The life laundry: Smithsonian

For Christmas 1999, my father's gift to me was a year's subscription to Smithsonian magazine. I remember enjoying it quite a lot growing up--like National Geographic, but with less fluffy articles. For whatever reason, though, I never got around to reading the issues. But did I throw them out? Of course not; I set them aside against the day when I would make a point of perusing them. That day never came while I was still living on Belden, so I packed them in a box and brought them along to my new place.

No prizes for guessing how often I looked at them there.

So the decision last night to toss them was an inarguably sensible one. And yet...whether out of lingering guilt or the investment engendered by nine years or storing the damn things, I didn't follow through. Not that I kept them either. Right now, they're in my "purse" and I'm about to take them to the staff lounge. It occurred to me that I've found a dearth of reading material there on my breaks and this way I could kill two birds. The only real cost to me is the back strain of hauling large glossies to work.