With the new hoarders obsession in this country, I feel it only necessary to write about what I collect. I'm in no way a hoarder. Sure, I save things that can be reused instead of throwing them out. I have shoe boxes that I keep all my craft supplies in, I save old jars or candle holders to use for organizing my desk (and I've been meaning to get into making my own candles to reuse some of the jars), I save postcards and greeting cards for craft purposes and I save plastic bottle for making homemade bongs. But I don't collect those things, I recycle what I don't need. But there are some things that I do keep even if they don't work, five things really. I've decided to do a small series of blogs on what I collect. My collections are actually in early stages at the moment. I tend do collect in phases anyways. I'll collect something for years, get sick of the clutter and get rid of everything. I've collected baseball and hockey cards, Super Bowl coins, Pez dispensers, movies and seashells among other things.
I figured the best way to work this series is to start to explain the first of the five collections and then write about the others consecutively. So enough blabber! On to the first collection piece!
If you know me at all you know that one of my biggest passions is music, so it's no surprise that I wanted to start collecting music. There are so many ways of listening to music but only one seems "romantic"...vinyl records. Listening to a vinyl record is personal, you can see how the music is being delivered to your ears and that makes the music special. Watching a needle fit perfectly in the grooves as the record spins is enough to make my heart melt. To me, it's the most personal listening experience. Quality of sound may not be the best, but I tend to like flaws so it works for me.
I started collecting vinyl about three years ago now. I don't have an abundance of vinyl, but my collection has certainly grown. I only go searching for records once in a blue moon when I feel like I need a pick me up or I'm in the mood for a thrift store adventure. I now own two record players and probably about thirty records. I started out only wanting vintage vinyl records. I felt that the only way to listen to older music was through a needle and turntable. It wasn't until recently when a friend saw my collection and wanted to start collecting himself that I started collecting new music on vinyl. I thought it was interesting that he wanted new music on vinyl, the thought had never even occurred to me. Then him and his girlfriend invited me over for a night of beers, pot and jeopardy and we listened to some more recent albums on his new record player and I was sold. I needed to start giving new music the chance to dance on my turntable. The cool bonus about new music on vinyl is that the artwork is usually pretty fantastic and most of the newer albums come with a digital download code or a CD so you can put the record on your computer and mp3 player.
Some of the vinyl I have is scratched or ruined in some way, but I'm hoping one day to be able to afford a real cleaning machine that sucks all the dirt and grossness out of the records grooves. My birthday is coming up so if anybody is looking to get me something, one of those would complete me. ;)
