Three Grumpy Observations

[minoanmiss]

https://www.unconsentingmedia.org
This website has done more to fight the normalization of sexual assault and to protect people from traumatic content than ALL the antis that have ever run around fandom flaming people.

The others behind a cut. Disclaimer: not a comment on decluttering in general.

I came into the living room the other day to find the TV watcher asleep (as happens) and the TV showing a comic doing a "wish they'd do that now" type routine about how when he was a toddler he could grab a woman's breast but now he'd get in trouble, and ooooooooooh my goooooooood what happened to cause this unfairness.

And I yelled at the TV, before I could stop myself, "That's because when you're two we can deal with you. We can slap you upside the head if necessary. When you're grown you can overpower us! Look at you you six foot tall asshole; [I'm 5 foot so] I can't even reach your head to slap it!"

.... I should probably phrase that differently, but I honestly hope more people say that to the poor beleaguered men who can no longer do exactly what they want to anyone female without regard for what we think about that.

Also, I don't care who tells me to get rid of my personal library. I don't care if well meaning friends think my collection could do more good in a public library. I don't care if Marie Kondo descends on a gilded cloud to tell me about all the benefits. I don't CARE. I want my library, I built my library, I'm keeping my library.

I recently saw a post by the only librarian I have ever disagreed with, where she talked about how people shouldn't own books but instead go to the library, because of the 'carbon footprint' of book publishing. I think there might be activities people engage in with slightly wider carbon footprints, like DRIVING CARS, and also once the book exists, it exists, am I really destroying the world by buying them used? But most importantly for me, and what I wanted to post in reply, was that her library probably doesn't have nearly as many books on my favorite subjects as I do. That's why I started collecting books on certain subjects, such as the Minoans -- the average local library doesn't have or need more than a handful of books on such a specific interest. Furthermore, many of my books were sold off by libraries who didn't need them anymore. If I donated them no library would value them as I do, because they need to address the whole span of human experience and because they don't need another library's castoffs, and so all that knowledge would get ditched. And I say this as a person who loves libraries.

So I'm keeping my fucking books. I don't care what anyone says.

Comments

[kore]

So I'm keeping my fucking books. I don't care what anyone says.

//stands in solidarity with you

(I've been kinda quietly horrified at what a bunch of book-loving friends have been saying re DECLUTTERING BOOKS these days. But I don't want a fight, so I haven't said anything.)

[minoanmiss]

Now that I'm calmer (*laugh*) I feel like I should differentiate between the personal and the global. I don't want to presume to know another person's decluttering needs, and maybe they do need to divest themselves of some of their books. I just want to state firmly that I'm not getting rid of mine.

*hugs bookcase*
*bookcase promptly finally collapses*

[cmcmck]

I totally distrust ANYONE who tells me to get rid of books.

Not a hope in hell!

It's akin to book burning and we know where that leads.

As for the other thing, I'm 5'6" and I'll damn well stand on packing case to slap that sort of guy upside the head!!

[minoanmiss]

WOOT! I admit part of me is enjoying the mental image of you slapping that comic upside his stupid head. (And I'm relieved that people understood that I'm not actually advocating for hitting children. Grabby men, however....)

And yeah, books are *knowledge*. I deeply distrust being told to get rid of knowledge.

[kore]

I am six feet tall and will happily slap awful dudes upside the head as needed! I can wear my heeled boots if I need to.

[bikergeek]

Cui bono?

One of the reasons content publishers are trying to encourage rental rather than ownership of content is that they're trying to eliminate the first sale doctrine, and distribute content under a "licensing" rather than a "purchasing" model, under which the purchaser gives up the right of resale at no benefit to the consumer.

Also, I will repost here, slightly edited, a thing that I posted elsewhere:

The whole "minimalist living" concept suffers from rampant classism.

When "stuff" was expensive, having "stuff" was a marker for status and wealth, and so was having a big house to hold it all.

Now that "stuff" has become cheap, and all but the very poorest people can afford "stuff", owning "stuff" is déclassé. Living in an expensive, small, spartan apartment in a city, while owning nothing and renting everything from your car (Uber) to your music (iTunes) and video collection (Netflix), has become the marker for status and wealth. And people point and laugh at TV shows like Hoarders, because LOL TEH POORZ AND THEIR STUFF, AMIRITE?

(FWIW, I feel about my LP and CD collection the way you feel about your books. It's far less high-minded, but dammit, I went from Delaware to Philadelphia and DC and NYC to buy some of those. Indie music was not anywhere near as well distributed in the 1980s as it is now.)

[cmcmck]

Apart from the size of library you'd expect two professional historians to have, we too also have an LP and CD collection.

Godammit! They're part of who we are!

[minoanmiss]

Your LP and CD collection is AWESOME and WELL CURATED. And you may notice I have never said to you "this group is collecting LPs/CDs, why don't you...?" Because they rightfully mean a lot to you.

(And I've been thinking about what you said about people not collecting anymore.

[rachelmanija]

That librarian is being ridiculous. All else aside, lots of people have to drive to the library, which creates more pollution than if they stayed home and read the books they already have.

There are 100 companies that create 70% of the pollution in the world, and exactly 0 of them are book publishers. I think people get overly hung up on tiny individual actions affecting their own lives that don't actually make that much difference, when taking political action is far more important.

Marie Kondo never actually said other people should get rid of their libraries. She said she personally doesn't have a lot of books.

[rosefox]

All of this, including the bit about Marie Kondo. Everyone leaps to thinking her emphasis is on getting rid of things. It's not. It's on keeping things that make you feel good. If your library makes you feel good, you should keep it!

[darkmarcy]

Yeah, and libraries will get rid of the books that don't circulate. Also donating stuff to them doesn't guarantee it getting on the collection/shelf at all!

I understand getting rid of books you only read only once, like despite loving Stephen King, I very rarely buy his tomes. I wait for them in the library, read them, get scared, know the story, return them. (However there are exceptions: I hoard a Finnish translation of The Talisman, and The Stand, and all the Dark Tower books because I want to read them again and again.

That said, I still hang onto the last printed phone book of my area. It has great maps!

[minoanmiss]

Yeah, this was all about me and my library (and I do cull it sometimes). I should probably put up a disclaimer about how I do not disapprove of decluttering in general. :) I just got tired of all the messages I'be seen about it recently and wrote this instead of flaming anyone. :D

(Also, feel better!)

[ororo]

I'm not getting rid of my books either. And I use the library too.

I don't usually chime in about house cleaning and organization methods and trends because I throw money at the problem. That's my class privilege showing.

Kondo didn't tell everyone to throw away their books. For some unfathomable reason, she finds that having 30 books is the amount that brings her the most joy.

[minoanmiss]

I'm glad that her advice wasn't actually "have around 30 books", which was what I heard. (Also, 30 books on WHAT?! good grief, I might have more than 30 about the Minoans alone. Maybe I'll go count.)

Ithrowing money at problems is a time honored practice. :) I certainly appreciate your knowledge of what an advantage it is over the people who seem to think it makes them better than others to be able to do so!

[corylea]

If only libraries bought books, publishers would go out of business, so there would BE no more books.

Buy books! Buy a LOT of books! The publishing industry is imperiled, as more and more people get the bulk of their information and entertainment from websites. If we want books to exist, we have to support the publishing industry by BUYING books.

[minoanmiss]

Once I get a. job I will be lavishing my pay upon my lovely birthday Kindle! Books!

[mekare]

I absolutely agree about the books on specialty subjects! I hav just ordered some and I will never give them away! I live in a small city and my library will never have those.
Novels which I read through once are a different thing but noone will take away my books on art movements (many of them bought in art museum shops) or my favourite novels/nonfiction books.

[minoanmiss]

Yes exactly! Many of the novels I own are ones I reread and/or ones I had an emotional attachment to (and I was actually thinking of getting rid of some of the latter as some of my nostalgia has faded, but then this whole movement rose again). Some of us need our books of reference!

[alatefeline]

I’m also keeping all my books. And I just moved twice. So. You are not alone.

[minoanmiss]

Hooray for books! *beams at you*

[ilyena_sylph]

I read the first few pages of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up:... a few years ago, decided that her way of interacting with the world and mine were fundamentally incompatible, and generally Noped right out of the whole thing. Like, it's very Shinto. I am very not. That's okay.

I'm not okay with the crap she's recently been getting mostly from people like me (white liberal women).

Sooo much THAT about the dude on the TV, SO MUCH.

[minoanmiss]

I am very not. That's okay.

Yes, this, exactly. I wrote this in response to too many posts advocating for people to divest ourselves of books, instead of flaming someone. :D

I shouldn't've focused on Ms. Kondo, really -- she *is* getting a lot of unwarranted and sometimes even bigoted crap, and she's neither the first nor will she be the last lifestyle guru.

[julian]

Yeah, like, I was in a situation where I had basically twice as many books as would fit in my house, *and* was a slob.

So I *am* reducing the number of books I have, slowly, because it was really negatively impacting my life to have that many.

*But* I am keeping a hell of a lot of them -- I have a Unitarian/Universalist history collection, other religions, general history, and a bit of feminist history, that general libraries don't have, nor want to have. And which make me happy, dammit. (Also, SF/fantasy, but I can more easily convert to ebook if I want. Not sure on parameters fully yet, there.)

On the comedian note: thptthothtpt to him.

[minoanmiss]

Oh, absolutely. I don't mean this little rant to at all be against the concept of decluttering -- many people have very good reasons for needing to do so. This was just about me and my library. :). I know this is a project you need to undertake, and I'm cheering you on!

[sabotabby]

I am pleased that this website didn't like Blade Runner 2049 for the same reasons I didn't like it.

Books are great. I mean, I'm out of space, so it's the library and e-books for me, unless it's a research thing or a friend-wrote-a-book thing.

[minoanmiss]

Hey, books. Annonynous quoted his wonderful and sadly late wife's button collection above; she had one that said "I gave the books a room, now they want the whole house". Hey!

[used_songs]

I do purge books every now and then, but I always end up with more. I think if I had more space (like a big library room with built in shelves) I'd probably keep them all but alas.

[minoanmiss]

Of course! I'm not trying to discourage anyone from necessary culling of their own collections. I was just defending the existence of mine. :) (I have had people tell me my books would do society more good if I donated them than if I kept them, and, well, I finally had to say something.)

[annonynous.livejournal.com]

A sampling of my late spouse's buttons -
Got books?
I don't need speed reading - I need speed bookcase building
I gave my books their own room. Now they want the whole house.
So many books, so little time
They got the library at Alexandria - they're not getting mine

Ann O. :)

[minoanmiss]

Amen. :)

[baranduin]

I must confess I am getting rid of most of my physical books but that’s just me plus they’re being replaced by electronic versions.

Books are so very personal, our collections are a part of us.

[minoanmiss]

No, no, that makes a lot of sense. I'm not trying to discourage anyone from doing what they have to do. I'm just defending my personal library. :)

[lindahoyland]

Sexual assault is NOT funny.

I now read ebooks but I am keeping the books on my bookcases. They hold many memories so I'm glad you are keeping yours too.

[minoanmiss]

It totally isn't. I wish I could list that dumbass comic with that wonderful website, but I semi-on-purpose didn't record his name.

[lemonsharks]

I have a system for books that works really well for me, since I DO want to get down to as few books as possible before I move to Australia. (It's also specifically to accommodate an international move--I'd like to be down to 3 banker boxes of books by shipping day--and can go out the window when Kit and I are settled.


1) Have you read it?

Yes: Are you ever going to read it again? (If yes keep; if no proceed to 2)
No: Are you ever going to read it? (be honest) (If yes keep; if no donate)

2) Do you own it in another format (ebook, audio, etc)

Yes: Donate it (if "Yes, but..." proceed to 3)
No: Keep it

3) Is there a reason you want to keep it (sentiment, research, monetary value, difficult to replace, etc)?

Yes: Keep it
No, not really: Donate it

[minoanmiss]

That makes sense, what with an impednding international move and all!

[vettecat]

I have a T-shirt that says: "They got the library at Alexandria. They're not getting mine!"

[minoanmiss]

AMEN. :D

[teddywolf]

I saw Marie Kondo on Colbert. Her approach to decluttering starts with mindfulness. The first question is: does this object bring me joy? If the answer is an unqualified Yes, then you keep it.

Your books are an unqualified Yes to you. Therefore you keep them.

Ms. Kondo herself is apex kawaii and utter adorableness, or she was on Colbert at any rate, and knowing you I think you’d agree if you saw the segment.

You might despair thinking about her looking to declutter, but she approached it with calm and friendliness and without pejorative judgment. Stephen offered to follow her anywhere and I could not fault his statement.

[minoanmiss]

Thank you for telling me. :)

[gale_storm]

"If I donated them"

...then they might as well end up in library sell-offs or whatever they're called, so just another way of discarding the formerly card-catalogued!

Oh, and what was the waking reaction of the former-watcher who´d likely have been awakened by you? That very much sounds like my repartee with people on tv, as my husband smirks at me for my attempt to talk to presenters as though they were in the same room! Incidentally, I've seen that stand-up routine, and the cameras getting audience shots may or may not have gotten at least a few people looking startled at that statement.

(I came here by way of gingicat, btw!)

[minoanmiss]

I know who you are milady! hugs you

Yeah, I fortunately learned long ago that donating a book to the library doesn't mean the library can do something with it.

The sleeper woke confused to an angry woman in the same room. Unfortunately this is a common experience for them. :/

I hope someone told that comic off. I deliberately didn't find out his name to keep myself from writing an Angry Letter..