Alright! So like I said in my previous blog post I have vowed to be way more involved on this site, and what better way than to do some homework! It's probably best that I (mostly) go with topics created by someone else, or I'm pretty sure my blog will turn into mad rantings on how trenchant I think ______ band/musician/song is today (and I can go on and on, lemme tell you...)
So without further ado....
I'll start by saying that I love people who keep collections, I think it says so much about who a person is. It doesn't have to be an expensive thing, or rare, or typical. Sometimes I think what we collect can choose us. But they give us a glimpse of a deeper truth, and I love them even more when there's a hint of nostalgia attached. Whether it's stamps, healing stones or hard to find vinyl there always seems to be a story attached, the beginning of an interest, a tactile passion.
When I was younger I collected things like Pogs and Crazy Bones, mostly because they were what was "cool". In hindsight I totally wish I had hung onto these things, if only for the nostalgia factor ( I do love a good 90's nostalgia trip!). I also lived in the Beaches neighborhood of Toronto at the time, and would often walk the shoreline collecting "beach glass". My grandmother still has a huge glass jar filled to the top with little bits of the coloured glass and ceramic tiles we found. I Spy books, marbles and Hot Wheels cars were also a big deal to me around this time (I still remember my favourite Hot Wheels car, a fluorescent pink '57 Chevy that I would always insist was pronounced "Cheby" because I couldn't make the proper "V" sound yet).
As I hit my preteen/teen years I started to collect my own music. I grew up with my parents (specifically my Mum) having a really fantastic collection of tapes and CD's and there was ALWAYS something playing on their Harman Kardon stereo (a lot of Seattle bands, mixed in with peeps like Neil Young and Van Morrison, some "Rebirth of Cool" compilations). It seemed like an essential thing to me to have a proper collection of the music I liked.... and I was NERDY about it. If I liked an artist, I had to have their full discography. Everything was arranged alphabetically and by release year. Often times I slipped CD's out of my parents collection and into my own. I know this is a pretty normal thing but it makes me laugh that at roughly 10 years old I was already on my way to Music Snob town.
As I've gotten older, a lot of my belongings have been lost during moves (between 18 and 24 I've moved 6 times, most of which have been snap decisions with little time for planning) and I had gotten used to living with most of my non-essentials tucked away in boxes, without the room to find a place for everything. When I first tried to think about what to write for this homework I couldn't immediately think of anything that I actively collect now. But when I look around I realize that I have more collections now than ever. I still have all my music, now slowly being fortified by vinyl finds (still on the hunt for a good record player though...). I have a growing collection of weird vintage curios. A backwards-faced 70's chain-hanging clock, a hand made light-up 'Last Supper', a brass and amber glass Jayne Mansfield lamp. I also "collect" books I suppose... I have way more art and reference books than any non-professional artist probably needs. The ones I buy the most are always biographies or pop culture related. I enjoy sponging up all the information, especially when I get a chance to use the weird little tidbits I know in conversation... (yeah I'm that irritating person).
Here's a few photos:
Thanks to @rambo @missy @lyxzen for all this homework awesomeness, did I do it right?!
