apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

She's a funny lady. I like her sass. :)

I need a translation of that quote....either she means you find so many great books in the attic that you get distracted...or she means that only uneducated people can clean.....which would fit the values of the society in which she existed, but not this one. I don't get it?

What?! Does this mean you should hire someone who can't read to clean out your attic? Because you know, there are still people in America who can't-- there were probably a lot more of them during her hayday. What a terrible thing to say.

Ugh.

This site is fun and then people start reading way in too deep.

It's a funny quote, and also so true. It takes such a long time to sort out through books and magazines and any reading material because one gets stuck in between the pages.

I hate it when a joke has to be explained or else it will offend the sensibilities of people.

It's interesting that an interior design website were to post this, because my understanding is that Ann Landers thought that all this business of keeping one's home was a crock. Wasn't it she who didn't want her tombstone to read "kept a neat home?" She was more about being in touch with the world at large than being in touch with the home. Or at least that's what I'm recalling...

what lovely cursive font. does anyone know the font type they used?

Did anyone think they would click through to see more quotes? I went to that website and it was kinda hokey. I know people looked to her for advice, but the corny one-liners seem to endure. It is like any list of quotes attributed to a person passed around the internet.

But anyway, like above, I assumed it wasn't a cheap shot at the presumably illiterate (?) servant class, but rather it is hard to keep at a task if there is something to read. This is, that people like to read, people need to flip through the books to see if they want to keep them or not, nostalgia, and something to look at when you're taking a break. Nobody has ever said "just one more page" when they're supposed to get back to work?

Anyway, who has servants cleaning out their attic? Maybe it's because I don't have servants, but I think no matter who you are, you're not going to want someone else sorting your personal effects for the trash and donation piles, unless you're dead, and even then, I think people fear death over that issue more than they like to admit. Maybe if she'd said "people who can't read would be ideal for cleaning out my attic!" you'd have a point.

People stop reading into shit so deeply. Geez, the woman's gone for F@#$'s sake you can't ask now. I really miss reading her advice columns. She was an inspirational person.

I'm not a big fan of Landers, but I suspect the quote is out of context. Most likely the quote was more a wry comment on the difficulty people who love to read have in getting rid of old books, even the bad ones. It doesn't seem to have anything to do with servants, general literacy, or the ability to otherwise keep a neat and clean house.

Its like when you buy something that has been wrapped in newspaper, say at a garage sale,or find a newspaper behind a wall when you renovate you just have to read it and therefore your work is held up. (I think that's what she means).

Ann Landers: R.I.P.

Now, I read Carolyn Hax. She's so today. So 2008.