Join me now in the disorder of boxes and paper folders wrenched open after years of abandonment, saturating the air with dust, the floor covered with yellowed paper, some covered with ink, others type.
My feelings were mixed recently when I decided it was time to clean out old filing cabinets and boxes of papers that, indeed, had not seen the light of day in decades.
Once exposed, however, such early writings, poetry, philosophy papers and pamphlets cannot be "cleaned out," I realized, as in discarded, if that was ever really the intention when the task was begun.
You ask yourself, what do you do with all this material in the age of electronic, digital storage? Aren't filing cabinets and boxes of papers obsolete these days? If worth saving at all, shouldn't these writings and other documents be scanned into text files and saved on a CD or flash drive?
I'm old-fashioned, I guess, because I'm not about to trust that my first published article _ a piece on the paranormal for Indian River magazine in 1968 _ will be retrievable on a CD a year from now, let alone a decade or more.
Maybe I'm a fossil, but I can't imagine retyping my very first college newspaper commentaries, on the growing opposition to the Vietnam War and the issue of patriotism, as Word or PDF files and trashing the original publications.
Speaking of that war, I found a large pamphlet, titled "Vietnam: Make No Mistake," that was published by the Students for a Democratic Society in 1970. Try as I might, I just couldn't toss it.
It was the same for a short story, which I forgot that I had written, about an SDS member who took a factory job so he could try to convince workers that they should demand better pay and conditions. He couldn't understand how they could be content with what they had. (I was so embarrassed by the quality of writing, I really was ready to take that one to the transfer station.)
Oh, look here, in a folder labeled Birth, are the remaining birth announcements for our youngest daughter, with a drawing by an artist friend who misspelled her middle name. We had chosen Alexis, but he spelled it Elexsis, so when filing her birth certificate we decided to go with it. Definitely have to keep those.
Surely this small batch of poetry I wrote some 40 years ago could go. Just type them on the computer and store them on a CD. Hey, if something happens, too bad; probably not worth keeping the hard copies. An excerpt from 1969:
Sometimes I think I have found the right way
But it never looks the same the next day.
I'll always keep listening until I die —
I just can't help moaning with a sigh.
Every time I think how hard I made it on myself
I might as well be thrown on a musty old shelf.
See what I mean? But just in case …This job was supposed to be a real, literal housecleaning. There must be some way to part with some of this stuff.
What about the papers I wrote on the struggles of Joseph K. and Siddhartha, Albert Camus, Nietzsche's critique of science, and all the translations from the German for my thesis on Wilhelm Dilthey?
Will anyone ever miss them? Will I? Why can't I just let them go?
Oh, the Buddhism folder, with a graduate school prof's translations from the Sanskrit of two chapters of Chandrakirti's commentaries on the work of Nagarjuna. They had not previously been translated into English. Surely, despite their espousal of non-existence, they have to be saved and treasured.
But wait, a quick Google search has revealed that those chapters and others were compiled into a book by that professor and a colleague. I can get it through Amazon for _ what? _ $165. I guess I should keep the chapters I have.
College degrees, both mine and Susan's, fill one folder. Saved all these decades, they include an A.A., B.A. and M.A. Funny; I've never been asked over all the years and jobs to prove I had a college education. Certainly can't get rid of them now.
I never expected it would be so difficult to part with all these papers and documents. So what now? Dust them off, I guess, and put them back where they belong. Discarding them will have to be someone else's task after I'm gone.
Cary Brunswick, of Oneonta, is a freelance writer and editor. He can be reached at brunswick@earthling.net.
Cary Brunswick
Memories will stay on ink, paper
- Cary Brunswick
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We've become our own worst enemies
The past month has been marked by a seeming unprecedented number of man-made tragedies, as distinct from those caused by violent outbursts of the natural world, such as earthquakes, hurricanes and tsunamis.
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Plenty of blame to go around for Bangladesh horror
After last week's act of ``corporate terrorism'' in Bangladesh, the irony is that worker advocates there are asking western consumers not to boycott the retailers or the clothing linked to the poor Asian nation's garment industry.
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Obama is going against his word on Social Security
President Obama in his proposed budget posited cuts to Social Security cost-of-living increases as a way to get Republicans to go along with higher taxes on the wealthy. It's a strategy that's likely doomed to fail, and if it doesn't, it will tarnish his legacy as a Democratic president.
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Reflecting on a Florida trip
After spending two months in Florida, on the southwest coast, I have returned with a few major impressions of the region's wildlife, and some experiences that are entirely unique for me.
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Those magnificent spies in their flying machines
- Tuesday, March 5, 2013
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2nd Amendment needs rewritten for 21st century
Over the years, I have written mostly about peace and the way our world leaders infringe upon it with war, personal freedom and the way our government tries to steal some away, and the environment, which is under constant assault by corporations.
- Tuesday, February 19, 2013
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Cuomo, Obama aren't necessarily environmentalists
Gov. Andrew Cuomo and President Obama both are stalling on making major environmental decisions on energy development proposals. Meanwhile, the opposition is building as the climate-change issue gains momentum with each new statistic and extreme weather event.
- Tuesday, January 22, 2013
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Like newspapers, obituaries have evolved
When I left The Daily Star a few years ago, I promised our news clerk that I would be sending along my obituary so she could keep it on file. That way, when the time came, all she would have to do is plug in the date.
- Tuesday, January 8, 2013
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We get fooled again on FISA amendments
While everyone was busy teetering on the edge of the fiscal cliff 10 days ago, there was little fanfare or outrage when President Barack Obama signed a five-year extension of a Bush-era surveillance program.
- Tuesday, December 11, 2012
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Fracking in N.Y. poses dilemma for Gov. Cuomo
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who could be squaring off with Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016, is stuck between shale and a hard place on the question of whether to allow fracking in the state.
- Tuesday, November 27, 2012
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Keep up-to-date on condition of fuel-oil tank
Former Oneonta residents Rob Kamerling and Cynthia Marsh Kamerling had a lot to be thankful for this past Thanksgiving -- family, friends, good health and a new community near Boulder, Colo.
- Tuesday, November 13, 2012
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U.S. inches closer to edge of 'fiscal cliff'
I'm not sure who came up with the term "fiscal cliff," but it has been bouncing around for decades with one meaning or another. Now, with looming spending cuts and an end to tax cuts at the end of the year, the phrase has become a fearful household word.
- Tuesday, October 30, 2012
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My two votes for McGovern weren't nearly enough
Back in the 1960s, a verse in a folk song by Barry McGuire proclaimed ``you're old enough to kill, but not for votin'.'' That's because the voting age was 21, while you could join or be drafted into the military at 18.
- Saturday, October 20, 2012
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A 'democratic' system, but with caveats
- Saturday, September 29, 2012
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Violence over film goes much deeper than blasphemy
- Saturday, September 8, 2012
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Calling Ryan's words 'lies' is an understatement
It's no shock to learn that our presidents lie. Nixon did it. Clinton did it. And George W. Bush did it. What is shocking is that they are so easily forgiven, or that we so easily forget.
- Saturday, August 18, 2012
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A few titles to help answer the deep questions
I have had a copy of Wittgenstein's "Philosophical Investigations" in my library for about 40 years now, and only one person has ever borrowed it.
- Saturday, July 28, 2012
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Crying 'Marxist' alone is not a valid argument
It is strange that so many people like to throw around the "Marxist" label whenever someone advocates a little more planning for our economy or supports a more-inclusive and less-profit-making health-care system.
- Saturday, July 7, 2012
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Affordable Care Act doesn't make care affordable
When the Supreme Court upheld the health-care reforms known as "Obamacare" as constitutional last week, there were not nearly as many people cheering as there were jeering, though often those jeers were for the wrong reasons.
- Saturday, June 16, 2012
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An independent bookseller reads her market well
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We've become our own worst enemies
