Since I last wrote, Christmas and New Year have both dragged and sped by in their own special way, and I thought it was about time I tended to this, my little web garden.
In fact, that’s not a bad metaphor for the start of 2004: weeding.
Rather than make some New Year’s resolutions, I thought I’d take a different approach and instead announce a ‘theme’ for my year. It is Zen. Well… zen with a lower-case ‘z’ really: the aesthetic rather than the austere, prayerful Buddhist practice.
In short, I’m de-cluttering my life. Serious crap reduction has been a primary activity over the past week or so, and last night constituted a marathon effort in that regard.
We have a scanner for a few days, so what we did (we, in this instance, is my wife Bobbie and I) was to go through the boxes and boxes of books languishing in the garage, and sort them into ‘keep’, ‘throw away’, and ‘sell’ piles.
The sell ones are ending up on Trade Me, where I’ve made a few experimental sales. If you’re not familiar with the site, it’s just an online auction. E-bay, only local.
We went through the sell pile (almost 300 books) and scanned the covers. Every one of them. Now comes the bit where we start loading them up onto the website. We’ve experimented with a few books to see how it goes, and now we’re ready to take a zen approach to the bookcase and embrace capitalism all at the same time.
So far, the results have been surprising. Brand new books that go for $30+ in the shops, I’ve been selling for only $1 or $2. A couple of books in less than perfect condition that I bought second hand for $5 back in the late 80s have gone for over $20. I was surprised to get any response at all to some that have proved popular, and I have had no response at all to bestsellers. And yet even that’s not consistent. There seems to be no earthly logic to it.
Anyhow, I thought I’d put up a wee incentive. It may or may not work. I went out and bought some of those $1 scratchies – the Instant Kiwi tickets. Of course, it’s illegal to sell those, but it’s not illegal to slip one into the front cover of a book as a bonus present for someone who just bought a book off you. Kind of a nice gesture, actually. Only I’ve made mention of the fact that I do that: “…a bargain – and as a special gift to the winning bidder, I’ll throw in an instant kiwi for good measure.”
Of course, the psychology might be wide of the mark, but if someone’s dithering over whether to buy the complete works of Chaucer for $3, the idea that they might also end up with $10,000 might tip the balance. Who knows?
Best pressies for the year include a pasta machine – a fantastic labour-creating device that replaces the arduous task of popping down to the shop to spend $3 on a packet of fresh pasta, with the more zen-like 3-hour activity that yields the same result, only with more washing up. Actually, oddly, enjoyable. Also a chef’s blowtorch. One of those things that you make creme brulee with. And blacken capsicum.
Possibly Baked Alaska as well, though I’m not 100% sure what that is.
I’m off to do my ‘2003 top 5 albums’ show – and then it’s back online to rid myself of books. CDs will be next, though I’ve been giving as many of those away as I can over the Christmas break. There was a decidedly recurring shape to many people’s presents this year.
Ideally, my weeding will result in a more serene, less scattered mind.
And plenty of storage space for new crap.
