BOOKS, I CAN'T QUIT YOU. 

 

I just can't stop collecting books. I know that I should be on the 'e-reader' bandwagon by now. I know it. It's right up my alley, etc and so on, but I just can't do it. I like a real book in my hands, maybe it's because of past professions, perhaps I have a clinging loyalty to the 'ink on paper' way of doing things. Surely it's a habit that I could just break and I'd probably be happy to be free of these piles of paper that are just....hanging around the place. For those of you who buy your books in a digital format, this is probably a non-problem. You are maybe to be applauded for the ecologically sound practice of buying digital media, but I just can't do it. SO, for me - the constant accumulation of ACTUAL books can be a challenge to my limited space. There are fairly few that I'd consider reading again, and those I hold onto of course. And there is that subset of books I've read that I would not read again, but that I've nontheless decided is a 'classic' or 'school-type' and which I'm holding onto for my children to read, at some point. Why buy another copy of "Sister Carrie" in 10 years when I have it right here.... Right? (Hmmmmm...)

I just can't make the leap to digital, though most of the other members of my book club, and many other people I know and who are real appreciators of literature, totally back the experience of reading on a tablet of some sort. I just can't do it. I like the feeling of a real paper book in my hands when I'm settling in for a nice read. I'm a voracious and rather indiscriminate reader, so this means that there's almost nothing I won't pick up off a stoop or take for free if it's being offered. If I'm not currently reading something, there's almost nothing that's beneath my 'giving it a try', because reading nothing is something I can't tolerate. 

Luckily (or maybe not...) for me, just living in Carroll Gardens Brooklyn is like having a free library open 24-hours a day all around me. It's a smorgasbord of free reading materials around here. Rarely does a day pass when I don't see a box, bag, or pile of books sitting on a sidewalk, in a doorway or on a stoop. I cannot pass them by without looking. I don't do this with anything else (toys...NO! clothing DEFINITELY NO!) but I cannot pass by the books.  I'm like this guy is with gum, except it's books. 

And though I don't always take something, I would say that half the time I do, because I just can't leave them sitting out in the weather to go to waste. I understand why people put their books out, I really do (after all....someone will take them...right?) But, I do wish that people would take the time to find a more responsible way of passing on their unwanted reading materials. 

I keep a bag in my bedroom, usually a reusable shopping bag in sturdy paper, doubled, and whenever I finish (or find) a book that is clean and whole but that I already have, finished reading, cannot sell, or do not want, I pile it into the bag. When the bag is full, I take it to Housing Works. 

I also sell books on Amazon.com, or give them to book drives when I hear of one. Sometimes a local library will hold a book drive - selling used books for proceeds to support the program. Scout troops recently held drives to replace books for kids who lost homes in Sandy, our recent unwelcome hurricane visitor. Some great kids books went there from our house recently, and I was glad to be able to help. 

I'm always talking up Freecycle, but I guarantee that if you offer a bag of books, you will get a taker. Especially children's books.

Daycare centers and childrens' playspaces and shelters will take kids books too, they get so much use there that they run through them like nobody does at home, and they need 'new' ones often.  

These are just a few ideas of ways that I've given books away, and tried to at least keep the number going out equal to the number coming in.
Today, a friend brought to my attention another great resource for recycling of books; Better World Books. 

The link is: http://www.betterworldbooks.com

What they are offering is kind of a clearing house for many (not all) of the still-good-quality books you may no longer want to keep. If you have books that you want to donate, you can do so at their expense. They will send a lable for you to use to ship the books which they then sell. The proceeds go then in part to the great cause of literacy programs, it gets the books out of your space, and keeps them out of the trash! They also offer information about other ways to pass books along in a responsible manner, as well as the option to sell them yourself. The next time my bag is full, IF I can't make it to Housing Works, I will try out this option. I'm so happy someone is doing this! 

This post is in honor of my book club friends; see you tonight! I'm looking forward to discussing "Gone Girl" with you! By the way - I bought "Gone Girl" in hard copy (I know, I know...e-reader blah blah blah), read it in a couple of days, listed it on Amazon, and sold it and sent it out before the week was finished.... The ideal book experience for me!

You know what I'm going to say about this already.

One time, a good friend and I were joking around about what kind of stores had been moving into his (gentrifying) San Francisco neighborhood, and we decided that we could make a killing with a nice little shop selling odds and ends, and that it would be fair to just go ahead and call it "Crapstore". I have no idea what the above operation is actually selling, and to be fair, maybe it's a thrift store (looks like one), but the name is unwittingly everything hilariously wrong with our 'retail therapy' obsessed society. To every Hallmark Card shop, and every tourist trap trinket store, every museum gift shop, and 'collectibles store' everywhere in the world, I would like to say "GOOD RIDDANCE". If it's a thrift store - then they deserve props for the witty name. I'm not against thrift stores, as they do offer reasonable alternatives to buying new/ buying retail and are great places for people to ditch unused belongings as well. Better yet, sometimes they're also providing a charitable service by funneling proceeds back to a good cause; i.e. Housing Works.  So, either this joint pictured above is an awesome thrift store with a great sense of humor, or it's the worst kind of waste of time, space and money there is. I can't quite make it out. What do you think?

Friday humor, don't worry, it won't be a regular thing as I'm not reliably cheerful every Friday.

And, like the famous clownfish, I'm not really all that funny.

Did you ever get in the shower and do it wrong? I mean, just get in the shower, like you probably (maybe?) do every morning and just for some reason that morning....you do it all wrong? I did that this morning and it was really weird. 
 
If you're anything like me, you probably do exactly the same series of motions in exactly the same order every single time you shower. Unless you're in a strange place and you have to pause to figure out how to work the thing, or rummage around for supplies, or (worse yet) if you're in one of those fancy bath/showers with no curtain and you have to be extra careful not to soak the whole room and the towels with the removable shower head while you're rinsing off. THAT can really throw a person off their game. (Or, if you live where I do and the boiler is broken again and you have to take a cold-water 'camp shower'...ha!) I digress. This is a normal everyday shower I'm talking about, in your own home, at more or less the same time as usual. Not an extra dirty just-did-gardening or ran-a-marathon shower either, but your run of the mill morning shower. 

If you ever thought about it, you do it the same way every time. Right?
It's kind of weird when you think about it, but you most likely do. It would probably take an effort to NOT wash your left leg exactly for the same amount of time, in the same way as always. You would have to stop and think about it if you wanted to go nuts and, like, shave your armpits after your legs for a change, or whatever.... Just a change to the routine would be something you would have to do on purpose.  Well, this morning I got in the shower, business as usual, closed the curtain, etc. and proceeded to act like I'd never taken a shower before. What the?

Let me tell you, it was disturbing. It was much weirder than you would imagine. I have no idea why this happened, perhaps because of the snow? Doubtful, but maybe. Maybe it's a signal that other things can/should change or that other habits may soon fall by the wayside. I don't know.  


All I know is - maybe I should buy a lottery ticket. 



A little poll, just for fun. 
Chime in with your choice in the comment section!

1) I shower exactly the same way every single time, and I think about  it while I'm doing it.
2) I have no idea what you're talking about.
3) None of your business, weirdo.
4) Now I have to think about it and you've just ruined my next shower.
5) Shower?

SOME THOUGHTS ON SHARING

This weekend's project was very satisfying, by the middle of the day on Monday, I'd transformed some furniture that was no longer useful, gotten rid of items that were just taking up room, and had given my son a new place to do his art. And at the same time, and at minimal to almost no cost, upgraded my daughter's room to be more useful for her needs as a second grader. In order to accomplish all of this though, I had to be able to move things out in a prompt way. Now, some people don't see this as an obstacle, as they simply move things into the trash room or out to the curb, adding to the general waste, clogging the landfills of the world, and perpetuating needless spending. With a little planning ahead, I was able to do this whole project without throwing away a single thing. In addition, other people were able to procure what they needed at no or low cost. It's a cycle in which I love to participate, and my hope is that I can encourage everyone I know to take the time to share their unused and excess goods, rather than tossing and buying new, whenever possible. 

As I've mentioned before, there are numerous ways to do this. You can post your item for sale (if allowed) on neighborhood and school lists, you can offer it for free or for sale on Craigslist, or you can join your closest Freecycle network (Yahoo group) and offer your item/s to the people in your surrounding area for free. There are MANY many people on a Freecycle network who will be glad to come get your stuff, and sincerely grateful to have it. You will have to devote some effort if this is the way you want to do it, but it's well worth the satisfaction of knowing you've done your part to keep something out of the trash as well as (in many cases) helping out someone who may truly need what you no longer have any use for. In today's economy, most of us have to be more careful with our spending - I know I do - and everything you don't have to buy helps out in the end. 

This week I was lucky enough to become aware of yet another terrific resource for re-homing our no-longer-used items. There's a new website called Yerdle.com, they are based out of San Fransisco, but currently getting some traction in New York. This is a mission-based organization, with the objective of helping people share and loan within their social circle and network, based on their Facebook community and generally promoting a new ideal of sharing instead of buying.  Members of Yerdle will be able to post items that they want to give, get or loan out - the postings will be visible to their social network specifically, allowing them to share their stuff rather than dispose of it, but without the potential discomfort of having to make arrangements with strangers. Perhaps you want to give away that 'heirloom' that has no use to you, but just can't bear to let it go to a stranger? Maybe you would feel more comfortable if it turned out that your friend wants it? Perhaps you really want to ditch that table, but are worried about letting someone into your home to carry it out? Yerdle provides a platform, (using your FB contacts as the contact circle), in which to do this sharing but within the comfort zone of people you actually know. I think this could be the beginning of a great new start for me! In the past I've gone straight to other outlets, but if I can encourage enough of my FB friends to participate with Yerdle, I think it could become a very healthy habit for all of us. 

I listed a lamp! Do you want it? I listed a game! Do you want it?

If you are my FB friend, check it out and join Yerdle to pick it up. 

Http://www.yerdle.com 

 

 

 

A successful Saturday

And so, it was another busy weekend, no really special events planned, but I started out the day Saturday with great hopes of getting some serious reorganization done. A key element in getting this done however was getting some unused things out of the house first. 

I had someone scheduled to come at 10 to pickup a step stool we no longer needed. (Freecycle)

I had someone scheduled to come between 10 and 11 go pickup a too-heavy Ikea shelving unit that was threatening to fall off Olivia's wall. (And a puzzle for good measure.) (Bococa parents list serv)

And finally, someone scheduled to come sometime between 10 and 12 noon to purchase our lovely, but now too small, vanity table. (Bococa parents again...)

Everyone showed up on time, took what they wanted, and left a gloriously clear space in Olivia's room. EXCITING! This is the way it is supposed to work, I was very pleased and ready to get busy. Shifted the small-kid art table and chairs OUT of Olivia's room, and into the living room. Painted all parts with some lovely blue paint (rescued from trash room....why not?) and by the end of Saturday, Theo had received his 'new' art desk and chairs, and was a very happy kid. Total cost to me: $0! 

On Sunday morning, we hit Ikea early, and picked out a very nice desk for Olivia's room - to take the place of the too-small desk and give her a real 2nd grader place to do homework. Sunday night the desk was put together, and Monday the room was reborn, again, in new style. Total cost of project: $14 (cost of desk and chair minus money made from selling vanity).

A very successful weekend project, in my opinion, and also good for the families who took home things they needed and wanted for free or a very good price. 

The woman who took our too-heavy wall shelf already had plans to "Ikea hack" it into a sideboard type of desk by adding legs. And so, the shelf lives on, in a newer and better form, somewhere else. I was so happy, and very glad to get it out of my apartment.... :)

Here are some before and after pictures of this weekend's recycling and redecorating project. 

 OLD ART DESK (found and repainted about 4 years ago):

  

NEW ART DESK (repainted again, newly installed in Theo's room):

And finally - newly organized big girl desk in Olivia's room: 

 

UPDATE: CHAIR GONE!

5:00 pm, chair taken. However, now there's a quite nice pink play kitchen there.

SAVE THIS CHAIR!

Walking Theo to school today, I made a effort to hit all the usual very-important neighborhood landmarks between here and not-that-far-away:

1. Miniature Brooklyn Bridge around the tree base, lovingly crafted by someone out of plywood,  wire and nails. Kudos to whomever did this, it's not even the only one - and the kids love it. 
2. Giant dead tree completely covered with ivy that is constantly in motion from the thousands of birds it houses. We call this one 'the bird airport' since they are forever landing and taking off.
3. Dentist where Olivia goes and Theo will someday have to go. Not so much fun, but better to get used to the idea now....
4. Front yard fish pond with three medium-sized very coy koi fish in it. (Yesterday spotted parts of all three, today only one tail).
5. Fairy garden. (If you live near nere, you know what I'm talking about.)
6. Any of the diggers/dumptrucks/dumpsters/cranes that happen to be in action in the neighborhood at any given time. 
7. Mindboggling Smart car often parked on President Street that turns from purple to green and back again as you walk past it. Today was a banner day, because just as Theo was wondering where it was, it DROVE PAST US changing color all the way. The small coincidences and joys of a little boy's morning are what makes it fun...

Anyway, on the way back, I passed down Clinton Street, and between President and Carroll, about the middle of the block, where someone has put a bentwood rocker out with the trash.  It's not the most beautiful chair in the world, as is, and would not match just any style of decor, but it's not broken, very solid, and certainly is not ready for the landfill. 

THIS MAKES ME CRAZY.

I tend to come up with these great schemes for how I can reclaim things, or fix them, and used to invent any excuse to drag home something that I thought was still good. I've learned that this is just a way to bury myself in more things than I have time to fix or even use, so I've learned to resist 'rescuing' anything but those things that don't need work. And I'm really not that great with paint, and don't want to be around chemicals for stripping varnish. HOWEVER, I can imagine this chair as a beauty. Though currently nondescript brown bent press-wood, with old tan worn velvet seats, I can picture it stripped, and repainted with a bright eye-popping color of varnish (orange?), reupholstered in a funky bold print fabric (Marimekko?) - it would be modern, fun, and an incredible room accent. (Did I mention that it was solid and seemed to be rocking just fine?) Someone should rescue this chair and make it a centerpiece of their living room! The right person could possibly turn it into a very marketable piece of furniture.

I know my limitations, both in craftiness and in amount of storage space, so I had to walk on by and leave it there, but I could not resist letting others know that it's there...just waiting for a new life. 

This brings me, I guess, to the point of this whole story, which is that I think we all need to make more of an effort to think before we throw away things. Because I believe in keeping down clutter and not having more than is needed in your space, I do think it's a positive action to get rid of things, but simply getting rid of them without being mindful of how is not quite the same, is it? With a fairly small effort, the owner of that chair could have not only put it into the hands of someone who wanted it, and could make it lovely again, but also had them pick it up and take it away for them.They wouldn't have even had to carry it to the curb!

There are numerous obvious resources available to help us accomplish this, especially in a large urban area like Brooklyn. Two very good methods that work incredibly well for me are my neighborhood family listserv, my local area "Freecycle" group (a Yahoo user group) and school or classroom listservs are also good. These kinds of groups are easy enough to join, and I find that with minimal effort you can post information about the items you are looking to get rid of (or sell), and there will likely be more takers than you can accommodate. It is NOT without some occasional inconvenience, and you have to be willing to communicate and interact with strangers, but this is the price I think we should all be willing to pay to reduce, reuse and recycle instead of mindlessly contributing to the growing piles of waste. In addition to those community-based listservs, I've found that simply asking around in your own close circle of friends and acquaintances (class list, your apartment building, FB friends) is another great way to find homes for your no-longer-wanted or needed items. 

Another really fantastic website, Krrb, allows you to buy, sell, giveaway, and trade. I'm reposting a terrific video from their blog about stripping paint. (See...takes me back to that amazing bentwood rocker!...someone please do it!)

Link here: http://krrb.com/

Earlier today I found that there is also a website called "Curbalert" and I got very excited because that would be PERFECT, right? However, I don't think the site is working very well, or at all, so I'll reserve judgement on that. Perhaps I should start my own?

I would not recommend Craigslist as an ideal method of getting rid of stuff, because I believe it's gotten a little watered down in its effectiveness. It might be great for some things ('best of column', 'missed connections'), but anytime I've tried to sell or give away anything on Craigslist, there's a little too much crazy-factor in the responses for my taste. If that doesn't bother you, I'm sure plenty of people will ask for your stuff for free from Craigslist too. But please, don't let them into your house. (Joke?) 

Happy recycling!

Krrb Presents A How-to on Paint Stripping with Megan Meany