clean sweep

In a first, today I dropped off four massive bags at the Salvos... and walked out with nothing! I'm all inspired by that man who, on the weekend, gave away all his belongings - yep, everything. Now, there's no way I'm going that far, but simplifying my house would be a big improvement. I'm starting with magazines. I have a scary amount on the bookshelf in my study - so many that there's no room for books, and novels're piled high on all my smaller bookshelves rather than luxuriating in the space they deserve. 

I must say that for years I bemoaned what the net would do to publishing and it's obviously having a huge impact on magazines - with readership dropping off in so many categories. Now, while I can never imagine reading a book on-line (I still love me a bound book) a magazine's a whole different kettle of fish... one that's slightly on the turn. I never thought I'd say this, but magazines aren't doing that much for me any more. I open them, skim them, and quickly move on. The trashy gossip mags are the worst. They're not even a guilty pleasure when most of the content is blatantly fabrication (Jen! So Sad: Jen! In love: Jen: My wedding plans...) I'm glad that most of my fave mags have websites though... I can't give 'em up cold turkey.

So today, it was Buh Bye to Donna Hay and Notebook: two mags I've kept lovingly since the start, but rarely ever refer back to. It's been spesh, but it's time for me to ditch the dust-gathering mags and make space for some new novels - I need to feed my brain.