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My neighbour, Nate, let me scan his November bus pass. This is turning into quite a little collection of bus passes!
Gaaah! I think I have too much time on my hands.
Seriously, though, I've compulsively collected sets of things ever since I was a little kid. I started my first comic book collection at age 6 (Richie Rich), and remember putting issues into little cubbyholes in my room that I had labeled with each series name (Richie Rich, Richie Rich Millions, Richie Rich and Dollar, etc...).
Later, I took turns collecting Bobbsey Twins books, coins, stamps, soda cans, LPs, CDs, souvenir pennants, even "Peanuts" memorabilia. By the time I got to High School, I had started collecting Superman memorabilia (which I later sold on eBay -- amazing what people will pay for a decade-old unopened jar of peanut butter!)
That led me back into collecting comic books again, a collection which I eventually gave away, and I started collecting comic books a third time when I had money in the late 90s, which I eventually sold on eBay.
Of course, this "archivist" tendency of mine is hampered by several counter-compulsions: The desire to get up and move periodically (it's hard to accumulate stuff when you have to lug it all along), as well as a disdain of dusting, a constant desire to simplify and de-clutter my life, and a tendency to sell off things when broke.
I guess that's why the dawn of the digital age has been such a blessing: Instead of having to make physical space for all this stuff I collect, and lug it along with me when I move, I just make a scan of the thing that has captivated me, reducing it to its digital image, and then letting it go again. I can still look at it any time I like, but it's not gathering dust in my home.
I'm just weird that way.
Gaaah! I think I have too much time on my hands.
Seriously, though, I've compulsively collected sets of things ever since I was a little kid. I started my first comic book collection at age 6 (Richie Rich), and remember putting issues into little cubbyholes in my room that I had labeled with each series name (Richie Rich, Richie Rich Millions, Richie Rich and Dollar, etc...).
Later, I took turns collecting Bobbsey Twins books, coins, stamps, soda cans, LPs, CDs, souvenir pennants, even "Peanuts" memorabilia. By the time I got to High School, I had started collecting Superman memorabilia (which I later sold on eBay -- amazing what people will pay for a decade-old unopened jar of peanut butter!)
That led me back into collecting comic books again, a collection which I eventually gave away, and I started collecting comic books a third time when I had money in the late 90s, which I eventually sold on eBay.
Of course, this "archivist" tendency of mine is hampered by several counter-compulsions: The desire to get up and move periodically (it's hard to accumulate stuff when you have to lug it all along), as well as a disdain of dusting, a constant desire to simplify and de-clutter my life, and a tendency to sell off things when broke.
I guess that's why the dawn of the digital age has been such a blessing: Instead of having to make physical space for all this stuff I collect, and lug it along with me when I move, I just make a scan of the thing that has captivated me, reducing it to its digital image, and then letting it go again. I can still look at it any time I like, but it's not gathering dust in my home.
I'm just weird that way.
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