Busy Week

[mabfan]

I've already started being very busy this week, for a few reasons:

* I have a short story that is almost done, which has to be handed in by the end of the month. Because of the deadline, all my writing energy has been going into finishing it up, and the novel has (darn it) been on hold. Hopefully I'll be able to get back to it soon.

* I've been scheduled to do more contract tutoring and teaching than usual. While this is good because it brings in some money, it also takes time and energy.

* As part of my ongoing desire to get the clutter out of the apartment and into the storage area, I decided once and for all to sort my comic book collection (or at least those comic books that I have here, as opposed to the ones still in my Mom's house.) For many years, I left my comics in the plastic New England Comics bags in which I brought them home, and then placed them in boxes or left them in shelves. This week, NEC is having a sale, so I've been buying bags, boards, and boxes, and started to file the comic books away. It's a time-consuming process, as I literally own in excess of a thousand comic books, possibly two or three thousand. But I've started the process, and it's giving me a nice trip down memory lane.

* A high school friend of mine whom I haven't seen since our college years is visiting Boston this week, and we're having lunch with him on Wednesday.

* In my role as an elected Library Trustee in the town of Brookline, I'm chairing the Coolidge Corner Library Facade Committee. The Coolidge Corner Library renovations this summer includes frosted glass panels sandblasted or etched with the names of authors, which will serve as a nice form of public art. We need to get the list of names to the architect by the end of the month, and so I've been keeping a list which is already past five hundred names.

* Finally, this week Brookline holds its Annual Town Meeting, at which we will vote on a number of issues, including the FY 2006 budget, two historic districts, at least one controversial zoning question, and the return of the anti-spanking resolution. I plan to write up a report in my blog on the warrant articles that I find most interesting. If you want to get an idea of what Town Meeting did last time, you can read my reports on the November 2004 Town Meeting at http://mabfan.livejournal.com/2004/11/18/.

Comments

[fontosaurus.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I have a problem with the comics thing, too. I'm doing an inventory before throwing them up on Craigslist/eBay for sale, and I keep getting waylaid by my desire to read them again.

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

A few years back, my younger brother and I sold a ton of Archie and Richie Rich comics that I thought I would never be interested in reading again. It turns out that every now and then I think back to those stories with some fondness. I don't regret having sold the books, though.

However, there are some comics I most defintely don't want to sell. Back in my Mom's house I have a complete run of Firestorm, the original Crisis on Infinite Earths, the Amethyst miniseries, the DC Challenge...my next plan is to bag, board, and box those, and move them closer to where I live now.

[lisafeld.livejournal.com]

Wish you'd told me beforehand; I would have recommended 3 ring binders and plastic sheaths. You can label the outside of the binders, the 3" ones hold 50 comics, it keeps everything straight up and safe, and it's easy to flip through and access individual issues. I learned about it when I was working for Kitchen Sink Press.

Have fun, though! Finding good stuff?

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

I considered binders, but what I really want to do is just box them away safely in storage. The question isn't access at the moment, but simply space.

One day, when I have a big mansion with huge rooms to serve as my overall library, I will then reconsider the binder option. :-)

[querldox.livejournal.com]

It's a time-consuming process, as I literally own in excess of a thousand comic books, possibly two or three thousand.

Snicker....

[75 or so longboxes here]

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

I imagine that once I inventory the comics that are still in my Mom's house, it'll be closer to ten thousand. The three thousand or so are just the ones in our current apartment.

And I'm using the half-size boxes and not the long ones because the point is for me to be able to carry them easily.

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

I gave up on the bagging a while ago, but I do try to keep up with the shelving. It'll be easier to stay organized once you have the initial sorting done.

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

That's exactly the key. From now on, I plan to bag and board each comic as I buy it, and then place it in the current box so they all have one distinct location in the apartment. When the current box gets filled, it'll go into storage.

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

Are you likely to want to re-read them much? If so be sure to label the boxes.