search  current discussion  categories  books & magazines - magazines 

ot old magazines

updated wed 14 jan 04

 

Kathy Forer on fri 9 jan 04


I'm just bundling up several piles of readable New Yorker magazines and
various others good for collage or bored browsing. It seems a pity to
put them in the same container as the recycling center's old newsprint.
As I'm no longer in the city where I'd feel secure they'd be grabbed by
some curious person or one of a legion of homeless recyclers/resellers,
I don't know what to do with them, hence the pile-up. What do you do
with magazines in a town/no-town sort of place? I can't imagine the
hospital would be happy for them though I'll try that. It's about six
small-foot high bundles.

Thanks,
Kathy

Michele Jurist on sat 10 jan 04


I donate mine to the local library or thrift shops that resell them.
Regards, Michele
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kathy Forer"
To:
Sent: Friday, January 09, 2004 8:24 PM
Subject: OT old magazines


> I'm just bundling up several piles of readable New Yorker magazines and
> various others good for collage or bored browsing. It seems a pity to
> put them in the same container as the recycling center's old newsprint.
> As I'm no longer in the city where I'd feel secure they'd be grabbed by
> some curious person or one of a legion of homeless recyclers/resellers,
> I don't know what to do with them, hence the pile-up. What do you do
> with magazines in a town/no-town sort of place? I can't imagine the
> hospital would be happy for them though I'll try that. It's about six
> small-foot high bundles.
>
> Thanks,
> Kathy
>
>
____________________________________________________________________________
__
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
>

Maurice Weitman on sat 10 jan 04


You've hit a nerve, Kathy. I'm not qualified to tell you how or
whether to dispose of your mags. I tried to "donate" mine to our
local public and school libraries. I was told that if they were
"Architectural Digest" they'd be thrilled to take them. Expressing
my shock by pointing to the gems within, the branch manager could
only tsk. Or was it just a shrug?

I JUST put six years of New Yorkers, in shopping bags, on shelves I
built in the basement. Just In Case. Along with six years of
Harper's AND six years of NYTimes magazines. You might infer from
this that six years ago I purged a like number of years. That was
when we moved into this house. You get the picture.

So, we're not moving, at least just yet, and I just could not bear to
part with, and have recycled the wonderful stuff within those pages.
I probably need help; if I were (more) poor, I'd Have Issues that
social workers would try to address. Like those shopping-cart-train
people. In fairness, to me, of course, it's not that I'm otherwise
compulsive or overly-collecting. (Do you honestly think I SHOULD get
rid of the hundreds of hours of music on the 1500 LPs I've got?
Celia doesn't know about the 300 more LPs in the basement -- the old
spider deterrent.)

Whenever my bride looks at them in that certain way, I waltz her past
"her" shelves of fiction which get less use than my vinyl. Or my
shelves of "useful" books. Well, I suppose one COULD count my
handful of novels among them, but mine have MEANING in my life; and
there's the autographed Capote and Nabokov. I mean, get real...

Thirty years ago, I sublet an apartment in the West Village in
Manhattan from a woman who was a translator. Her office contained
lovingly labeled boxes of New Yorkers, every issue from when she came
to the US, twenty-five years earlier, through current issues. I was
in awe. She KNEW William Shawn. And Joseph Brodsky was her (and MY)
downstairs neighbor. Maybe it's all her fault.

But what about all these pots... don't get me started.

Best,
Maurice


At 11:24 PM -0500 on 1/9/04, Kathy Forer wrote:
>I'm just bundling up several piles of readable New Yorker magazines and
>various others good for collage or bored browsing. It seems a pity to
>put them in the same container as the recycling center's old newsprint.
>As I'm no longer in the city where I'd feel secure they'd be grabbed by
>some curious person or one of a legion of homeless recyclers/resellers,
>I don't know what to do with them, hence the pile-up. What do you do
>with magazines in a town/no-town sort of place? I can't imagine the
>hospital would be happy for them though I'll try that. It's about six
>small-foot high bundles.
>
>Thanks,
>Kathy
>
>______________________________________________________________________________
>Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
>You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
>settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
>Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
>melpots@pclink.com.

Gary Harvey on sat 10 jan 04


How about Doctors offices? I usually just ask if friends want them.
Some people use them to light their fireplaces,
or wood burning stoves. Mostly they just send them to the land fill. GH

Kathy Forer wrote:

> I'm just bundling up several piles of readable New Yorker magazines and
> various others good for collage or bored browsing. It seems a pity to
> put them in the same container as the recycling center's old newsprint.
> As I'm no longer in the city where I'd feel secure they'd be grabbed by
> some curious person or one of a legion of homeless recyclers/resellers,
> I don't know what to do with them, hence the pile-up. What do you do
> with magazines in a town/no-town sort of place? I can't imagine the
> hospital would be happy for them though I'll try that. It's about six
> small-foot high bundles.
>
> Thanks,
> Kathy
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
>
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
> melpots@pclink.com.
>

Andrew Lubow on sat 10 jan 04


Easy enough. Put them on eBay for $1 a bundle and shipment at actual =
cost. Just list what's in the bundle to make the ad more attractive.=20

Andy Lubow
"Live each day like it was going to be your last. Someday you'll be =
right" Benny Hill

Jan L. Peterson on sat 10 jan 04


Dr. s waiting rooms, Dentists offices, and about any place else, like the
hospital, is a good place. You'd be surprised how many bed-bound, or floor-bound
patients wants something, anything to read! Jan, the Alleycat

Edy Lynn on sun 11 jan 04


Check with the local nursing homes and senior centers. My mother (God rest
her soul)) lived in a wonderful nursing home that kept older magazines for
those of the residents who love to reminisce. They had quite a nice
library.
They would also like the magazines to use for arts and craft projects.They
had a project daily to keep them busy and not just lying around.
I hope there is a center near you that would be as appreciative as my
mother's was.
Edy in Ohio, where it's getting a little warmer today. The calm before the
storm, I guess.

Simona Drentea on sun 11 jan 04


I replied privately, but for those others who may be interested...some
magazine sell well on ebay. Do a search on the ones you have & then click on
'completed auctions' & you'll see if & how much they've been selling for. Some sell
better by the issue, while others sell better in a lot. you'll want to use
'media mail' for shipping though or else it'll cost your buyer a lot.

Simona in sunny Colorado

Kathy Forer on sun 11 jan 04


Thanks for all the wonderful suggestions. I was drawing blanks beyond
the local hospital and it turns out they're interested. I recall my
former big city local hospital was inundated and said no at one earlier
point and that had made me hesitate me here. The discussion also
reminded me that I have a friend in the non-profit world who works with
the exact groups who would like the glossies. Thrift shops are also a
ncie idea.

It would have been nice to think of ebay when my mother was packing up
years of Architectural Digests. I'm sure some savvy city scavenger,
probably my former next door neighbor, grabbed them, which is fine.
There's gold on them thar streets.

As for the outhouse, I prefer "White Cloud."

Kathy

Kathy Forer on sun 11 jan 04


Maurice,
I've heard your refrain before, think I've sung it too. I still do to=20
some extent though the computer has helped me organize and de-clutter=20
tremendously. I just save a "clipping" file or PDF and that's that. I=20
really like computer organization (especially, and only, the Mac), I=20
can file and search in a way the old yellowed clipping didn't allow. I=20=

still keep a paper swipe file though.

There are indeed names for what you describe, a true obsessive=20
compulsive disorder, "compulsive hoarding."=20
http://www.homestead.com/westsuffolkpsych/Hoarding.html
http://tinyurl.com/2hqrx lists various pop-psych reasons for keeping=20
old things:
The Hoarder:=A0 "This might come in handy someday!"
The Deferrer:=A0 "I'll think about that tomorrow!"
The Rebel:=A0 "I don't wanna and you can't make me!"
The Perfectionist:=A0 "Next week, I'll organize everything ...=20
perfectly!"
The Sentimentalist:=A0 "Oh, the little darling!"
In my mild case, all of them seem to apply, though mostly split between=20=

Perfectionist and Sentimentalist.

There was a poor, 300sf space constrained New Yorker recently buried by=20=

his hoard: http://tinyurl.com/3cb59 A local article reported he might=20
sue the landlord who saved him for trashing his valuable old comic=20
books. But there's been no follow up to that.

ebay had some interesting collections in the "completed auctions."=20
Entire decades and more of National Geographic, Playboy seemed most=20
popular. Hold on and keep them well catalogued, but try to read them=20
too. My biggest hoard now is books. I buy literature & trade books=20
(many of which I pass on but more stick) and have received art books as=20=

gifts for many years and see no reason to say I'm not a hoarder but a=20
collector! -- with a massively eclectic collection.

Imagine, pre-ebay, bundling thirty years of Maine Antique Digests into=20=

the garbage, as we could find no one to take them.

As for pots, I've been hoarding (and destroying!... hey, ma, no kiln=20
...and restoring) clay sculptures since I'm ten years old. At one point=20=

I started to give newer, faster bisqued figurative work away and kind=20
of regret some of my too cavalier gestures, as I have none left (make=20
more would be the simple remedy) but on the whole it was a good way to=20=

learn to move on to the next thing.

Keep moving! Take care,
Kathy


On Jan 10, 2004, at 1:46 PM, Maurice Weitman wrote:

> You've hit a nerve, Kathy. I'm not qualified to tell you how or
> whether to dispose of your mags. I tried to "donate" mine to our
> local public and school libraries. I was told that if they were
> "Architectural Digest" they'd be thrilled to take them. Expressing
> my shock by pointing to the gems within, the branch manager could
> only tsk. Or was it just a shrug?
>
> I JUST put six years of New Yorkers, in shopping bags, on shelves I
> built in the basement. Just In Case. Along with six years of
> Harper's AND six years of NYTimes magazines. You might infer from
> this that six years ago I purged a like number of years. That was
> when we moved into this house. You get the picture.
>
> So, we're not moving, at least just yet, and I just could not bear to
> part with, and have recycled the wonderful stuff within those pages.
> I probably need help; if I were (more) poor, I'd Have Issues that
> social workers would try to address. Like those shopping-cart-train
> people. In fairness, to me, of course, it's not that I'm otherwise
> compulsive or overly-collecting. (Do you honestly think I SHOULD get
> rid of the hundreds of hours of music on the 1500 LPs I've got?
> Celia doesn't know about the 300 more LPs in the basement -- the old
> spider deterrent.)
>
> Whenever my bride looks at them in that certain way, I waltz her past
> "her" shelves of fiction which get less use than my vinyl. Or my
> shelves of "useful" books. Well, I suppose one COULD count my
> handful of novels among them, but mine have MEANING in my life; and
> there's the autographed Capote and Nabokov. I mean, get real...
>
> Thirty years ago, I sublet an apartment in the West Village in
> Manhattan from a woman who was a translator. Her office contained
> lovingly labeled boxes of New Yorkers, every issue from when she came
> to the US, twenty-five years earlier, through current issues. I was
> in awe. She KNEW William Shawn. And Joseph Brodsky was her (and MY)
> downstairs neighbor. Maybe it's all her fault.
>
> But what about all these pots... don't get me started.
>
> Best,
> Maurice

Lois Ruben Aronow on tue 13 jan 04


Maurice said:
>So, we're not moving, at least just yet, and I just could not bear to
>part with, and have recycled the wonderful stuff within those pages.
>I probably need help; if I were (more) poor, I'd Have Issues that
>social workers would try to address. Like those shopping-cart-train
>people. In fairness, to me, of course, it's not that I'm otherwise
>compulsive or overly-collecting. (Do you honestly think I SHOULD get
>rid of the hundreds of hours of music on the 1500 LPs I've got?

>But what about all these pots... don't get me started.

So i felt obligated to post this (mainly for macabre humor value),
from the NY Times, Dec. 30 2003. It was a major news story here in NY

BRONX MAN IS RESCUED FROM HIS OWN PAPAER PRISON

By ROBERT D. McFADDEN; Oren Yaniv and Michelle O'Donnell contributed
reporting for this article.=20

A Bronx man trapped for two days under an avalanche of newspapers,
magazines and books was rescued by firefighters and neighbors
yesterday in a small urban drama that recalled the macabre 1947 tale
of the Collyer brothers. The victim, Patrice Moore, 43, of 1991
Morris Avenue, near Tremont Avenue, was found shortly after 1 p.m. in
a 10-by-10-foot room crammed with paper and other detritus that
completely filled it, except for a small corner where he slept,
neighbors and city officials said.=20

A reclusive man who lived alone and had been saving magazines,
newspapers, books, catalogs and junk mail for a decade -- and had
apparently thrown none of it out -- Mr. Moore was buried standing up
under the collapse on Saturday, according to neighbors, who heard him
moaning and mumbling through the door, which had been blocked by all
the paper.=20

The landlord broke in with a crowbar and neighbors began digging into
the entombing piles of publications, communications and
advertisements. Calls to the city brought the police, three companies
of firefighters, health and buildings officials, and officials from
the Office of Emergency Management.=20

It took more than an hour to extricate Mr. Moore -- 50 garbage bags of
his paper had to be hauled out just to reach him -- and he was taken
to St. Barnabas Hospital with leg injuries, apparently the result of
the weight that fell on him and the fluid that accumulated in his legs
during his captivity. He was reported in stable condition last night,
a hospital spokesman said.=20

Deon Baitmon, 35, a next-door neighbor who was one of a few people who
knew Mr. Moore had been living in a room filled with paper, said she
had tried to persuade him to get rid of some of it, without success.
''I told him, 'You've got to be able to get in and out,' '' she said,
''but he didn't really want to hear about that.''=20

While it was hardly comparable, the episode echoed the strange
cautionary tale of Langley and Homer Collyer, who lived for years
barricaded in a 12-room mansion at Fifth Avenue and 128th Street in
East Harlem with their legendary collection of stuff -- tons of
newspapers, magazines and books; 14 grand pianos, chandeliers,
mirrors, bottles, rotting groceries and an automobile chassis.=20

On March 21, 1947, alerted by a mysterious phone call, the police
broke in and found the body of Homer, who had been blind and
bedridden. After lengthy searching, they found Langley's body under
piles of junk. He had apparently died of a heart attack weeks earlier
after triggering one of many booby traps set for burglars, and Homer
had died of starvation several days later.=20

While people who hoard obsessively are generally regarded as troubled,
there is no agreement among experts on the causes of the phenomenon,
which dates back thousands of years. Cases are uncovered from time to
time, often after the death of a recluse discloses hidden wealth or
troves of possessions behind an otherwise unremarkable facade.=20

After getting a glimpse into Mr. Moore's room yesterday, some
neighbors recalled that almost every day for the past decade he had
received a heavy load of mail: newspapers, magazines, books that he
ordered with a variety of names and never paid for, and tons of
unsolicited advertising and other mail.=20

A cursory examination of the stacks turned up numerous copies of
Sports Illustrated, Nascar racing publications, Vibe, Scuba Diving,
Essence, skiing magazines, Savoy, Sound and Vision, Fitness magazine
and copies of the Harvard Business Review.=20

''He got everything,'' said John Thomas, a neighbor. ''You name it --
he got it -- except Playboy.''=20

Bennie Jones, 62, the owner of the three-story brownstone, said: ''I
knew he was getting a whole lot of magazines, but I had no idea there
were so many inside. I can't see how he had any space to move in
there. It's crazy. He had the place stacked up with magazines, and
they fell on him.''=20

Mr. Moore, who was unemployed and paid his $250-a-month rent from the
public assistance money he received, lived the quiet life of a hermit,
his neighbors said, rarely going out and never allowing visitors into
his windowless room on the parlor floor, halfway down a dark, narrow
corridor.=20

''His room is his private room,'' Ms. Baitmon said. He opened the door
to get his mail, which was addressed to people named Joe Smith, Pamela
Cruise and other fictitious names, but bore his apartment number, 1-B.
Occasionally, she said, she heard his radio or his voice, singing or
mumbling to himself.=20

Over the weekend, she heard his voice from time to time, but there
were no cries for help, nothing very coherent. ''He was just talking
through the door a bit,'' she said, and noted that she had not been
alarmed.=20

The discovery of Mr. Moore's plight was almost an accident. It
happened that he had asked his landlord last week for a small loan,
and Mr. Jones went to his door with a couple of dollars yesterday. He
knocked on Mr. Moore's door. There was no answer at first, but then he
heard a voice inside. It sounded strange.=20

It occurred to Mr. Jones that Mr. Moore might need help. The door was
locked, but Mr. Jones got a crowbar and pried it open. Stacks of
magazines and books had fallen against the door, and he had to get a
couple of neighbors to force it open.=20

They were astonished by what they found inside. The room was stuffed
from wall to wall and floor to ceiling with stacks of paper. They also
heard moaning from a corner, behind the stacks. ''He was trapped in a
little corner,'' said Mr. Thomas. ''We had to take books out just to
get to him.''=20

Mr. Jones called 911, and by the time the firefighters of Engine
Company 42 arrived, the neighbors had hauled away enough material to
create a path and to unpaper Mr. Moore nearly down to his waist.
Another obstacle remained. A bookcase, apparently the only piece of
furniture in the room, had also fallen, wedging Mr. Moore tightly in
an almost upright position.=20

The firefighters raised the bookcase, hauled away more loads of paper
and eventually freed Mr. Moore, who was carried out on a stretcher.=20

''He couldn't say much,'' Mr. Thomas recalled. ''He was in pain.''=20

Even as Mr. Moore driven away, the neighbors said, a postman was
arriving with another delivery of newspapers, magazines and junk mail
for him. ''He never threw anything away,'' Mr. Thomas said.=20


************
Lois Ruben Aronow

www.loisaronow.com
Modern Porcelain and Tableware