So I'm looking over my CD collection...
...And I think to myself, "Wow, what a buncha crap."
Well, not that it is crap. Actually I'm quite proud of it. From first to latest (totaling 449 albums) it spans about...14, 15 years? The first two in my collection are Stone Temple Pilots first album Core and the Last Action Hero soundtrack. So whatever year those came out in.
Anyway, I'm looking it over and I can say that out of the first 150 or so I still appreciate maybe a third of that. Lots of shit. And I do mean shit.
To be sure, those are the early years of my collection from when I was a kid. Lots of stuff I thought I should have. Lots of stuff that I heard one or two songs from on MTV. A few CDs that I can barely remember why I got at all. I have a latter years Ramones CD that I accidently got from Columbia House cause I never bothered returning the card. I have a Ministry CD. I don't ever remember buying Ministry. Just how the hell did it end up in there? Well, for whatever reason it's there now. Toad The Wet Sprocket. I think I bought that for one song. Which song? I just don't know anymore.
Looking back, there's a lot of lame. But I know I enjoyed these CDs for some reason at one time or another. Is that why I don't get rid of them? Well, maybe a little. I also have this OCD/pack rat mentality going on with it as well. And...hey...449 albums! That's a pretty big number. The memories, the OCD and the shallow yet meaningless glory of having such a large collection (even if by most standards it's not that big).
Also, in some cases, I've bought CDs that I was never able to appreciate at the time only to rediscover them years later. Dream Theater's album , Awake, for instance. I caught a video of theirs on Headbangers Ball and really dug it. I bought the album and then realized I had no patience for their long and intricate songs (at the time anyway). It took another three years before I threw it on again on a whim and was really knocked on my ass. And now they're one of my favorite bands. So who knows, maybe the Cranberries will make a comeback in a big way and I'll drop everything to follow them across the world? Okay, so that's not even remotely likely. Still, I might listen to something again that might affect me in a way that never did at the time.
And what brought this on?
I need new storage!
I ran out of storage space for my newest CDs. So right now I have four CDs that are just sort of...loose. They have no home to call their own. And I can't throw out shitty older ones to make room cause I organize my CDs biographically. To make matters worse for myself I'm very particualr with what I buy. I prefer simple wood crates. I hate those retarded towers, or slotted boxes that can only hold one standard size individual jewel case. The large, double size jewel cases (Woodstcok 94, Pink Floyd's The Wall) wouldn't fit. Okay, they don't make those anymore (though The Wall is still sold like that last time I checked) but that's besides the point. I want to know I can store my CDs together, in the order I keep them in and without exception to this rule. Building dedicated shelving wouldn't work for me when I move (and since the start of my collection I have moved quite a few times). Crates work well at keeping my collection sorted the way I want and look good, or at least they do to me. But noone seems to freakin make them anymore!
Or at least very few do. Stacks & Stacks offers a set of two long crates that hold about 33 CDs a piece. I bought those last year when I needed storage. They've worked quite well. Cheap too. But it's annoying to have X amount of long, single row crates that take up so much counter space. I would prefer a short and fat crate that holds at least 50 with two rows of 25. I already have a couple of those in fact. The closest I've come is a little ditty from Fellowes that almost comes close to this except it's not wood and it doesn't say anything about being slotted or open space. I think it's open space, but I'll email and ask to be sure. However, the Stacks & Stacks crates are $12 bucks and hold 66 together. The Fellowes crate is $20 bucks and holds 16 fewer discs.
I never used to have this problem. Back when it was easy to find these things. There was a company called Napa Valley, who stamped their name firmly into these things, and I would just go and pick them up. Now I try googling Napa Valley and all I get is wine listings. Great. So I guess these folks aren't around anymore? Dammit!
But I'm in no rush. My collection doesn't expand that quickly. Anyway, shopping around can be fun.
Well, not that it is crap. Actually I'm quite proud of it. From first to latest (totaling 449 albums) it spans about...14, 15 years? The first two in my collection are Stone Temple Pilots first album Core and the Last Action Hero soundtrack. So whatever year those came out in.
Anyway, I'm looking it over and I can say that out of the first 150 or so I still appreciate maybe a third of that. Lots of shit. And I do mean shit.
To be sure, those are the early years of my collection from when I was a kid. Lots of stuff I thought I should have. Lots of stuff that I heard one or two songs from on MTV. A few CDs that I can barely remember why I got at all. I have a latter years Ramones CD that I accidently got from Columbia House cause I never bothered returning the card. I have a Ministry CD. I don't ever remember buying Ministry. Just how the hell did it end up in there? Well, for whatever reason it's there now. Toad The Wet Sprocket. I think I bought that for one song. Which song? I just don't know anymore.
Looking back, there's a lot of lame. But I know I enjoyed these CDs for some reason at one time or another. Is that why I don't get rid of them? Well, maybe a little. I also have this OCD/pack rat mentality going on with it as well. And...hey...449 albums! That's a pretty big number. The memories, the OCD and the shallow yet meaningless glory of having such a large collection (even if by most standards it's not that big).
Also, in some cases, I've bought CDs that I was never able to appreciate at the time only to rediscover them years later. Dream Theater's album , Awake, for instance. I caught a video of theirs on Headbangers Ball and really dug it. I bought the album and then realized I had no patience for their long and intricate songs (at the time anyway). It took another three years before I threw it on again on a whim and was really knocked on my ass. And now they're one of my favorite bands. So who knows, maybe the Cranberries will make a comeback in a big way and I'll drop everything to follow them across the world? Okay, so that's not even remotely likely. Still, I might listen to something again that might affect me in a way that never did at the time.
And what brought this on?
I need new storage!
I ran out of storage space for my newest CDs. So right now I have four CDs that are just sort of...loose. They have no home to call their own. And I can't throw out shitty older ones to make room cause I organize my CDs biographically. To make matters worse for myself I'm very particualr with what I buy. I prefer simple wood crates. I hate those retarded towers, or slotted boxes that can only hold one standard size individual jewel case. The large, double size jewel cases (Woodstcok 94, Pink Floyd's The Wall) wouldn't fit. Okay, they don't make those anymore (though The Wall is still sold like that last time I checked) but that's besides the point. I want to know I can store my CDs together, in the order I keep them in and without exception to this rule. Building dedicated shelving wouldn't work for me when I move (and since the start of my collection I have moved quite a few times). Crates work well at keeping my collection sorted the way I want and look good, or at least they do to me. But noone seems to freakin make them anymore!
Or at least very few do. Stacks & Stacks offers a set of two long crates that hold about 33 CDs a piece. I bought those last year when I needed storage. They've worked quite well. Cheap too. But it's annoying to have X amount of long, single row crates that take up so much counter space. I would prefer a short and fat crate that holds at least 50 with two rows of 25. I already have a couple of those in fact. The closest I've come is a little ditty from Fellowes that almost comes close to this except it's not wood and it doesn't say anything about being slotted or open space. I think it's open space, but I'll email and ask to be sure. However, the Stacks & Stacks crates are $12 bucks and hold 66 together. The Fellowes crate is $20 bucks and holds 16 fewer discs.
I never used to have this problem. Back when it was easy to find these things. There was a company called Napa Valley, who stamped their name firmly into these things, and I would just go and pick them up. Now I try googling Napa Valley and all I get is wine listings. Great. So I guess these folks aren't around anymore? Dammit!
But I'm in no rush. My collection doesn't expand that quickly. Anyway, shopping around can be fun.
posted by Robert at 12:51 AM
2 Comments:
If you've got the Last Action Hero soundtrack then you can copy the AIC song off it and PM it to me :D Can't you dear?
Mmmmmmmm, well I can try. I'll have to figure out how first :B.
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