What to do with your stuff when you’re dead

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I may have mentioned this first part before. My wife periodically asks me, “What do you want to happen to your stuff when you’re dead?” She wasn’t quite that coarse. But to mind’s ear, it SOUNDED that way.

Recently, my daughter has been also uttered the refrain. I don’t know, but I’m still using them, thank you.

In my wife’s case, it’s a function of my mother-in-law dealing with my late father-in-law’s stuff, so I get it. But the question still makes me irritable.

There may be some of my music and books – surely the largest physical representation of my “stuff” – that they may actually want to keep! Surely, my daughter should want the book Soulsville, USA, even if she doesn’t KNOW she wants it. Likewise my Motown, Stax, Beatles-adjacent, and other albums.

We’re giving ’em away!

That said, there are some books I could part with. Top Pop Albums for 1996, 2001, and 2009 I’m giving up if anyone wants them. But I’m holding on to the 2005 and 2016 versions, the former renamed The Billboard Albums. Why keep the 2005 version but not 2009? Because 2009 dropped the tracks on the albums, re-instated in the 2016 version. And I keep 2005 because it weighs less than the 2016 version and meets most of my needs.

I just got Top Pop Country Singles 1944-2017. So the version ending with 2012 I’d gladly give up.

I’ve somehow got two copies of Marvel Masterworks, Daredevil Volume 5, covering DD issues 42-53. They’re mostly by Stan Lee and Gene Colan, but also Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith.

And I have a case of “And don’t call me a racist!” The book was compiled by Ella Mazel.

Musical CD duplicates:
25 – Adele
Secret Identity – the Andrew Allen Trio
Sky Signal – Audible
The Long Black Veil – The Chieftains
Open Ground – Kyle Fischer
Cowgirl’s Prayer – Emmylou Harris
Metal Cares – Picastro
Long Knives Down – Rainer Maria

Optimally, anyone who wanted these locally could pick up one or more of these, and multiples of the Mazel book. Or I could drop them off. Beyond that, I’ll ship the rest, in the US only because international postage and regulations are pains. Email me at rogerogreen (at) gmail (dot) com.

More important to me than stuff

I’m more interested in what becomes of my blog when I go. My blog is paid for through March 2027. Still, I’d like to find someone to dump the spam emails, accept the real comments, and update the plugins.

Fortunately, I know most of the blog will live on via the Wayback Machine. At this writing, it was last captured just after my last birthday, on March 8, 2021.

What I discovered, though, is that I used to insert these Continue Reading breaks, the content below which I can’t retrieve. So I have been systematically been getting rid of the MORE tabs.

Also, the first five years of this blog were on Blogger. When I moved it, some of the punctuation was wonky. I’d now get a sentence such as That’s why there’s no such thing as an “aspiring writer.” I know what it means, but it’s ugly. I’m going through those posts as well.

As for Facebook and Twitter, I suppose I should figure something about those too. But they’re just not that important to me.

Author: Roger

I'm a librarian. I hear music, even when it's not being played. I used to work at a comic book store, and it still informs my life. I won once on JEOPARDY! - ditto.

3 thoughts on “What to do with your stuff when you’re dead”

  1. I know that has been a major concern of mine after having to clear out my husband’s and mother’s stuff as well as pare down everything to move to California in just a few short months. There are times I think I got rid of too much but on the other hand I am obessessed with not leaving that burden to my kids so I am trying not to accumulate stuff. It puts you in a wierd headspace,

  2. As you might imagine, this is a bigger deal for me now than it was only a couple years ago. For me, the short answer is that I couldn’t possibly care less what happens to the physical stuff I leave behind: They can bring in folks to take everything to the tip if they want (though that would be foolish because selling everything would get some money).

    I think I’ll probably leave the logins to my social media accounts so that my executor can just log-in and delete the accounts completely (I may possibly have the solicitor who has my will hold onto them). My podcast will go away when it’s no longer renewed, but my Blogger blog will live indefinitely unless I decide I want it deleted. Don’t know yet.

  3. Yes, I understand.

    From a purely selfish perspective, I hope your blog lives forever. Among other things, I have many posts linked to it.

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