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Kissing Your Socks Goodbye

nytimes.com

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Re: Kissing Your Socks Goodbye

#61

Post by ZenoArrow »

sikosmurf wrote: post #53
justincormack wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stop doing presents for christmas and birthdays too then, and make it clear you dont want them.

I've been trying to convince my wife's family that I don't want birthday or Christmas presents for years. No such luck... I end up having to put a bunch of useless crap on my amazon wishlist just to keep them happy.

The trick is to request non-physical stuff. As an example, request a track day on a race car track (if you're into cars). That way, you get an interesting experience and no/reduced clutter.

Re: Kissing Your Socks Goodbye

#62

Post by kaybe »

sliverstorm wrote: post #37
bostonvaulter2 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would advise you to not completely rule out the tax that every item you own has. Even just looking at a drawer that is full of odds and ends can be stressful. With that said I am all in favor of re-selling things, then someone can get use out of them and overall waste in the system is reduced. Now I just need to sell my $300 jambox that I only used 10 times...

I'm definitely aware of that. But I am also avoiding the other extreme. For years I was cutting "stuff", largely because I was moving constantly. Then I bought a small house and stopped living with other people, and found that a barren house is its own brand of distressing. I'm not very good at creating a "warm" house, but one thing I do know is that empty rooms and bare walls are not it! So I am not afraid to have a…

Reading your post, I imagined the ice skates as wall decorations. Just a nail needed, and maybe an old frame or some of that fancy ricepaper sticky tape.

Re: Kissing Your Socks Goodbye

#63

Post by jeffmk »

sithadmin wrote: post #28

>For Ms. Kondo’s instruction on sorting papers is perhaps the most liberating of all her maxims: Just throw them all away.... >“There is nothing more annoying than papers,” she says firmly. “After all, they will never spark joy, no matter how carefully you keep them.” Strongly agree with this. Scanning every document I owned, then discarding the originals (save for things like my birth certificate, social security ca…

Completely agreed. I picked up a Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500 [1] a few years ago and got rid of probably a foot stack of paper in total. It works wonders at eliminating that existential hopelessness too much clutter sometimes brings.

[1] The scanner works very well on linux and OS X, and has had very few jams no matter what I throw at it. http://www.amazon.com/Fujitsu-ScanSnap-Instant-Sheet-Fed-Sca...

Re: Kissing Your Socks Goodbye

#64

Post by imjk »

aaronbrethorst wrote: post #31
dionidium wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

33, never been very sentimental and I don't own much stuff, but there are those weird little things. Sitting here in my office is the manual film camera I used during photography class in college. I've been meaning to put on eBay. It hasn't been used in many years and I could always get another camera, if I wanted one. And I wouldn't even want this model again, if I were starting from scratch. But once it's gone, I'l…

Camera gear is the only part of my collection of stuff that is growing, but—on the plus side of things—I actually make use of all five cameras that I own: * Fuji medium format film rangefinder * Leica M6 35mm film rangefinder * Hasselblad 501CM medium format film SLR * Fuji X-T1 SLR-style digital mirrorless * Fuji X100s digital rangefinder I can't imagine needing or wanting to buy another camera without paring down o…

Those are some solid cameras.

Re: Kissing Your Socks Goodbye

#65

Post by legulere »

obviouslygreen wrote: post #44

This is crap. It's also not very Japanese... the assertion that your apartment already has all the organizational equipment you need is utter bullshit if you've ever visited or lived in an apartment in Tokyo (that costs less than 5k USD a month). Even in less crowded places, there's usually a practical need for extra shelving, hanging space, etc. in order to keep enough clothes and related items around unless you liv…

> the assertion that your apartment already has all the organizational equipment you need is utter bullshit

It's not if you need to declutter. Organizational equipment is there for you to put even more crap inside. If you get rid of the crap you almost always have lots of empty organizational stuff.

Re: Kissing Your Socks Goodbye

#66

Post by archagon »

lifeformed wrote: post #39
archagon wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not the same guy, but figured I might as well put this here. I've been living on what can fit in a suitcase for the past... year or so? Especially now that most of our valuable possessions — photos, writing, music, video — can be digitized, it's awfully liberating to pare your physical inventory down to the bare minimum. I'm doing this for travel purposes, but the end result is mostly the same, I think. http://www.ar…

I've been living out of a suitcase for the most part, but recently I've been developing my hobby of cooking, and now I'm anchored down by a huge pile of heavy, expensive kitchen items.

Yeah, I've solved that problem by flatsharing or subletting on Aibnb (in less expensive cities). But it's not for everyone, of course.

Re: Kissing Your Socks Goodbye

#67

Post by fractallyte »

Right this moment, my mom's going through my old school books and papers - work I did from ages 7-16. I still have C64 printouts from the 80s, old BASIC listings and graphics. And lots more besides.

These are the equivalent of old family photos. You can't capture these things electronically! There's no way to run your fingers over the curves and grooves of decades-old handwriting, to hold a sheaf of printouts to your nose and have the scent of Epson dot matrix ink bring back memories of days long-gone.

This is personal history, a record of who I once was. If I'd thrown it all out, who would I be now?

Re: Kissing Your Socks Goodbye

#68

Post by aaronbrethorst »

justincormack wrote: post #51
aaronbrethorst wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Camera gear is the only part of my collection of stuff that is growing, but—on the plus side of things—I actually make use of all five cameras that I own: * Fuji medium format film rangefinder * Leica M6 35mm film rangefinder * Hasselblad 501CM medium format film SLR * Fuji X-T1 SLR-style digital mirrorless * Fuji X100s digital rangefinder I can't imagine needing or wanting to buy another camera without paring down o…

Hmm, yes, have a Mamiya medium format SLR, M6, X100s, but 4x5 is a bit small, have a 5x7. Film cameras are much more interesting, you can have more - borrowing a Hasselblad Xpan at the minute.

I'd definitely rather have a 5x7 or 8x10 than a 4x5, but film availability for 5x7 seems...limited. I only know of ten film stocks available in a 5x7 format[1] vs. 25 for 4x5[2] (including some C-41 and E-6) and 19 for 8x10[3] (again including C-41 and E-6).

And then, of course, 4x5 seems moderately impractical, and 8x10 only more so ;)

[1] http://www.ishootfilm.org/film?utf8=✓&film_size%5B%5D=size_5...

[2] http://www.ishootfilm.org/film?film_size%5B%5D=size_4x5&utf8...

[3] http://www.ishootfilm.org/film?utf8=✓&film_size%5B%5D=size_8...

Re: Kissing Your Socks Goodbye

#69

Post by toomuchtodo »

sikosmurf wrote: post #53
justincormack wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stop doing presents for christmas and birthdays too then, and make it clear you dont want them.

I've been trying to convince my wife's family that I don't want birthday or Christmas presents for years. No such luck... I end up having to put a bunch of useless crap on my amazon wishlist just to keep them happy.

I always ask for Kiva or Watsi gift cards/donations in my name, and make it very clear that any other gifts will get sold or returned to fund those two things.

Re: Kissing Your Socks Goodbye

#70

Post by justincormack »

aaronbrethorst wrote: post #68
justincormack wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hmm, yes, have a Mamiya medium format SLR, M6, X100s, but 4x5 is a bit small, have a 5x7. Film cameras are much more interesting, you can have more - borrowing a Hasselblad Xpan at the minute.

I'd definitely rather have a 5x7 or 8x10 than a 4x5, but film availability for 5x7 seems...limited. I only know of ten film stocks available in a 5x7 format[1] vs. 25 for 4x5[2] (including some C-41 and E-6) and 19 for 8x10[3] (again including C-41 and E-6). And then, of course, 4x5 seems moderately impractical, and 8x10 only more so ;) [1] http://www.ishootfilm.org/film?utf8=✓&film_size%5B%5D=size_5... [2] http://ww…

There is more 5x7 than that - Fuji still make some http://www.japanexposures.com/shop/film-analog/film/sheet-fi... and Kodak Portra is available for special order, and thats just the colour ones. You used to get a bunch in half plate and European metric sizes too, although less now. (I also have an 8x8 back for my camera and cut down 8x10...)
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