  30. 30.

    Betty Cracker

    Sort of on-topic as it pertains to organizing drawers and clothing, etc. Shortly before Christmas, a friend gave me a container of…an herbal substance that is very pungent indeed. I stashed it in a drawer in the spare room at first, but since we had guests over the holidays, I moved it to the dresser drawer in our bedroom that contains my unspeakables, that being the messiest drawer and thus most apt for concealment of contraband since I refuse to fold underthings.

    Anyhoo, the scent has permeated all my underthings, Later today, I’ve got to renew my license at the DMV. I am calculating the likelihood of encountering a police dog in the courthouse area. I’m afraid if one gets within 20 yards of me, it’ll latch onto my boobs. Maybe I should wash the affected clothing before visiting the DMV? I bet people in Colorado don’t have to worry about this shit.

  31. 31.

    p.a.

    @Ken: One of my faves was a site that critiqued the blackboard content in ‘sex with teacher’ pR0nnn. Some was just gibberish, some was legit.

  32. 32.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    Picked up Madame yesterday(I was on my way back from Costco), she says let’s stop by Rite-Aid…I say I’m just coming back from Costco and have frozen stuff in the back of the car. No it will just take a minute, we’re getting our shingles shots(the first of the Shingrix). It took more than a minute, but my ice cream bars seemed to have survived; I, on the other hand, am feeling the effects from the shot.

  33. 33.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: After that search, it occurred to me, “hey, some people are really artists with the foam on top of a latte. I wonder if…”

    And then I typed “sexy latte” into the search window and did an image search.

    Ho… ly… crap

  35. 35.

    Immanentize

    @Betty Cracker:
    That is very funny. One of the real effects of legalization in Massachusetts is the uptick in skunk weed smells everywhere — restaurants, the street, classrooms….

    Second issue I did not consider, all the drug sniffing dogs have to be retrained to ignore pot. If they can’t be retrained, they have to retire. Poor pooches laid off for being too good at an old thing.

  37. 37.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Betty Cracker:

    Later today, I’ve got to renew my license at the DMV

    That must mean a birthday. Not sure (no idea, actually) when it is, or was, or will occur, but hope it is/was/will be a happy!

  40. 40.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Immanentize: It depends. When I tore my rotator cuff and damaged my bicep tendon the doc told me he could fix the tendon OR just cut it (the bicep has 2 tendons attaching it to the shoulder) If he fixed it I was facing 6 months of rehab. If he cut it, I’d have a Popeye bicep but would need no rehab and it would be just as strong as ever. “Cut it.”

    It’s a little funny looking and I get cramps in it fairly frequently now, but I think that has more to do with my body’s tendency for them (so it is a side effect for ME, not so much for others)

  41. 41.

    Elizabelle

    Less than 30 books!

    That might be essential if you lived in an RV. Otherwise, no. Just no. I don’t trust people who don’t have (intelligent) books in their homes.

  47. 47.

    NotMax

    Rarely have seen a thread get so twisted in so few comments.

    A+. Excellent work.

    :)

    Realized forgot to eat yesterday. Not particularly hungry but ought to have something, I suppose. If I make a sandwich at two or three in the morning is that brupper, breakner or dinnfeast?

  48. 48.

    Betty Cracker

    @SiubhanDuinne: It’s a tardy address change, but thanks all the same! :) A change of address used to be a simple process that could be done online, but now I’ve got to show up with copious documentation.

  50. 50.

    msb

    This dispute over trifles is tiring.
    Kondo sounds pretty right to me – I just differ with her about numbers. I cull my collection (on shelves in 3 rooms and 1 hall) every year. I remove stuff I don’t reread anymore* to make room for new items (and I also get ebooks – lots of stuff is available for free! and go to the library). This keeps the total under 1700 (approx.), keeps me from buying more shelves (no room) AND enables me to renew my acquaintance with old friends annually.
    * One must bear in mind, however, that sometimes I change my mind (after getting rid of a book – expensive habit) and that SF books are harder to replace than mainstream fiction.

  52. 52.

    NotMax

    @Elizabelle

    True story. Once met someone who had lots of bookcases. But only a single book.

    “It’s the only one I like,” said he.

    The complete poems of Robert Service.

  53. 53.

    satby

    @rikyrah: Good morning rikyrah, glad your ankle is a bit better! See if naproxen (Aleve) helps, for some people it really works better for musculoskeletal inflammation, and for others it’s no different than other NSAIDs. Helped me a lot with my shoulder injuries.

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Kondo’s method is just how Japanese people manage to stay same and not drown in “stuff”; an average apartment or condo in Tokyo is between 600-700 sq feet. Just watching her show highlights how many Americans just mindlessly consume stuff (and I include myself there). I thought I would dislike her show, but she’s very sweet and her method of teaching expressing gratitude for all we have is a good one.

  54. 54.

    debbie

    @rikyrah:

    I missed your post about this. As a veteran of a number of ankle swelling incidents, all I can say is RICE. I’m sure you’ve gotten plenty of advice about that. I would add that you should keep icing for a day or so longer than you think is needed.

    Feel better! And be careful!

  55. 55.

    opiejeanne

    @Betty Cracker: The retired Asian couple? Them? Or did I see a different first episode.

    She and her translator really are very sweet people. I think when it comes to books, encouraging people to put them on shelves and sort out the ones they’ll never read or never read again is good, but no number should be assigned as a reasonable to own.

  57. 57.

    Kay

    My oldest and his wife did the culling recommended on the show and they’re very impressed. He reads a lot but mostly on a Kindle so maybe it wasn’t so painful for him. I told them I think I’m good about not hoarding, and my son said “how many of the same screwdriver do you have, roughly?” A lot. I’m afraid to find out :)

    I also have a million Legos – 3 sizes, from large toddler size to medium to tiny and my youngest is 16. Hundreds of childrens books. Tens of boys sweaters and hoodies and hats and mittens and gloves and boots, all sizes. I could clothe an elementary school, K-6, except pants. For some reason I don’t have pants.

  59. 59.

    satby

    @NotMax: it’s a complete mystery to me how anyone could forget to eat an entire day… probably why I have such an ample figure ?.
    I vote for dinnfast.

  61. 61.

    NotMax

    @Kay

    I could clothe an elementary school, K-6, except pants.

    Perfect for when John G. Cole Elementary opens up.

    ;)

  62. 62.

    rikyrah

    @Immanentize:
    I remember how you described the books in your house, and I thought while reading it…
    Yeah . That’s where Little Imma got his intellectual curiosity.

    I am not getting rid of my books. One of my life goals is to have a divine personal library in my home. I look at home library designs all the time online.

  64. 64.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Betty Cracker: Reminds me of a time a friend needed some help one winter’s day back in the early ’80s.

    M was quite the entrepreneurial spirit, and was always trying to make an extra buck anyway he could. He had a small farm in his basement. Early one morning he was awakened by a knock at his front door. He opened it and found a young lady he had never met before standing there.

    She said, “The cops are in the factory across the street.” turned and walked away.

    M stood in the open door barefoot and blinking the sleep from his eyes, greatly befuddled and trying desperately to wrap his not yet woke up and still a little hungover mind around what had just occurred. Finally he called his partner. No answer. So he called me.

    We broke down the farm, hauling everything out the back of his house (the factory was in front), the plastic tarps, the lights, the buckets and soil, to be dumped far away from his house. Of course, we also hauled away the product. 40 gallon garbage bags of it. His car couldn’t take much, so we filled the back of truck (which had a top on it). The last couple bags we had to push and shove it in. We were taking it to his partners place where he had room to hang it.

    M was leading and went thru a yellow light while I caught the red. About 10 seconds later a K-9 cop pulled up alongside of me.

    I think the only reason I didn’t go to prison is because it was very cold and the cop had all the windows up.

  66. 66.

    satby

    @Betty Cracker: I got a different vibe from that show, and at the end both the husband and wife said they felt happier and closer because they were doing stuff together. The young couple with the two little ones, right?

  68. 68.

    opiejeanne

    @debbie:

    We must make sure that her book is the first to be pitched.

    That made me laugh.

    I haven’t paid good money for her book, and am more likely to buy the other one, The Gentle Art of Death Cleaning. Last week I spent a day clearing out a lot of mismatched plastic storage stuff and discovered I didn’t need to buy any more. Got rid of a lot of stuff, and discovered an ice cream maker that I didn’t know my niece had sneaked into my pantry. It was my sister’s and for some reason they thought I should have it. The niece wants it so that takes care of that and there’s a nice pile of things that we don’t want or need and they’re going to the kids or to GoodWill. I still need to sort through all of the Cook’s magazines I’ve accumulated over the years, but darned if they each don’t have at least one useful recipe. I need to check if our library will take them.

  69. 69.

    NotMax

    @rikyrah

    Can recall the local bookstore in one of the towns I lived in having a floor to ceiling display of bookplates.

    Does anyone purchase those anymore? Some of the designs were quite attractive.

  72. 72.

    opiejeanne

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: In WA I’m sure it’s the same, but mostly what we noticed was immediately after legalization but before the state figured out how to handle the sales, licensing, etc, we had a rash of houses blowing up because idiots were trying to distill the oil or something. Highly volatile stuff, and there was an explosion almost once a week for a couple of months.

  77. 77.

    Betty Cracker

    @opiejeanne: It was a younger couple with kids.

    @OzarkHillbilly: OMG, lucky escape!

    @satby: That was the episode. I got a bad vibe about the husband, like he’d start subtly punishing the wife again if she slipped up, but I hope you’re right.

  80. 80.

    Feathers

    @Immanentize: Massachusetts: Come for the gay marriage, stay for the weed! (Doesn’t really work anymore as you can get gay married everywhere now, but still funny.)

    Was wondering about the internet freak out, but I somehow missed the 30 book recommendation when watching the show. I have a real problem with buying books that I then never get around to reading, and did a huge purge when I moved. I probably got rid of 80% of the books I had. I’m a lot happier for it. I had to be honest with myself that I’m not really a rereader.

    I worked with a really good organizer once. Her recommendation was that you could have one thing that you collected and had a lot of. Mine was books and yarn. Books are in a sensible state. Still way too much yarn, and it doesn’t feed my joy.

  83. 83.

    randy khan

    Well, as someone who currently is rereading a book from our large collection, I’m not in favor of keeping only 30 books.

    But I like the general concept of keeping only things that matter to you.

  84. 84.

    satby

    @Feathers: people read a recommendation and interpret it as a command. On the show she’s open to whatever her clients feel is an “in control” amount. Which varies widely by circumstance. “Enough” is just not a concept Americans are comfortable with.

  85. 85.

    Kay

    @rikyrah:

    Just remember how full of shit they are. This is what they do for celebrations of themselves:

    Mr. Jenkins, who handled the Bush inaugural, said the scale of the Trump team’s spending “blows me away.”
    Ms. Winston Wolkoff and Mr. Reynaga brought in nearly three dozen staff members, some of whom flew in from Los Angeles or other cities and remained on the East Coast for weeks. WIS also helped bring in a New York-based party planner named David Monn, who refused to sign a contract, according to two people familiar with the arrangement. Mr. Monn charged the committee a total of $3.7 million, from which he paid subcontractors.
    Among other tasks, Ms. Winston Wolkoff and colleagues managed the 500-person black-tie dinner hosted by Mr. Barrack at the neo-Classical Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium and a 1,500-person “candlelight” dinner at Union Station. They decided the decorations were not elegant enough and needed to be enhanced.
    Mr. Monn spent $924,000 on seven-foot-high wreaths, moss-covered obelisks, flowers and other decorations to dress up Union Station. Makeup was provided for 20 staff members at a cost of $500 per person.

    They’re phonies. They used those players to promote themselves – the cost-cutting and cheap event planning doesn’t apply to them. They treat themselves like royalty.

  87. 87.

    Kay

    New York-based party planner named David Monn, who refused to sign a contract, according to two people familiar with the arrangement. Mr. Monn charged the committee a total of $3.7 million, from which he paid subcontractors.

    NY based. Knows better than to enter into a contract with the Trumps. I bet he insisted on the money upfront, to be drawn. TBD. The deadbeat arrangement.

  88. 88.

    Steeplejack

    @opiejeanne:

    I still need to sort through all of the Cook’s magazines I’ve accumulated over the years, but darned if they each don’t have at least one useful recipe.

    Gotta put in a plug for the Cook’s/​ATK “all access” membership. It’s not very expensive, the site is well organized, and everything seems to be on there.

  89. 89.

    Betty Cracker

    Was just reading about the murder of the mayor of Gdansk in Politico’s EU edition. They’re likely both-sidesing the political turmoil there just as they do here, but damn if this didn’t sound familiar:

    Poland’s people have increasingly isolated themselves into hostile camps. Urban liberals and right-wing backers of the government get their news from different sources, socialize increasingly rarely, and have deeply divergent views of their country’s place in Europe and the world. Social media has become a war zone — with anyone straying from the party line subjected to attack.

    Of course, it’s not a coincidence. The same forces are at work worldwide.

  90. 90.

    MomSense

    @Betty Cracker:

    My kid made all of us watch Minimalism (and then he got rid of a lot of his things) so he is already on the Kondo side of things. About 5-10 minutes into that episode he said “I don’t think stuff is their problem” and then we watched something else.

  91. 91.

    Steeplejack

    @rikyrah:

    Has anybody raised the question: why couldn’t the Clemson team’s visit to the White House just be postponed until after the shutdown?

  93. 93.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Betty Cracker: I love books and am lucky? enough to have a large basement in which I hoard boxes of books that won’t fit on my bookshelves.

    But e-readers are game changing. And life changing. I used to pack 3-4 books on every trip to ensure I wouldn’t run out of reading material. Now I just throw my Kindle into to bag and go. And can restock at the hotel, or the airport, or anywhere. Can’t imagine life without it now.

  95. 95.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Kay: quick thought re Ohio: your weather sucks! I had to dig deep into my closet to find a coat warm enough for this place.

  96. 96.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Steeplejack: A couple have noted that these things typically occur a few months after the achievement. It’s pretty obvious there was some stage craft involved. Also obvious that whatever it was, it FAILED.

  97. 97.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    Another reminder that what passes for a Denver meetup, right now all of two people (me and PsiFighter37) will be at Jagged Mountain Brewery tonight at 7pm. Email me, scott (at) dauphinehotel.com if you think you might be there.

  99. 99.

    Steeplejack

    @Steve in the ATL:

    Yeah. I try to limit my dead-tree book acquisition to long-time favorites, classics (as defined by me), graphic novels and cookbooks (still don’t trust e-books on the formatting and illustrations for those). Kindle or Nook is ideal for transient stuff: crime fiction, science fiction, current events, “beach reads,” etc.

    And it is a sybaritic feeling to finish a mystery in bed late at night, press a few buttons and immediately have the next one in the series ready to go. Sheer luxury!

    ETA: Same for music.

  100. 100.

    opiejeanne

    @rikyrah: Oh, that’s sad. I hadn’t thought about her in years, didn’t realize she was still with us.

    We were at SFO, heading to our gate on an escalator or a slideway behind a platinum blond woman dressed like an admiral. My husband whispered about her clothing, something about her having fun. I told him that it was Carol Channing. We hadn’t seen her from the front, but I knew who she was when I saw her from the back. When she got off she turned and it was her.

  102. 102.

    Nelle

    We are living the nightmare right now as we are getting ready to move to Des Moines from Kansas. I taught English for decades and always justified more and more books as part of professional identity. My husband is frugal and spare. He’s letting his inner spartan fly right now (he’s out of the Naval Academy, was a submariner for three years, and then three tours in Vietnam). Our preliminary move of stuff was to be this weekend, though the weather forecast is making that look doubtful. The final move to be the first week of April, when he retires. (Why the double move? To be in place to care for Grandchild the elder – 18 months old – when Grandchild 2 makes his/her appearance in early February.)

    He thought we’d get everything moved or banished and live for two months here with a mug and spoon a piece, I guess.

    I’m trying to meet him at least a third of the way. We just moved here from New Zealand about four years ago so I don’t think I have that much. He would likely think this Kondo approach wildly accumulative.

    At least this morning, I got him to consider hiring movers. He’s determined to do it mostly by ourselves. He’s in great shape, especially considering he is 75. But if we’re going to move in a blizzard, I’m ready to turn it over to someone else, even if it costs more. And I’m in rotten shape….still recovering from hip replacement.

  105. 105.

    JPL

    @Nelle: About a decade ago, I had to put my things in storage. The choice was a larger unit or unloading the boxes of books. It took me years before I stopped missing those boxes.

  106. 106.

    Steeplejack

    @Nelle:

    He’s determined to do it mostly by ourselves. He’s in great shape, especially considering he is 75.

    I did a spit-take when I got to this. I’m 10 years younger and in okay shape, and the last time I moved I was delighted to pay three guys with a truck to do all the heavy lifting. Even if your husband can do it all, it goes so much faster when you’ve got more people involved. I hope he sees reason.

  107. 107.

    debit

    It’s been interesting to see how upset people get at the suggestion they get rid of stuff. Maybe most of us have a little bit of the hoarder gene and feel comforted by surrounding ourselves with possessions. I’ve been casually doing the Kondo method (like @Ceci n est pas mon nym: , can’t do it all in one massive purge) and find it liberating to let stuff go.

    Also, too, I was a book hoarder from the age of five and had tens of thousands of books. When I moved, only one large shopping of books survived the cut. Again, liberating.

  108. 108.

    schrodingers_cat

    @msb: Agreed. Some of her suggestions for organizing stuff are good. Especially the suggestion about organizing everything by type instead of room by room. Which was the approach I tried for a year and seemed to get nowhere.
    Her book is helping me arrange my stuff after our move nearly two years ago. I took her suggestions as guidelines. I just got done with clothes and jewelry. Now onto other accessories (scarves, bags etc). I haven’t watched the Netflix show.
    And I didn’t junk my books either. But I don’t need 3 copies of the same text book. And I have culled them. I have moved 4 times in the last 10 years. So I don’t hang on to things much unless I really love them and need them.

  109. 109.

    wv blondie

    I’m sitting in my “office” (the smallest of the three bedrooms), which has four bookcases and one chair stuffed full of books. My husband’s office has another four bookcases. The guest bedroom is the slacker – it only has one bookcase. The upstairs hallways has two. The living room, family room and dining room (!) all have one or two. The only open bookshelf space is in the basement, where there are two more.

    Once, when I moved in my 40s, I took 25 boxes of books to a used book store – but I brought 40 boxes of books to my new house. I haven’t read all of them – I inherited a fair number from one grandmother, my father, and my mother – but I can say I’ve read most of them (maybe 75%). I keep promising my husband I’ll do another purge; since we’re getting our house ready to put on the market, maybe this time I’ll actually do it.

    But get it to 30?!? With luck and some ruthlessness, I might get it to 500!

  111. 111.

    different-church-lady

    @debit: It’s not the getting rid of stuff part. It’s the idea that there’s one “ideal” quantity of books for all human beings.

  112. 112.

    debit

    @different-church-lady: But it’s just a suggestion. If you want more than 30 books (or 300 or 30,000) you can keep them. She’s not going to go into your house and force you to get rid of them at gun point.

  114. 114.

    MomSense

    @Betty Cracker:

    Ha! I swear my whole house smelled like that when I was processing my 2 plant harvest. Two plants is actually a lot. Even the dog smelled like that.

  115. 115.

    different-church-lady

    @debit: No, it’s not a suggertion, it’s an ideal.

    I know English isn’t her first language, but that’s a powerful word.

  116. 116.

    satby

    @different-church-lady: it’s a fucking suggestion. From someone who spent most of her life within the confines of a 600 +- square foot Tokyo apartment. Which everyone is free to consider or ignore. Kondo isn’t the book Nazi you (and others) trying to make her out to be.
    Maybe next we can all go nuts on what colors David Bromstad picked for some poor schlub’s living room.

  118. 118.

    debit

    @satby: Seriously! I watched my twitter feed go absolutely ape-shit about this and am so confused. No one is going to take away your books! No one cares if you want to live in a cave made out of books or only have a small stack that are actually disguised storage containers! Jesus Christ, people, unclench your collective buttholes.

  119. 119.

    different-church-lady

    @debit: I’m trying to explain why people have a reaction to that very meme. It’s not my job to read past it to a more charitable interpertation.

  120. 120.

    Elizabelle

    Satby makes an excellent point about the amount of living space found in other countries.

    And it is liberating to downsize, but it’s hard too. I like Marie Kondo’s ideas on gratitude, respecting and thanking items (and sometimes releasing them to others), and on not getting stale.

    Think how many houses are just dead. Because no decorating or changes for years. My sisters and I used to think our mother’s home sucked the life out of us. She was so resistant to change. It was her downfall, in many ways.

  121. 121.

    Ladyraxterinok

    @msb: Sadly so true about science fiction. My copy of Slan disappeared in a move. Good luck finding a copy! (Didn’t realize what a treasure I had!)

  123. 123.

    Kay

    @Steve in the ATL:

    I like cold weather and a flat, empty landscape, which is good, because that’s what I have. Luckily, I have a huge plastic tub full of hats, gloves and scarves. It’s full. You have to push it down to snap it closed. I don’t know- 40 hats? No one in this family even wears scarves, yet I have tens of them.

    I’m going to do the culling thing. I thought I was good about not hanging onto things until I started this inventory.

  124. 124.

    Elizabelle

    In all honesty, Marie Kondo does not strike me as someone who loves to read, or cares much about it. She is kind of more about material objects, although with an interesting touch of finding spirituality in them. Animism.

  125. 125.

    satby

    @debit: I agree.

    In other news, I leave home in 19 hours to get to the airport and the new dog sitter is now suggesting she wants more money than she originally quoted. Her first quote was too low so I planned on paying more anyway, but she’s had over a week since she toured my house and saw the setup, so now I’m pissed because it feels like she’s trying to crisis negotiate me.
    Plus the whole worry about the airport and how long everything will take.
    Ugh! Now I’m sorry I’m even going.

  126. 126.

    Spanky

    Ted Koppel in his WaPo Opinion piece says this:

    Let the record show that Trump has launched the careers of numerous media stars and that expressions of indignant outrage on the left and breathless admiration on the right have resulted in large, entirely nonpartisan profits for the industry of journalism. Why anyone should assume that Trump and those who cherish or loathe him in the news business will easily surrender such a hugely symbiotic relationship is hard to understand.

    It is all but inevitable that whoever succeeds Trump in the White House will be perceived by 30 to 40 percent of the voting public as illegitimate — and that the former president will enthusiastically encourage them in this perception. Whatever his failings, Trump is a brilliant self-promoter and provocateur. He showed no embarrassment, either as candidate or president, about using his high visibility to benefit his business interests. Untethered from any political responsibility whatsoever, he can be expected to capitalize fully on his new status as political martyr and leader of a new “resistance” that will make today’s look supine.

    So there it is. It’s now out in the public discourse, uttered by a Very Serious Person.

  127. 127.

    Elizabelle

    @satby: Be happy! Not good tactics by the dog sitter, agreed.

    All will work out. Do you have anyone who can kinda keep an eye out to make sure the pets are getting out for walks and exercise? Maybe a friend’s set of eyes in the neighborhood?

  128. 128.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @debit:

    She’s not going to go into your house and force you to get rid of them at gun point.

    I guess you haven’t actually watched the show.

    No, seriously, I think people are worrying about being judged. Now that Marie Kondo has for some reason become the czar of The Right Way To Organize, you are a defective human if you can’t meet her ideal.

    Before there was Marie, there was Julia Morgenstern. I’m doing kind of a synthesis of the two methods. What they have in common is: everything should have an assigned home, use containers, and ideally you should be able to see everything.

    I also years ago bought a book called “Left Brain Organizing for Right Brained People”. That seemed really promising. But I lost it.

  129. 129.

    Gin & Tonic

    @satby:

    Maybe next we can all go nuts on what colors David Bromstad picked for some poor schlub’s living room.

    If “we” had the slightest fucking idea of who David Bromstad was, “we” might

  130. 130.

    Elizabelle

    @Spanky: I thought Koppel’s essay was problematic. Not all that insightful.

    Because we have the Kardashians forced upon us does not mean we are clamoring for them.

    Koppel also has little imagination. How easily could Trump tweet from, say, prison? Does he look healthy enough to survive after 2021? I have my doubts he will survive the original stolen term.

  132. 132.

    Spanky

    @satby: Breathe!

    I completely recognize how you feel, since that’s my default approach to travel, even with a long-standing pet sitter. Realize that it’s normal to feel that way when you’re leaving your pets and home for a spell. And of course the uncertainty about TSA doesn’t help.

    But in 24 hours you’ll be SO GLAD you made the trip. Trust yourself.

  133. 133.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Elizabelle: My wife is very intrigued by that aspect, for instance greeting the house, thanking your things, the idea that stuff has feelings. She’s very curious if Kondo’s views on that spring from Japanese religion or culture.

  136. 136.

    satby

    @Gin & Tonic: just an HGTV decorator known for using bold colors. Like Kondo is essentially a Netflix TV decorator known for organizing and minimalism.
    Judgements about their approaches just seem so forced. Doesn’t work for you? Ok FIDO. But I guess the Fox news crowd isn’t the only group that needs an irrelevant hate token.

  137. 137.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @satby:

    so now I’m pissed because it feels like she’s trying to crisis negotiate me.

    So agree, then stiff her when you get back. Works for trump.

  138. 138.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: I don’t know about Japan, But books and food are accorded a special place in Hinduism. If you accidentally touch a book with your foot ( a mark of disrespect) you touch it with your hands with a gesture, that you make while praying (touch the book then touch your heart). You respect your food by not multitasking, and not getting up in the middle of a meal, then you say thank to the food after the meal is over)

  139. 139.

    Steve in the ATL

    @satby: I flew out of ATL, the busiest airport in the world, on Monday morning, the busiest time of the week. The regular security lines were thanksgiving-week long, but I don’t know how fast they moved. Precheck line was long too, but moved fast. TSA was not pulling any bags for added scrutiny. Should have brought some guns!

  140. 140.

    Steeplejack

    @satby:

    I wish Bromstad would lay off the word adorable for a while. LOL.

    Re Kondo, maybe she’s getting a bit of a bum rap. Good thread here:

    At least part of the problem that people have with Marie Kondo is that many American-written self-help books use the words “I” and “you” interchangeably.

    — Courtney!!! Milan ? (@courtneymilan) January 13, 2019

  142. 142.

    Spanky

    @Elizabelle: The only way Trump will not finish out this term is if he snuffs it, on that we can agree. But the people he “woke” will remain, and that is the problematic part. Count on the Russians and like-minded Americans to use that bloated corpse as a martyr for their own purposes, keeping that 30%-40% riled up.

    So yeah, Koppel’s piece was short and lacking imagination, but I’m glad the warning about all we’ve all been assuming here in the BJ bubble has been put out there by a VSP.

  144. 144.

    Elizabelle

    The beginning of the Koppel op ed in the WaPost: Don’t expect Trump to go quietly

    On July 21, 2016, just hours before he accepted the Republican presidential nomination, Donald Trump and I sat down for an interview. What he said on that occasion would serve as a remarkably candid foreshadowing of how Trump would handle his relationship with the media in what, on that day, seemed the unlikely event that he would actually become president.

    “I don’t need you guys anymore,” Trump told me.

    He pointed to his millions of followers on Twitter and Facebook, explaining that the days of television anchors and commentators acting as gatekeepers between newsmakers and the public were essentially over. Without discernible acrimony, Trump trotted out one of the early versions of what would eventually become a leitmotif of his presidency: The media was made up of largely terrible people trafficking in fake news. There was nothing personal in the observation. It was the unsheathing of a multipurpose device, one he used adroitly in tandem with the endlessly adaptable political vehicle provided by social media during the election campaign and now during his presidency.

    …. There is a disarming innocence to the assumption that whether by impeachment, indictment or a cleansing electoral redo in 2020, President Trump will be exorcised from the White House and that thereby he and his base will largely revert to irrelevance.

    Koppel feels Americans are “addicted” to Trump. I think he might mistake his conversations with the media behemoth owners, programmers and content providers for “Americans” in general.

    A President Pence would not satisfy that hunger. Nor, for now at least, is it easy to discern within the growing ranks of potential Democratic candidates a man or woman with a matching aura of glitz, a similar degree of shamelessness, a comparable pairing of so much to be humble about with a total lack of humility.

    A new president may provide a sense of relief and normalcy. But he or she will not satisfy our craving for outrage. Trump’s detractors are outraged by him. His supporters are outraged with him. He is a national Rorschach test. Love him or hate him, you can’t ignore him. One way or another, Trump will be renewed for another season.

    Koppel might be surprised at how quickly it all falls. Trump might become the equivalent of the 1918 Spanish flu, that extracted such a tragic cost that it was not featured in history classes, except as a footnote, for generations. (As an adult, I was shocked to learn of its scope.)

    How to deal with Trump’s supporters is a harder matter, and one that Koppel blithely evades. I think this was an idiotic essay, personally.

    What’s more, if media were to dial back on covering the tweets and the lying press conferences, Trump and his misadministration might be forced to behave more conventionally. I hate hearing some Very Important Person blame Americans for what was foisted on them by some capitalist creep media decision makers who are about profit over adequately informing the public. It was a mistake to allow Trump all the oxygen for his tweets. They were warned, at the time. They are the slowest fucking learners out there. Because. $$$$.

  145. 145.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Steve in the ATL: Delta passenger who carried firearm through TSA screening returned from Japan to US on the same day

    A woman who carried a firearm onto a flight from Atlanta to Tokyo’s Narita International Airport on January 3 returned to the US the same day she arrived in Japan, according to the country’s Transportation Ministry.
    On Monday, the United States Transportation Security Administration (TSA) disclosed that a passenger at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport passed through a TSA standard screening checkpoint with a firearm after standard procedures were not followed.
    Japan’s Transportation Ministry said there are no penalties for Delta Air Lines or TSA, but it does deem TSA responsible and asked the organization to take preventative measures.
    The passenger had forgotten the firearm was in their carry-on luggage, the TSA said. The incident was not part of a test.

  146. 146.

    Kay

    Brian Stelter
    ‏Verified account
    @brianstelter
    Follow Follow @brianstelter
    More
    Just announced: John Kasich is joining @CNN as senior political commentator. His first appearance will be tonight on @CuomoPrimeTime

    CNN (and all of cable news except Fox) pretend the Republican “brand” is anti-Trump but that’s a lie. They work so hard to rehabilitate this political party.

    I’m so glad Kasich is gone. He set the state back a decade on public education. People who are in kindergarten now will be bearing the brunt of his tax cuts into college. He’s a fraud. He’s another wealthy person who benefited enormously from a robust, well-funded public sector when he was coming up and then pulled the ladder up after him. I loathe those people more than hard Right conservatives. They’re phonies.

  147. 147.

    GregMulka

    I’ve had a Nook from Gen1 and it’s made my wife less likely to bludgeon me with the books left laying around the house. That said, I’ve started buying print books more often because I want the spawn to be able to grab them off the shelf without having to give up my e-reader.

  149. 149.

    Nelle

    Here was my revelation the other day…..having the materials for multiple projects was a way of keeping open infinite possibilities. For me, that is in drawing, sewing (fabric stash), crochet (yarn stash), etc. etc. I have to face the fact that I won’t get it all done and that the possibilities of doing the projects are both intriguing and oppressive. There is a certain amount of nostalgia also included (my mother was an excellent seamstress and going to fabric stores was a feature of childhood). But I’m realizing that I’m not going to do all of that. And there are people who can use the materials and I can connect with them easily. So I need to get into the mode of enjoying giving it away.

    I’m working on getting to that point with books, not because there is some inherent morality to having less. But that it is getting to be time to be more realistic about what I can and want to do with my time left on this planet – always an unknown, but I think this is making me more aware, in a wise way, I hope, of mortality and choice.

  150. 150.

    Kay

    Ed Pilkington
    ‏Verified account
    @Edpilkington
    57m57 minutes ago
    More
    Breaking: Chris Christie accuses Jared Kushner of political ‘hit job’ in explosive new book

    Oh, good. We get another solid month of awful Trump people complaining about one another. Endlessly fascinating, apparently.

    Oh, well. Maybe it gives Democrats some room to pursue investigations and oversight. There’s like a wealth of corruption to explore. Pick a cabinet member or Trump family member and look at any action they have taken. Every Senate Democrat could have their own pet corruption case, by category. Warren is going after the financial team people, which would be her thing!

  153. 153.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Steve in the ATL:

    I flew out of ATL, the busiest airport in the world, on Monday morning, the busiest time of the week. The regular security lines were thanksgiving-week long, but I don’t know how fast they moved. Precheck line was long too, but moved fast. TSA was not pulling any bags for added scrutiny. Should have brought some guns!

    This morning, they were suggesting travelers get to the airport three (not a typo) hours before scheduled departure times.

    Apparently, TSA absentee/sick-out levels are about double what they would normally be at this time of year.

  154. 154.

    Quinerly

    @Kay: Big Guardian piece up. Bannon was actually the one who clued Christie in.
    In other news, anyone watching the Barr hearing? Long introduction by “how can we miss you if you won’t go away” Orrin Hatch.

  155. 155.

    Kay

    @Nelle:

    having the materials for multiple projects was a way of keeping open infinite possibilities.

    That rings true to me. Maybe that’s why I keep the kids stuff. I’m hoping some Lego-less 10 year old will wander into the living room :)

    This is horrible to admit but I hated getting used stuff as a kid. I got a lot of it and I wanted new stuff. I once got refills for a Lite Brite set – the paper patterns that you punch out with the lights- and I didn’t have the set. Useless. Worse than useless really. I recall specifically how disgusted I was with this thoughtless “giving” that was so much about the giver and not at all about the recipient.

  157. 157.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Kay:

    This is horrible to admit but I hated getting used stuff as a kid.

    Being a younger brother (by 15 mos) all my clothes were handmedowns. I didn’t like it either.

  158. 158.

    Ladyraxterinok

    @Steeplejack: C Milan is the lawyer who interned for the same lawyer Kav did–the one who had to quit because of sex scandal. She wrote an article questioning Kav’s claim he didn’t know about the goings on.

    I remember this because she is now a successful romance novelist. Her experience with the judge apparently decided her to leave law. (C Milan is her pen name.)

  160. 160.

    chris

    Ha! I am a proud bibliophibian. Someone mentioned footage so I went around and estimated ~60 feet of bookshelves with some teetery stacks here and there and double shelves of paperbacks. In 400 square foot living space. Do I have a problem? Hell no!

  161. 161.

    Gin & Tonic

    @SiubhanDuinne: I saw no issues at MDW yesterday, and breezed through the Pre-check line in no time at all. Even the non-Pre lines looked completely manageable.

  162. 162.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I see from twitter that trump’s mini-me Lindsey G is playing all the greatest hits: Strozk and Page, the Steele dossier. I wonder if he’ll get carried away accuse old man Cruz of conspiring on the grassy knoll

  163. 163.

    SiubhanDuinne

    A federal judge just struck down the Trump administration’s attempt to ask the “citizenship” question on the 2020 Census.

    They’ll appeal, of course, and we’ll probably see a few tweets about “activist fake judges” or some such, but I was glad to see this.

  165. 165.

    debit

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: I don’t know that she (Kondo) thinks that things have feelings. It seems to me that by treating material objects with respect it changes the way we interact with them. Arg, I’m not expressing this well. But when Kondo “greets” the house it feels like she’s inviting the owners to consider how they feel about their home; it is just a place to store their stuff, or is it a place that makes them happy?

  166. 166.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Gin & Tonic:

    I saw no issues at MDW yesterday, and breezed through the Pre-check line in no time at all. Even the non-Pre lines looked completely manageable.

    I haven’t been following TSA numbers carefully, but the wait times seem to vary quite a lot from one airport to another. I was talking only about ATL — which, as Steve in the WTF reminds us, is the busiest airport in the world and, as I feel compelled to add, an unpleasant experience at the best of times.

  167. 167.

    bemused

    I caught early segment of Morning Joe and rarely find the show amusing I couldn’t help but laugh when they showed photos of trump’s fast food menu for football champions followed by a clip of Will Ferrell in Tallageda Nights praying thanks to baby Jesus for their bountiful fast food meal.

  169. 169.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @debit: She says it explicitly in her book. Most of the world seems to have discovered her from her TV show but in fact the book has been out there for a while and has a lot more content than they can squeeze into episodic TV.

  172. 172.

    Elizabelle

    @SiubhanDuinne: Thank Dog.

    Makes me anxious about the terrible Federalist Society judges Treason McConnell is seeding through our government.

    When Trump goes down (McConnell too, please) I think those judges should all be up for review. If they squeaked through on overwhelmingly GOP votes, they are out of there. We cannot afford a generation of Putin’s judges.

  173. 173.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Jessica Mason Pieklo @ Hegemommy
    It is really incredulous of Barr to suggest that he doesn’t know what an emolument is while also leaning on his 30+ years of experience as a lawyer in the federal courts and prior AG stints

    pretty sure that two years ago, I knew what “emolument” meant, even if I had never heard of the “emoluments clause”

  174. 174.

    Elizabelle

    @debit: I think Kondo worked as a guide at a religious shrine in her youth teens, and she does feel that belongings and (some) inanimate objects have spirit of some sort.

    Saw an article to that effect, and will share the link when I find it again. Hopefully there will be a new thread, or a few! — up by then.

  175. 175.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    I have thousands of ebooks, and hundreds of paper books. I never touch the paper any more, and wouldn’t notice if they went away. Personally I find the attachment to antiquated info tech quaint.

    Don’t touch my 30+ slide rules, though.

  181. 181.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I spent too much money on some new bookcases recently and as I was loading them up I was asking myself “Am I ever gonna read CLASSIC X again? Or finish CLASSIC Y?” the latter case is more likely than the former. Meanwhile, I’m having trouble putting old spy novels in the library donation box. I try to limit those to the tablet, but between impulse shopping and the old fashioned pull of paper, I’m batting about 500 on.

  182. 182.

    Kay

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    We had a legal assistant once here who was a very nice person and read novels on her breaks. She told me once her husband gets mad at her for reading “too much”. It’s such an incredibly quiet and unobtrusive hobby. I disliked him after that. Come on- he’s impossible.

  184. 184.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Kay: Even on university campuses, I often had the experience of people coming up to chat while sitting reading alone, in cafeterias or outside. “Oh, you’re reading…. you must be lonely…”

    and of course, “Watcha readin’ for?“

  186. 186.

    geg6

    @Comrade Scrutinizer:

    Whereas I find it a complete sacrilege to NOT read a book as an actual book. Books are not just the words on the page. They are a tactile, visual and olfactory experience. Tried an e-reader once. Gave me a headache and felt sterile and took all the joy out of reading for me. I will never do that again. Can’t understand why anyone who loves to read would want to.

  188. 188.

    debit

    @geg6: I find it impossible to read physical books now. I don’t know if it’s the typography, glare off the paper, the way I hold my head, but 30 minutes reading an actual book gives me a blinding, hours long headache. I can’t use my ipad for very long either, but on my Kindle I can read for hours without a problem. I’ve spent a small fortune buying digital copies of books I already own(ed) but it’s worth it, otherwise I wouldn’t read at all.

  189. 189.

    joel hanes

    @Betty Cracker:

    [re: pungent herbal smell]

    Canning jars are your friends. Sturdy, airtight, transparent, re-useable, come in a variety of shapes and sizes. (Now that 35mm film canisters are no longer a thing)

  191. 191.

    joel hanes

    @Kay:

    how many of the same screwdriver do you have, roughly?

    #2 Philips : maybe fifteen, in various handle styles and lengths, in various toolkits. It’s not enough.

  192. 192.

    joel hanes

    @geg6:

    I’m with you.
    I might change my mind if they every develop an e-reader that gives off the wonderful smell of old paper.
    I walk into Bell’s Bookstore on Emerson in Palo Alto just to inhale. And pet the cat.

  194. 194.

    Mnemosyne

    @debit:

    My carpal tunnels are pretty bad, so holding a book up — especially a large heavy book — causes actual pain. I love my Kindle because now I can read giant history books and biographies without having to ice my wrists and hands after 15 minutes.

    Also, I have some news for the avid readers here that they may need to sit down to hear: most people only read books once. I know, shocking! They don’t see the need to keep a book after they’ve read it, so they read it and then give it away.

    I know. I had to sit down and fan myself when I found that out, but it’s true. Those people really exist. So if they only read books once and will never read them again, there’s no point in keeping them.

  195. 195.

    sm*t cl*de

    ~60 percent of book ownership is pure social signaling

    Excuse me. As a book owner, where is this “society” to which I am supposedly signalling?

  196. 196.

    J R in WV

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    The passenger had forgotten the firearm was in their carry-on luggage, the TSA said.

    When I pack to travel more than a few hours away from home, the bags I pack into are stone empty to start with. If there’s some stuff from a previous trip in there, I take it out, because I want to know what’s in there, where it is in there, how long its been in there, is it still fresh and capable of doing what it’s packed for?

    When I want to travel with a gun, it goes in checked baggage, in a special locked box, secured with special ties placed carefully by airlines staff, which is perfectly legal, IF you have needed authorization to possess that gun at your destination. At least here, CRW Delta staff seemed completely familiar with the process and were not weirded out by inspecting the weapons and ascertaining that they were properly prepared for travel.

    I’ve never had a gun forgotten anywhere, anyone who would probably shouldn’t use them. Wife once lost a pocketknife in her purse. The TSA guys took turns trying to pull it out, repeatedly xrayed the purse to see where it was, couldn’t find the pocket. Finally wife said “gimme that thing!” — “OH NO ma’am, we would have to start over!!!” after they started over 3 times already!

    So after the tiny Case knife came out into wife’s hands, the Police Officer asked “Ma’am, is that knife a family heirloom?” and wife said “Yes, it was my father’s pocketknife” and the cop said “Put your name on this envelope, it will be on the bulletin board in our office.”

    End of that story. And there it was, with a hundred other pocket knives, on their board.

  197. 197.

    JaneE

    Over the years I have sent hundreds of books to the Salvation Army and Goodwill, 8-10 grocery sacks full at a time. I have enough books now to do that again, but I don’t have that many books I don’t want to keep and reread.

  198. 198.

    TerryC

    @Comrade Scrutinizer:

    I have thousands of ebooks, and hundreds of paper books. I never touch the paper any more, and wouldn’t notice if they went away. Personally I find the attachment to antiquated info tech quaint.

    Don’t touch my 30+ slide rules, though.

    Comrade, I love books and have read way more than 20,000. I used to have 4,000+ books, almost all science fiction or anthropology (former life) and I am now at about 30. Most of my long form reading is on my large iPad or from our great library. However …

    I have nearly 300 slide rules!

    I also used to read five print newspapers a day. Now all that is iPad. In fact, a year ago I bought a full Sunday NYT, having nostalgic thoughts of reading it through all day. It was recycled two weeks later, unopened and unread, because every time i went to read it I found myself not wanting my hands to get inky and dirty.

  200. 200.

    Groucho48

    @NotMax:

    Some of my earliest memories are of my mom reading his poems to me. I was probably two and three years old.

    A bunch of the boys were whooping it up in the Malamute saloon;
    The kid that handles the music-box was hitting a jag-time tune;
    Back of the bar, in a solo game, sat Dangerous Dan McGrew,
    And watching his luck was his light-o’-love, the lady that’s known as Lou.

  201. 201.

    WaterGirl

    @Groucho48: @NotMax: All this talk of poems is making me think of the big book of poems we had as a child.

    We all had to memorize this one:

    The Goops they lick their fingers,
    The Goops they lick their knives;
    They spill their broth on the tablecloth–
    Oh, they lead disgusting lives!
    They talk while they are eating,
    And loud and fast they chew;
    That is why I am glad that I
    am not a Goop–are you?

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