… or, something like that.

2010 is the year I “go digital,” as much as I can. That means getting rid of dead weight, and some of that weight comes from old books. Last night, after everybody else went to bed, I went out to the garage and began sorting books into piles.

By the time I was done I had sorted through around 400 books. About 300 of those went into boxes to take to the thrift store tomorrow. Many of these were old paperbacks that I either read years ago, or never got around to reading. The remaining books, “the good stuff,” were then sorted into about eight piles based on categories like UFOs, True Crime, Horror, and so on. I listed those on Craigslist, but who knows if I’ll get any bites. The day before yesterday I listed a bunch of old VHS tapes I still had lying around. I got three e-mails: two of those were from Nigerian widows, and the third guy never got back with me.

There were lots of books I felt like I couldn’t part with just yet. These included books that I got as gifts, and/or had sentimental attachments to. When I turned sixteen and got my first car (a 1979 Mustang), my dad bought me a hardback book about Mustangs. It’s in the keep pile. All my Three Stooges books and old AD&D manuals stayed in the keep pile as well. I think I have it down to where I can fit everything I want to keep on one bookshelf.

Tomorrow I’ll take the first load to the thrift store, and if nobody bites on Craigslist I suppose I’ll take the rest of them down there next weekend.

Believe it or not, getting rid of 300 books barely made a noticeable dent on the pile-o-crap that lives out in the garage.

But it’s a start.