tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-290274622152565755.post4825371195675802827..comments2022-03-25T00:29:25.231-07:00Comments on Bebop & Nothingness: Favourite Things 3: Sid CatlettJazzhousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01321054632078705307noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-290274622152565755.post-80259551324936621662011-11-03T11:42:25.285-07:002011-11-03T11:42:25.285-07:00Alan, I'm interested by your remark about col...Alan, I'm interested by your remark about collecting -- and especially that you don't consider yourself a collector. Collecting fascinates me, even though I don't believe I fully share either the attitudes or the genes that make the hardcore collector.<br /><br />Books, for instance. I literally can't move for books. I have thousands upon thousands (often literally -- the shelf space ran out years ago). But I don't really consider myself a book collector. I have lots of books because I love them as objects, but primarily they are a function of being addicted to reading.<br /><br />But am I entirely free of the collecting contagion? Not quite. I won't buy books that I don't intend to read -- I won't buy a book by a writer that doesn't interest me because it's a first edition, for instance. But I will buy old 1950s/1960s Penguins because I love the jackets -- even though I may already have one jacket variant or don't (fully) intend to read the book in the foreseeable future.<br /><br />Back on the subject of records. I *know* I am not a real collector because (a) I don't have a notebook full of serial numbers; (b) I don't replace a record simply because I have found an original vinyl issue as opposed to a reissue (at least, not often); and (c) because I lack space.<br /><br />So on reflection, it may be truer to say that I am a potential collector (books, records, CDs) but consciously suppress this urge and instead practise a kind of utilitarianism which I find more "respectable" and less decadent...<br /><br />It would be interesting to know how many of your customers consider themselves collectors -- and what they consider to be the particular qualities that mark them out as a collector.Alun Severnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10705139855026651678noreply@blogger.com