I wasn’t planning on doing this until April, but I feel like I’m completely missing the transitioning between seasons right now and figured that preparing for warmer months might help me feel a bit more…spring-y.

I could also use a break from the new Animal Crossing.

I actually started weeding my shelves last spring and managed to make a neat little pile of stuff I wanted to give away. Then, over the course of a year, that neat pile dispersed across the bottom shelf of my coffee table and got mixed up with other stuff I’d recently acquired, and it was no longer exactly clear what I had originally wanted to keep.

The first time around, my approach to this project was, “I’m running out of space, I need to get rid of stuff.” I’ve since realized that I’d been defining “space” as “storage” with no consideration of what was being stored. Magazine boxes are simply not the fairest way to display items like zines and floppies. While I’m still working out the logistics, I think I’m ready to invest in a magazine display rack. (I’ve noticed a lot of comics people with KVISSLE in their work space photos.)

This time, the first step was to make an even bigger mess.

When projects get big, I’m the sort that likes to just throw it all on the floor.

Next: KonMari the magazine boxes.

It was time to evaluate my collection with a new set of criteria. Instead of “Does this bring me joy?”, I had to reflect upon each zine with “Does seeing this cover bring me joy? Will seeing this cover displayed face out in my living room increase the chances of me picking it up and flipping through?” The “no”s were put aside with the rest of the carpet mess.

Everything that didn’t make it into the magazine boxes was sorted into one of three piles: zines to be donated to local zine libraries, zines going to friends, and floppies to be donated to academic libraries with comics collections. While I was at it, I also combed through my ARCs and giveaways, weeding out anything I didn’t need anymore. The end result was five piles on my floor.

Zines for friends went in one bag, all donations in another, and ARCs in a third and left in a corner in the kitchen to be dealt with later. Who knows how long this isolation thing will go on, but at least now I’m ready for whenever the libraries do reopen.

Also, my coffee table is the clearest it’s been in two years.

Anyway, here’s a sneak preview of next week’s post.