Richard Pennycuick <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Murphy's Law, that inescapable arbiter of random events, suggests that
>just as the UPS truck disappears down the street with all Dave's old
>catalog(ue)s, at least one question will present itself which is answerable
>only by consulting one of them.

Rather than Murphy's Law, I believe I've learned over time that this
is really one of the elements of Packrat Syndrome: that one must hoard
anything associated with pleasure because "I just might need it one day."
One of the ways I've tried to cope with my own psychology on this matter
is tell myself "How many pages am I keeping that I will NEVER EVER need,"
and doing a cost/benefit of keeping the unnecessary in order to have one
rare moment of having the seemingly necessary.

The cost of acquisition never takes into account the cost of disposal,
which is one of the ways the planet is getting into trouble.

>The recycling bin seems the only realistic option.  There must be other
>listers with the same dilemma.  Any suggestions?

So here's my approach: I read all my journals (ARG, Opera News, BBC Music
Magazine) cover to cover, tearing each page out when I'm done with each
page.  I recycle the pages I don't think I'll ever need and keep the few
interesting articles or CD reviews I want to order from.  Then I file
the few saved pages alphabetically by composer.

Thus I have less than one tenth the volume of paper I would have had
otherwise, and still have a 75% chance or so of having reference material
available for that odd chance in the future.

The hardest part for me, a book lover, was tearing up the journals.  But
after a while I got used to it, and even enjoyed it as therapy--especially
tearing out the reviews from authors I disagree with!

And now I have so much MORE room for my rock collection, my sparrow-pelt
collection, my Elvis wigs, my toenail clippings, my ...

Jeff Dunn
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