I've moved twice in the past year, and most of my unnecessary staff has been jettisoned along the way. In trying to get unpacked and organized in the new place, I'm flummoxed by the "pop junk" and tiny memorabilia that pop out of the bottom of drawers.
Should I just chuck it all, or see if some frekazoid on EBay wants it, or keep it?
This is a dilemma because they nature of the "stuff" is such that it has no intrinsic value except as a markers of what I was doing in a certain space and time.
In my frenzy to clean and organize I find myself getting stopped when faced with these odd bits, stuff like a 23 page fax from Anton, upon which I based the first Brian Jonestown Massacre bio; little notes from Mick Farren about promo; pictures of Laughing Sky and a bunch of concert collage posters for them, notes from Greg, Suzy, Patrick that somehow ended up between/underneath/behind old copies of Sniffin' Glue, BOMP, and Bucketfull of Brains; old Sub-Pop stickers; Flaming Lips local flyers from Kansas City Days; Blondie flyers from CBGB days; an on-stage photo of Joe Strummer, just stuff that somehow stayed around after most of the promo-y crap had been banished to make way for finishing the dissertation. Oh yeah and a mighty collection of snow-domes.
Part of me wants to just throw it away; another part thinks some kollektor with OCD and a hard on for garage rock would like to have it. Part of me thinks maybe I should keep it so if I get old I can pull it out and say "who were those guys again?"
How do you decide what to throw away, what to keep, or whether to just fill a Hefty bag and be done with it? Is your life full of this kind of stuff? Are you gonna keep it forever?
― Orbit (Orbit), Wednesday, 26 November 2003 02:10 (twenty-one years ago)
i have a lot of this sort of stuff. you might be able to find someone to buy some of it but experience has shown me it's more trouble than it's worth.
i personally don't believe it's worth keeping for the nostalgia value. nostalgia is one form of clutter i don't tolerate in myself.
― the surface noise (electricsound), Wednesday, 26 November 2003 02:33 (twenty-one years ago)
Chuck it all. I did this the last time I moved, and instead of sobbing in the corner over my lost past as I'd predicted, I felt "free" (as cliched as that sounds) and acted smug for a week.
― mouse, Wednesday, 26 November 2003 02:42 (twenty-one years ago)
It mostly goes to goodwill. I've moved a lot, and honestly there are not too many things I'm attached to- my photo albums, some letters, my puppy (obviously! (;), a necklace from Boy, and that's about it. I think it's due to a refusal to turn into my mom (who saves everything) and remembering the horror of moving Boston -> Seattle a bunch of times. I spent one morning trying to cram the last bits of my dorm room- like pillows, extra laptop power cords, framed photos- into two boxes, the UPS guy standing there, an hour before my flight was to take off, and I remember swearing to myself that no junk was worth all this stress. Eh. So I generally figure if I'd miss it, I can buy a new one.
― lyra (lyra), Wednesday, 26 November 2003 02:55 (twenty-one years ago)
Haha! I wonder what Goodwill would make of some of this! Esp the BJM poster with Brian Jones in Nazi regalia stepping on a baby! But point taken; in fact I have given Goodwill most of my non-pop culture related stuff.
― Orbit (Orbit), Wednesday, 26 November 2003 03:18 (twenty-one years ago)
Now I've encountered another layer of hell: Certificates (scholarships, honor societies etc from undergrad days etc)-they look so official and their gold seals say "don't throw me away" but i know they are completely useless.
― Orbit (Orbit), Wednesday, 26 November 2003 04:21 (twenty-one years ago)
I love little bits and pieces of memorabilia, and I'd be (and have been!) quite sad if I knew someone had just thrown out stuff like that. Maybe you can Ebay it in big lots, start the price at just enough to cover your listing costs and state that the winner has to take everything in the lot (and pay post). You get rid of everything at no cost to you, it finds a new home, and hopefully you'll get people bidwarring each other to get the one or two special items they want.
― Poppy (poppy), Wednesday, 26 November 2003 04:52 (twenty-one years ago)
Keep what you have the largest doubts about. Last couple times I've done massive cleanings and sent everything to Goodwill or the trash I've ended up wondering where things were (and sometimes buying replacements) a month later.
― Maria (Maria), Wednesday, 26 November 2003 05:09 (twenty-one years ago)