A book must be the ax for the frozen sea within us

[Sydney's Mom]

Katfka. "Let's just consider that TBR pile a whole bunch of axes behind glass, waiting to be broken in case of a soul emergency." Biblioracle John Warner.

This appeared in the print edition of the Chicago Tribune's Printers Row this morning.

I hoarde two things - books and yarn. I no longer collect pbooks, but our basement is full of them. I categorize and store my yarn as if it were a library (it is in bookcases). I tell myself the yarn hoarde is in case I get an inspiration at 2 am (it has happened). Warner says "the TBR pile also brings comfort as it waits to fulfill what I might need at some indefinite future point. The thought of not having these contingencies covered is scarier than anything else."

I guess that is what all hoarders believe, no matter what they hoarde. (BTW, I define a hoarde as a supply of something beyond what you will ever use). Under this definition, I definately have both a pbook and an ebook hoarde. Of course, a book hoarde, so long as the books are not treated like trash, has almost a religious quality to it. All of the doom and gloom about people not reading (and the crazy crafter) doesn't help.

Do you hoarde anything except books? Does your other hoarde resemble your book hoarde in any way? Do you really NOT feel bad about your book hoarde (this is separate from buying things you cannot afford)?

[spindlegirl]

I used to hoard yarn and fiber like crazy. (I spin my own yarn) but these past couple years have got me daily looking for new freebies of e-books. I have more books than I know I will ever read because I collect them at a greater speed than I read them. They are free, so why not? I don't feel bad about a larger e-book collection, because they are just words on a screen. They don't take up space in my house, just a bit of space on my computer.

I'm kind of glad to not be collecting yarn as much. I am starting to think about going through my yarn collection and either knit what I have or give some away. The space with it all just sitting there bothers me, and I mostly spin my own and don't knit as much as I used to. At heart I am a minimalist, and while I love collecting stuff within my passions, there is this threshold that once crossed, makes me very uncomfortable and crowded. Even with yarn, cd's, and many other physical things I like.

[pidgeon92]

Well, I certainly have far more stuff than I will ever use or need. One of my latest obsessions is nail polish. I love all the pretty colors. I have a few hundred bottles, and it's irrational, but I'll keep getting more.

Let's not talk about how many ebooks I have.

[david_e]

.....

[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by Sydney's Mom

...

Do you hoarde anything except books? Does your other hoarde resemble your book hoarde in any way? Do you really NOT feel bad about your book hoarde (this is separate from buying things you cannot afford)?

Yes, along with books, I hoard photographic gear. It certainly resembles my book hoarde in that it either shares or has its own book shelves, and that it is bought to expand and grow my mind and ideas and to satisfy curiosity. I constantly feel bad about it because there are significant self esteem issues locked into the gravity well of constant failure - to know of, but not to know; to know how to do something but not to do it; to have creative inspiration but never to create.

Along these lines I also collect potential hobbies. There is barely a spot in this house where I can glance in any direction without seeing something I failed to continue or even commence (including knitting). I hoard possibility, unused, collected in the hope it converted potential but perhaps too worried it won't properly convert, or won't convert as perfectly as my mind has already converted it. Everything must be "just right" to begin, and I can never find just right, also seeing past failures and self-doubts and disappointments repeating themselves.

I'm currently looking for another camera, from around 1970, film (obviously) not convenient to process, a bulky camera possibly impractical to handhold. I tell myself lots of good stories as to why. It'll likely end up another item/reminder on display.

Cheers,
Marc

[morriss003]

I don't horde anything, 'cause I don't want hoards of family doing an intervention. Of course there are all those quadraphonic 8 tracks I have, not to mention the cassettes. Still, most of my music are on CD's, especially my favorite CCR containing "I Horde it Through the Grapevine."

[BelleZora]

I unloaded a house and most collections 13 years ago and the freedom has been joyful.

I scanned all photos and genealogy records and passed the originals on to my family. My music collection was converted to mp3s and then given away. I still treasure old pulp mysteries and vintage first editions with dust jackets, but kept only the few real treasures.

It's wonderful to still be able to collect the music and books that I love in computer files that take up no space. Everything is backed up in several places. I can travel whenever I choose with the things I love and not worry about someday leaving behind a mess for my children to sort out.

[DarkScribe]

I used to hoard girls, but my wife put a stop to that - she married me. Aside from that, I hoard music - vinyl, antiques mostly made from brass, and old watches. Watchmaking is a hobby.