Hoarding Can Be Good

[image error]Okay, I admit it, I am pretty bad for hoarding.

Look at my bookshelves. I am not going to read every one of these again. In fact, I suspect only perhaps 15% of them will be read. I have books I adore (and know pretty much off by heart), and which I cannot get rid of because they are my comfort-reads; there are some which are so bad, so unremittingly dire, that I keep them to remind myself I cannot sink that low; and then there is the middle ground, the Lehanes, Grishams, Deavers and others, which I know I won’t read again, but which, well, they hold a place in my affections, I guess.

[image error]Then again, there are the research shelves. These are packed with books I don’t and probably won’t need. But they have to be kept hold of, because once in a while I might need to check on what poisons were in use in the 1500s, or what alchemists were up to in the 1200s, or … there are many aspects of research when writing an historical.

But do I need that snooker table? No. It really should be sold. As should the hanging file trolley. We don’t need that. And the old toys … ah yes, I knew there was a point to this rambling.

You see, I am really enjoying making YouTube videos about books and writing. I know, it seems a silly occupation, but there is a ready audience for short films talking about pens and inks. And I’ve done well with my book reviews, too. People seem to like them.

But, I only have one camera. It is good – it’s a Nikon – but it is not designed for making videos, it’s designed for making photos, and it is exceedingly good at it. But it fails for me on both counts.

Although it is a very competent video-maker, it falls down because it cannot auto-focus while filming. Taking a photo it’s fine, but filming is not. I have to set it up on manual focus and ensure I am sitting within that precise range. It’s not ideal.

For outdoor photography it’s not idea, either, purely because it’s so damn big. It is impossible to take subtle, candid photos with it, because people see this hulking great black box and realise what I’m doing. Besides, I dislike looking like a tourist.

So I have been looking for some time at different options. Sadly they all appear to be in the region of £1,500 and upwards for anything that would do decent video and photography. Which is way out of my league. Even the second hand Fuji X100F, which I mention because it is beautiful, costs over £800. That would be, I think, an ideal every-day carry camera. Light, discreet, and takes wonderful photos. I could keep the Nikon at home for recording films, and take the Fuji out every day. That appeals.

But not at that cost.

However, I have a lot of items here that are not books which I could easily sell. Old toys, old fountain pens, and the Good Lord knows what else besides. I even have a load of crates full of my own books that I could sell.

Maybe, just maybe, I should be concentrating on clearing out the old clutter.

But that will come later. First, today, I have to siphon off some home brew which has been sitting and resting after I mixed in the finings yesterday; walk the dogs; write this blog (okay, done); do emails; do twitter; get the sourdough starter to wake up after a week in the fridge; write up some notes on a review; edit two videos; drive to Exeter to have new hearing aid equipment synched with my existing aids; pick up daughter from the station; get to the college, where we’re participating in a quiz night in support of the A level students …

When I first started writing, I thought it would be a way of having an easier life, and less to do. I was wrong.

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