Yes to hoarding books — up ’til 2007, when we unloaded 14 cases of books before moving to our current home. Even so on our shelves to this day – THREE different copies of ‘Middlemarch’, THREE of ‘Lolita’, and 5 or so Collected Works of Shakespeare that I can still rationalize with quasi-scholarishness.
Yes to hoarding magazines – SPY, Q, Rolling Stone from when I subscribed from ’87-’91. Also ditched in 2007 upon realizing society was not going to rely on MY collection to reconstitute pop culture. Though I sustained a hope the kids would come across this trove and be impressed by their hip dad who would let them tear into all this stuff for their authentic/ironic study/collage projects.
Yes(ish) to hoarding DVDs and CDs. Sometimes go months between getting new movies or music, though. Not feeling sheepish here.
Yes to hoarding VHS tapes of tv miscellany. Got halfway through digitizing them this past year. Lots of phenomenal morsels, but my eye and mind when appraising the crate full of them is getting cooler and more severe.
Yes(ish) to hoarding email from the early 90s onward. Haven’t read them in decades, actually, since they were current. Oh, when email was new! “Whoah, I can type words on the Mac Plus, and this telephone wire in the back running along this janky carpet will send these words to my friend in Texas? GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE. WITCH! WIIIITCCH!”
No to hoarding cats, though our dog looks at the two cats and disagrees.
No to hoarding old letters – in a very modest box is a collection of damning and charming letters from the 80s and 90s to serve as a reality check when my own spawn roil in dating intrigues and frustrations of COSMIC IMPORTANCE.
2 comments
Yes to hoarding Martha Stewart Living Magazine. All issues 1996-present. Takes up a LOT of space.
No to hoarding Martha Stewart Everyday Food. Had hoarded it, but recently went through all issues 2007-present and ripped out any recipe I might potentially someday make.
Yes to hoarding broken bits that I may be able to re-purpose. Cain't throw away that broken Limoges tea cup cuz it might look cute in a stepping stone someday. If only I made stepping stones, alas!
Yes to hoarding CDs although I never buy new ones. But SOMEDAY I'll get one of those magical tiny ipod things and can put all my music on the computamer and I'll be able to donate the cds, right??
Nice post–I like the hoarding game!
Yes to hoarding rare plants, you never know when you are going to buy a new house and you have to impress your horthead friends.
Yes to hoarding a dog. All you really need is one so its not technically hoarding but they are invaluable as companions. When I'm really stuck in my head I feed the dog and I realize that he relies on me completely.
No to hoarding vinyl records- they invariably end up in a place that damages them in the long run.
No to hoarding CD's they are surprisingly heavy and I haven't bought an actual CD in 10 years.
Yes to hoarding lamps. I have a lamp fetish- especially lamps with square shades. You can never run out of lamps.