Bookshelf space. . . why is it in such short supply in my home? A mystery that's destined to go down in history alongside "who shot JFK" and "why do I always forget what I walked into this room for?"

Okay, maybe not. . .

But it's still something I wonder about when I'm trying to cram another book onto an overflowing shelf. CD storage is an even bigger nightmare. You'd think multiple hard drives would do it, but I'm too paranoid about my music collection to not have everything backed up physically as well as digitally. Irony, my greatest friend! I now get most of my music free online-- and then turn around and spend money buying blank CDs and jewel cases. *Laughs* I need to just break down and shell out the cash for several massive shelving units, but I resent the money that could be spent on more books and music instead. . .

Even more ironic-- recently I've been spending money to buy old books that I read years ago when I've got a good shelf's worth of unread stuff waiting for me. . . As I've gotten older I've developed this pernicious habit of re-reading old books rather than exploring new ones. Seeking comfort in the familiar-- I'm insatiably greedy for new music, but old books are like old friends. One of my lesser faults, I suppose. . . At least it has a big shadow to hide in. . . .

On the subject of media, my recommended site of the day is Half.com-- an eBay subsidiary that deals exclusively with books, movies and music. http://www.half.ebay.com/ I've found it very useful for tracking down copies of obscure or out of print media. What's cooler, though, is just last night finding an out of print album that I was getting ready to buy for about thirty bucks was just added to the digital archive on the artist's website, as a five dollar download. Good timing FTW!