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The War on Hoarding
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raincoaster
10/20/09

In reply to The War on Hoarding
I am in SHOCK.

HOW, in the name of Cthulhu, could they have cast this series without me??? Ask any of the several Gawker commenters who've seen my apartment; it looks like a liquor store and a library collided three years ago and nobody's cleaned up the rubble!

I don't have too much stuff. I have too few rooms. #hoarding
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BookishLookish
10/20/09

In reply to The War on Hoarding
You call it hoarding, I call it layers of interest that create glamour. Suck it, minimalists! #hoarding
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Tart of Darkness
10/20/09

In reply to The War on Hoarding
I knew a dog hoarder, saw her every week 'cause she did agility training and yet was clueless about what was going on. Predictably she got overwhelmed with dogs, had some dead ones and started cancelling classes and then she was busted. Needless to say she never invited anyone into her house. What I heard was that there was a recliner and a TV that were more or less almost clean.

Sadly, like many hoarders, she had been terribly abused as a child. She was clinically depressed, poverty stricken and almost alone in the world. I heard about her for a couple of years after her court case, but not recently.

And she was a very, very good dog trainer -- gentle and sweet with my shy Springer Spaniel.
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Edited by Tart of Darkness at 10/20/09 3:04 PM Tart of Darkness was starred Tart of Darkness was unstarred

Encantada
10/20/09

@Tart of Darkness: I think my grandfather was an animal hoarder. He had two Vietnamese potbelly pigs in the basement and two Scottish Highland cattle that weighed a ton each in the backyard, as well as pygmy donkeys and goats, St. Barnard dogs, geese, and cats. I thought he was just kind of eccentric when I was younger, but it upset my mother to see her childhood home turned into a menagerie that smelled to high Heaven. Luckily, my uncles lived nearby and helped care for the animals as my grandfather became too frail to do things like break the ice on the cattle's water trough in the winter. One of the little donkeys, Abraham, is still alive. He's just the sweetest creature, and sometimes I fantasize about keeping him in my Harlem apartment. Then I'm like, uh-oh.... #hoarding
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Tart of Darkness
10/20/09

@Encantada: I completely and utterly understand you. I live in a house. I have 3 dogs and I keep have to reminding myself that even though the city allows four dogs, having four dogs is not REQUIRED. #hoarding
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Matt Cherette
10/20/09

In reply to The War on Hoarding
Big and Little Edie Beale, I think, are the revolutionary hoarders. Nobody else would ever hoard in East Hampton... #hoarding
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BadUncle
10/20/09

In reply to The War on Hoarding
It's all context, people. You bring your flock into the city, and suddenly you're a shephoarder. #hoarding
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MadameDecline
10/20/09

In reply to The War on Hoarding
I am digging the kitty in the lower left that has the Atari logo on its head. #hoarding
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Mike Byhoff
10/20/09

In reply to The War on Hoarding
Would anyone consider The Vogels, rabid collectors of minimalist art, hoarders? Is the content that one hoards make it hoarding?

A person who owns magazines and newspapers dating back to the 60's is considered a hoarder, but a couple that owns so many paintings they must stack them under their bed is considered a collector?

[en.wikipedia.org]
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Edited by Mike Byhoff at 10/20/09 1:39 PM Mike Byhoff was starred Mike Byhoff was unstarred

hollygirl
10/20/09

@Mikey-B: That apartment did look kinda fire-trappy on TV. Wouldn't want to be their neighbors.... #hoarding
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mfnher
10/20/09

@Mikey-B: Definitely! I saw the Independent Lens last week, and there is no doubt they are hoarders. Even after the National Museum gave them a living stipend so they could buy furniture and have a normal home, they still used it to buy art. Although, they seemed to be able to part with it pretty easily. I guess most hoarders don't get to see the stuff they've gotten rid of in a national museum. #hoarding
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edosan
10/20/09

@Mikey-B: Always remember: rich people are "eccentric," poor people are "crazy." #hoarding
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Botswana Meat Commission FC
10/20/09

In reply to The War on Hoarding
We should have a "Hoarders" liveblog. #hoarding
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jaxdesert
10/20/09

In reply to The War on Hoarding
I'm a psychologist, and hoarding--the Supreme-Ultra-Mega-Level-Hoarding that results in deaths from stacks of papers falling on someone or bodies being buried in collected junk--is my current fascination.

I was thus mesmerized when my mom reported that on a recent trip to see a distant cousin, it was determined that said cousin is a hoarder. They had to walk sideways through little trails left in her home with walls of junk on either side. The only halfway bare surfaces were the guest bed and the tiny threads of carpet that made up 'the trail.' Full Christmas tree in living room, with all decorations. In September. But then again, in the South that is not terribly unusual. #hoarding
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pureblarney
10/20/09

@jaxdesert: These guys were two of the original and most famous NYC hoarders. #hoarding
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pony_express
10/20/09

@jaxdesert: I come from a family of horders, mild cases, nothing unsanitary just a little compulsive. It stems from being British during WWII and suffering through rations. #hoarding
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Tart of Darkness
10/20/09

@pony_express: It probably doesn't stem from that. That is the rationale for it, but it's probably really a brain chemical imbalance.

Everyone in the U.S. says it's because of the Great Depression...even people who were infants during the Great Depression and couldn't possibly remember it. #hoarding
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Tart of Darkness
10/20/09

@jaxdesert: I am also embarrassingly fascinated by compulsive behaviors -- I especially like compulsive shopping and hoarding type situations. #hoarding
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ngoandy
10/20/09

In reply to The War on Hoarding
I have a question regarding a house that had to be demolished due to hoarding.

What if you were a hoarder and owned your own house? Can you be prevented from living in it due to how poorly you've maintained it? #hoarding
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92BuickLeSabre
10/20/09

@ngoandy: In NYC, yes.

The NYC Hoarding Task Force was nice enough, back in 2003, to put some fascinating FAQs and building code violations on their website.

[www.environmentalgeriatrics.com]

[Edit: Although Steps 1-10 generally involve working with the individual and moving them toward "cleaning" the place.]
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son of spam
10/20/09

@ngoandy: It's an issue of health and safety. The municipality has the power to pull your certificate of occupancy for those reasons, among others. #hoarding
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Tart of Darkness
10/20/09

@ngoandy: As everyone else has mentioned, yes, they can take your house for creating unsanitary conditions. In some places the process is lengthy and involved. There was a very locally famous case of a college professor (Cal State Long Beach) who lived in a house in Huntington Harbor -- expensive waterfront community -- which was a dump basically. The house was filled with stuff, the back and front yards were also filled with stuff. Her neighbors complained to the city and lawsuits went back and forth for years. This was back in the early '90's I think. They finally got her out of her house and I think she eventually left her job as well.

It was beyond obvious that she was mentally ill and needed help, but you could hardly blame her neighbors for wanting the situation fixed.

Of course like most hoarders, she denied she had a problem although she admitted that her property (which had random piles of human feces everywhere) was a bit messy. #hoarding
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Mike Byhoff
10/20/09

In reply to The War on Hoarding
There's no such thing as too many lamps! #hoarding
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pumpkinsoup
10/20/09

In reply to The War on Hoarding
I am a child of a hoarder, and I admit to suffering from the affliction myself. There are stacks of paper on the floor next to my desk and my bedroom floor is covered with books and clothes I can't seem to stop buying, but I draw the line in not cleaning up cat urine and feces. Yuck.

However, there was a cat hoarder discovered a few years ago in the neighborhood where I grew up. The neighbors claimed that they had no idea, but according the news the stench was obvious when a social worker paid a visit to the house, the owner being an elderly widow. I just found that case so sad because no one was looking out for the old woman and animals she had in her care until the situation had gotten out of control. #hoarding
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shostakobitch
10/20/09

@pumpkinsoup: I too am the child of a hoarder but have gone the opposite way. My apartment is spartan and the tabletops bare. If there is a pile of magazines or something out of place it is really distracting to me. #hoarding
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Scullery_Maid
10/20/09

@pumpkinsoup: Whee! Me three. Well, my dad is borderline. He has many, many, many piles of bargain (always a bargain!) clothes that his wife manages to keep somewhat under control. Unafflicted people don't seem to realize how common it is. I seem fairly normal, but maybe I could go at any time! #hoarding
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pumpkinsoup
10/20/09

@shostakobitch: I do fantasize about having a spartan-looking home. I just can't discipline myself to get there. That said, I don't think I'm that bad, yet. #hoarding
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pumpkinsoup
10/20/09

@Scullery_Maid: Bargain clothes, books, "antiques" (junk) were a big part of my father's affliction too. Also tools and building materials because he liked to build things. My mother just gave up, trying to control it, and after he passed away, there were bags and bags of unworn clothing went straight to charity. It also took four dumpsters to clean out our basement and garage. He wasn't always bad, but as he got older it kept getting worse.

I know I have that hoarding tendency because I seem to attract clutter, but I do make an effort to clean my desk regularly and purge when necessary! #hoarding
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Scullery_Maid
10/20/09

@pumpkinsoup: Oh yes, mine's getting started on building materials! I think the only way to "control" it is through meds and I've never wanted that. I'd rather have my happy, hoardy dad and his piles than some tranquilized shell. #hoarding
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Tart of Darkness
10/20/09

@pumpkinsoup: If you can throw things out you are not a hoarder. True hoarders cannot allow themselves to dispose of anything. Throwing something in the trash is emotionally overwhelming to them.

There really is a difference between hoarding and just having a bunch of stuff. #hoarding
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Spirit Fingers
10/20/09

In reply to The War on Hoarding
Remember when the more lovable term for "hoarder" was a "pack rat?" A pack rat was usually an aunt or distant relative that bought things in various colors, styles, or shapes...just in case the bomb hit, the revolution happened, or the stock market crashed, and 177 boxes of peanut brittle or 55 tins of shortbread cookies would ostensibly be the cure for survival. What, we’re supposed to just throw these people away? I don’t think so. You could be killed and never be found. And they know this. It’s easier to let them sit in their cat hair while they steal plastic bread-bag tabs for their "collection." Obviously.

And regift at Christmas. #hoarding
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scroll_lock
10/20/09

@Spirit Fingers: There was also the Rat Pack Pack Rat- Peter Lawford, who obsessively collected matchbooks, slivers of soap and holiday themed sweaters all while sobbing a protest "I CAN STOP WHENEVER I WANT. I JUST DON'T WANT TO." #hoarding
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Spirit Fingers
10/20/09

@scroll_lock: Oh, "Rat Pack Pack Rat" rolled off my tongue delightfully. Thanks for that! And slivers of soap are truly inspired. Um, certifiably so. Once you get into human DNA collectibles, that's when you know it's out of control, yeah, you know, the ear wax aficionados...the thousand pound ball of hair creators, and I don't even want to know what goes on with toe nails or anything else not meant for public viewing.

Holiday sweaters are for the clearly deranged. Just saying. #hoarding
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scroll_lock
10/20/09

@Spirit Fingers: As are Jingle Bell earrings and novelty socks. #hoarding
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BadUncle
10/20/09

@scroll_lock: Yeah, but the only way I ever manage to keep myself in black socks is by relatives giving me novelty pairs with Santas and Lobsters and what not on them. The novelty sock is usually the free sock. #hoarding
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scroll_lock
10/20/09

@BadUncle: And they're so cute with your Rudolph tie with the light-up nose! #hoarding
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BadUncle
10/20/09

@scroll_lock: It's also how I keep myself in ties and light-up noses, too. #hoarding
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scroll_lock
10/20/09

@BadUncle: And here I thought your light up nose was due to enthusiastic support of the spirits industry. #hoarding
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BettyCrocker
10/20/09

In reply to The War on Hoarding
There's a fine line between Grey Gardens and the Collier brothers. #hoarding
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Conchie Birdie
10/20/09

@BettyCrocker: Is there really a difference, though? #hoarding
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BettyCrocker
10/20/09

@Conchie Birdie: I think the difference is cats. #hoarding
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Conchie Birdie
10/20/09

@BettyCrocker: Aha. #hoarding
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wrongneighborhood
10/20/09

In reply to The War on Hoarding
You know the reporter on this story enjoyed writing this sentence:

... at least 40 domestic and farm animals — including a donkey, two alpacas and a potbellied pig — were seized the next day. #hoarding
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