I wish there were as many outlets for donation around here as there are in "real" cities. We've got the non-denominational thrift store, we've got the Mormon thrift store, then there's the homeless shelter/food bank. And even then it's not an actual shelter, because the city fathers don't want a place where "those sorts" would congregate.

I am so in the mood to get rid of stuff! I'm even culling books, which I never could bring myself to do before this summer. I discovered my local SPCA has a nice bookstore section, and apparently they do brisk business. The lady who works there said a man "comes down from the other side of the mountains" looking for books for his bookstore (I pictured Grizzly Adams with a library cart) every Thursday and buys bunches of books from them. So my books get good homes and the money goes to support the cats and dogs. Win-win-win-win.

That awesome, Zenkitty. I know my library really doesn't take them anymore. There are a few curbside lending libraries I have seen in front of people's homes around here. In Otter Lake the local pub has shelves of books for lending. I figured on sending some of mine there when I go back in the summer.

I guess I could take the better paperbacks to the used book store, but I don't need credit to bring in even more books.

Good god, who am I? Did I really just say that? I don't know myself anymore.

use the credit to buy gifts?

Good god, who am I? Did I really just say that? I don't know myself anymore.

I know the feeling! I lugged around so many boxes of books, move after move after move, for two decades, because I felt like those books were me. If I didn't have my whole library of every book I ever read, somehow I wouldn't be me anymore. But I don't feel that way anymore. My house was (still is, really, just less so) overflowing with books I was never going to read again, and a lot of books I never had read and honestly never would. They were covering every available surface, forcing me to have towering bookshelves where I wanted to put other things, and it was starting to feel oppressive. Giving myself permission to get rid of any books I wanted to get rid of - and finding a way to get rid of them that felt like I was doing some good, with the SPCA - made a huge difference to me. I'm not going to keep a book just because I bought it, anymore. And, I'm finally going to go to the local library and get a library card, so I don't have to buy every book I think I want to read. I'm a book-lover and a voracious reader (used to be, anyway, before depression), and I haven't had a library card in decades. Isn't that crazy?

) overflowing with books I was never going to read again, and a lot of books I never had read and honestly never would. They were covering every available surface, forcing me to have towering bookshelves where I wanted to put other things

So much this.

Argh, someone is setting off fireworks in the street. Scared dog pees in the hallway. Thanks, neighbor, very festive.

It's too bad that you can't sell most books for anything near a price that makes it worthwhile. Used books just aren't money. Hell, if they were, I could pay off all my debts tomorrow. I took a few bags of books to a local bookstore for store credit before I discovered the SPCA, and now I have almost $200 store credit, but I really don't need the temptation to bring more books into the house! But it's good, I guess, I just have to focus on getting books I really want. Odd and unusual books are always welcome!

I guess I could take the better paperbacks to the used book store, but I don't need credit to bring in even more books.

The upside is you bring back many fewer books! I mean, upside if you're trying to shed stuff.

So I just saw Louis CK, in a surprise show at my local theater. (Surprise as of the other day, anyway.) That was fun! At one point, he was doing a bit that wasn't quite going anywhere, and he was like, "That's going to get better -- you paid thirty bucks!" Which was true.