But then I suffered a blow in February 2013 when a WD Book with my beloved music collection decided "No, I've had it with you!" and it quit on me! Sectors were lost, albums without a physical hard copy of any kind were gone. Sadly, much of what I lost couldn't just be borrowed from a friend and re-ripped. This came at a time though when I really wasn't buying any music. My life was complicated, and I can only say there was just more important things to focus on, believe it or not. I spent too many sickening hours trying to restore things. In one desperate afternoon I attempted to take advantage of the winter weather and I put the hard drive in a window sill and run the cords inside to the computer to retrieve whatever I could before the drive overheated and was done. And that was it then... I'd done all I could do. I lost a lot of albums that had been with me a long, long time, and a lot of new music I had downloaded as samples and maybe traded some files on were just gone. I had been buying digital albums from labels and Amazon for much of 2012 as an experiment, and it was nice that I could retrieve tracks that went into my Amazon Cloud, but my digital purchases suffered losses too.
It wouldn't be until the spring and the end of very complicated relationship, that I would be able to do much to hatch any great schemes about rebuilding my physical music library. But then summer came and as part of the old ritual of putting myself back together again, I made music the central part. I started getting out and looking around through music bins in charity shops and at proper record stores. I went on a record run to Hampden with two good friends, and at a local media shop I met an amazing young woman who really enjoyed chatting about music with me and gave me her number. Flash forward, here I am months later... love the girl, live with the girl, sharing music with her, sharing music with my friends, and these healthy passions are serving me well. I live with a certain amount of negative noise in my head. Life does that to you. So I am thankful that I can connect with good people and enjoy some good tunes. That and my lady love are all I need!
As for the collecting, I don't know if I can realise a goal as such of a new album per day because the logistics are tricky when it comes to time and funding, but I'm giving it a go in my own fashion. To this end, I have started selling off some of my comic book collectibles, statues and such, and I'm enjoying putting those funds back into music because as a Russian lad once advised a friend, "you can't get your kicks with action figures". As I see it I fancy all the kicks I can get! I like the collector's adventure. The thrill of the hunt, the suspense of what you might find when you get into a shop full of music, sharing news of your finds with good friends, hearing their tales of acquisitions, or even better hunting as a pack! I want record runs with friends to be as frequent in my life as other guys go out for beers or a day of golf or fishing. I'm thankful my girlfriend loves music and that we share a lot of mutual appreciations! That makes bringing home music even more fun! I'm even discovering that there's fun to be had online using Discogs to list my collection and want lists and buy and talk music a bit with the sellers there. I'm looking forward to also bringing this interest in music to my passion for art.
This is good for me. This blog is my travelogue for this journey. Let's see where it goes!
