Saturday, June 13, 2009

Collectors or Hoarders?

I love to collect things. Some may say that I hoard; but that's different. Hoarding is where you have no intention of throwing something out because it holds sentimental value; however, you're not really sure exactly what kind. Me? I love to collect practical things, things I can use. As you may have read from my previous posts, I love books... all kinds of books. Usually, I love books that I can get my nose into; otherwise there's no real use in collecting them (well, unless they're worth an absolute fortune - but I'm not about to tell you which books are valuable in my collection; that'd be cheating).

I collect other things too.

Coin purses are another thing I love to collect. They're small and cute and there are so many designs they come in; and then you can mix'n'match them with how you feel, what your wearing, your bag, the occasion... the list goes on. Usually, I find my best ones when I'm not actually hoping to find any; and often when I'm only planning to buy only one. It's then I stumble across around ten or so that I just can't say no to because the charity store has such a great variety and they're in wonderful condition. However, charity stores aren't the only places I hunt for coin purses. There's garage sales, the Smart Tip over at Browns Plains, the markets and Oxfam (now that's a place for coin purses!). Also, whenever somebody goes overseas now, I ask them to get me some coin purses from anywhere they see them. The best thing about asking for this from a traveller is that these things take up so little space in their luggage! Well, to start with. Once you've accumulated around twenty or so, then it starts to get to be a little much... hehe. And yeah, I've had to move my collection to another place just recently because it outgrew the drawer it was living in.

But I my collecting doesn't just stop at coin purses and books. I also collect vinyls; good quality vinyls. I'll hike it into Brisbane City and hunt around for a good vinyl. And I'm not shy about how much I'll pay either when I'm looking for a certain one. Recently (in the last year), I purchased the second vinyl of 'The Big Chill' in the city. I had been looking for another, however, I came across this one instead seeing I didn't find the first one I was looking for. I actually found about three copies of this particular vinyl and pulled them all down to look at them. I chose the best out of the three and paid a little over $10.00 for it; something I expected.
The next thing I also expected was that it was going to need some TLC; and a lot of it.

When I got home, I began the three days I had to spend on it to get every track clean. You see, when I buy a second-hand vinyl from any shop, most of the time, they haven't been cared for very well.

So, like anything second-hand I wish to use again like new, I must clean it and care for it. When I collect, I look for good quality work. If the purse I've picked up is looking old and the leather is hard and it's falling apart; I'm afraid, it may be at the end of its life. Well, to me it is; for somebody else, it may not be. Same goes for vinyls. But you see, with vinyls, they're hiding something. What they're hiding is their beautiful music. All I have to do is find it under the caked on dirt and crap.

So, what are you? Are you a collector who looks for beauty beyond the dirt and works hard on it when you get the item home? Or are you the hoarder who loves what you have, yet you're not too sure where to go from here? Both these things go hand in hand; however, if you end up cleaning up your hoarding, you can always go on ebay and make some money out of your hoarding and collect something your passionate about.

Just an idea.

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