Free stuff! Two essays on why we're having a yard sale

[electricland]

(which I keep wanting to call a garage sale, despite the fact that we manifestly do not own a garage)

Net synchronicity's funny that way.

Mark Morford:

In fact, it is no stretch at all to say that "free" is a human cultural obsession, something that defines us and holds us in eternal thrall. And I'm sure there's been some sort of deep scientific study on just exactly how many segments of our brain light up when we hear that omnipotent word, even (and this is where it gets really fascinating) when we know the free item in question is actually bad for us, pointless and unhealthy and even a little sad.

Paul Graham (via Making Light):

It wasn't always this way. Stuff used to be rare and valuable. You can still see evidence of that if you look for it. For example, in my house in Cambridge, which was built in 1876, the bedrooms don't have closets. In those days people's stuff fit in a chest of drawers. Even as recently as a few decades ago there was a lot less stuff. When I look back at photos from the 1970s, I'm surprised how empty houses look. As a kid I had what I thought was a huge fleet of toy cars, but they'd be dwarfed by the number of toys my nephews have. All together my Matchboxes and Corgis took up about a third of the surface of my bed. In my nephews' rooms the bed is the only clear space.

Comments

[headgardener.livejournal.com]

1) Free: since fjm tipped us off about the local Freecycle group, we've been offering surplus Stuff on that, and acquiring some from others. This now supplements: taking Stuff to charity shops, donating to plant stall at Street party coming up (but currently no books identified as surplus), offering goods and services on North London LETS (local exchange trading system). And easiest of all, just putting Stuff outside our front gate as street harvest for passers-by.

2) Surplus: yes, amazing how the moss gathers. Walls lined with books and CDs which may possibly act as wall insulation. Wall lined with clothes -- built in wardrobe whose doors we've never got around to building. Gardening clutter around back door, in back loo, along side passage, and down allotment shed. Attic full of archived and out-of-season Stuff plus empty boxes. Collections of shells, frogs, pretty glass, dolls-houses. Drawers full of wool, fabric, art and crafty stuff I think I'll make one day, really.

Kids today: what gets me is the number of Barbie dolls that modern gels accumulate. Why do they need so many? How can a gel form a proper relationship, bond with, a whole herd of Barbies (or Bratzes)? Sure, just one Barbie might get a bit lonely, so its good to have two or three to keep each other company and swap clothes and have adventures together. I only ever had one Barbie, and we still you know, look out for each other. On the other hand, I did have a couple of dozen assorted dolls until my mother abducted them and packed them away when I was twelve.

[pretentiousgit.livejournal.com]

I'm about to move, which is the single most effective clear-out of Stuff ever, since I tend to simply leave and or donate to charity all the Stuff I don't want any more.

The worst are old computers and formal clothing. I will never use either until suddenly, I desperately need them.

[electricland.livejournal.com]

I'm at a loss with the Barbies myself. I never had any (I had a fairly sizeable herd of model horses, instead) but as you say, how many can one girl possibly need?

We have set aside a corner of the basement in which we place all surplus Stuff as soon as it's identified. It's all going! All of it! Future surplus may go the side-of-the-road route, though; our neighbourhood's pretty good for picking up Stuff and (presumably) putting it to use.