Aug 13, 1998, 10:45am

OK so I wrote my new rant last Sunday night, but it was so lame, I couldn't bring myself to upload it. Let's try again, shall we?

First, my Mom is in town, but I've only seen her once for dinner. She's coming over today, and I think that will be the only other time I'll see her before she leaves. We did have a good time at dinner last week, and maybe we can do something together today.

I've been thinking lately how much of a pack rat I am. Jeanette's the real pack rat in our relationship - she got a bit upset at me last night because I threw away two empty yogurt containers - but I'm quite the collector myself. One thing that's very hard for me to throw away is magazines.

I subscribe to several "trade" magazines, including Print, PC Computing, PC Magazine, Windows Magazine, Corel Magazine, Design Graphics, Adobe Magazine and a few more. I also used to buy a lot of magazines a month - on such weird topics as notebook computers, digital cameras, video games and even australian design magazines, not to mention Details, which I buy most months.

I find it hard to throw them away after I'm done too. About two years ago, before we moved, I had about 40 lbs worth of mountain bike magazines collecting dust on the shelves, about 50 lbs worth of National Geographic, and probably 200 lbs or more worth of computer magazines. I don't even want to start on my "design" magazines, which date back to 87 and before.

When we moved, I had to face the painful decision to toss out (recycle, actually) a lot of magazines. Most of the biking mags went, as did a lot of the pre-windoze 95 computer mags (I did keep one or two issues from each year, just so I could look back at the prices any time I felt my current hardware was obsolete and that I paid too much for it). I couldn't bring myself to toss the design mags though.

Now it's become a sort of ritual for me - every 6 months or a year, I go through all my nicely stacked magazines (in Ikea magazine holders - dozens of them!) and toss out a huge stack. Everytime I do it, it's painful though because I hate throwing out anything I paid money for.

Last time around, I finally got up the guts to tackle the growing "design" magazine collection. Out in the garbage went a lot of vintage Aldus magazines (the forerunner of Adobe Magazine) and after painful search and seizure missions - a lot of Print magazines went too. But the other day, I was searching for a half-forgotten article, and I realized it was one from a Print magazine I tossed. Sigh. I'll never win.

My current magazine stash is probably 250 or so - about 20 Prints, 20 Adobe and Aldus mags, 10 Design Graphics, 20 assorted other design mags, 30+ Corel Magazines, 100 various computer magazines, and about 3 dozen other assorted magazines, including several years' worth of Home Office magazine. I'm down to the bare minimum I can handle keeping, but a friend recently remarked it's still way too many. Oh well.

I'm also a bit a of a techno-geek, which eats up an increadible amount of my money, something I have to reign in like NOW. I want want want, and as a result, I end up with way too much stuff. Two areas I buy and buy things for are the kitchen and my business. I own about a half dozen seperate devices dedicated to making coffee, but everytime I pass a kitchen supply store or section in a department store, I go and drool over coffee and espresso makers. On top of being a techno-geek, I guess I'm also a coffee-geek. I am dangerous around those stores.

Some gizmos I've bought for the kitchen in the last few years include a breadmaker (get a lot of use out of that), a blender (ditto), a Braun deluxe blender (use couple of times a month), a cordless kettle (little use now cuz of below), a hot and cold water cooler (use 10 gals a week), a double sided grill (rare usage), a Mr. Coffee ice tea maker (never use), a camp espresso machine (ditto), a Braun Coffee grinder (most used product in the kitchen) various Bodum coffee makers and cups (used infrequently), a Melita single cup cone coffee thingie (use often), a Delonghi coffee bar with espresso and drip and much, much more. And I haven't even brought up the various utensils and "convenience" items I buy!

I dunno why, but I am intensly attracted to kitchen gizmos. With my business, I'm just as bad. I definitely feel the urge to have the latest and greatest.

I was going to write more on this, but I'm out of time for now. Catch you next time...

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Mixelania

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Burundi and Beyond - NY Times
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St. Petersburg Times
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AP Story on Espresso
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Background and information for various espresso machines

Time Mag Article
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NY Times
Front page article about consumers getting into specialty coffee.

Washington Monthly
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USA Today - Barista Jam
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Canon 5D
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Alzo Digital Lights
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Canon Xsi dSLR
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Canon 40D
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Fujitsu P1610
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