Collecting

This entry is a summary of my various collecting obsessions, I will hopefully go into more detail of each of these in the future.

Firstly, I must say that the world is split into two types of people, those that understand collecting and those that don't. If you don't then you will probably think I am crazy, like most of my family.

Why do I collect? It's an interesting question which I find hard to answer. I am a natural hoarder which I think is a big factor (is collecting just channelled hoarding?). I think I like the hunt, trying to find unusual and interesting things, on a subject I'm interested in, and then owning it. Although I am not so obsessed as to spend silly money, it's not a case of must have.

I have various collections, most of which are related to each other in some way.

Also, each of my collections is routed in my early years.

Collection 1, also my main obsession: Anything J R R Tolkien related. As my previous blog entry on Reading explained, my Tolkien obsession came first from reading the Hobbit and then Lord Of The Rings. You will be surprised at how big the world of Tolkien collecting can be.

Collections 2, 3 and 4 also stem from reading.

Collection 2: Anything Terry Pratchett/Discworld related. My second favourite author. There is quite a lot of Pratchett stuff to collect but it is nowhere near as big as Tolkien.

Collection 3: The works of author Sheri Tepper. My third favourite author. This collection is not big in scope as it is only books, but my collection is quite comprehensive.

Collection 4: Fantasy books. A very wide subject, although my definition of Fantasy (hopefully a future blog entry) limits it a bit. Note: I also have quite a few Sci-Fi books, but this is just some additional books I have accumulated, so I lump these in with my Fantasy collection.

Collection 5: Board Games. This again is also a huge subject area, so my collection is limited to a few sub areas a; board games from my early nerdy years (and variations on some of these), b; Fantasy based board games, a spin off from my fantasy book collection, c; Horse Racing based board games, because my work is horse racing based, d; Golf based board games, I'm not really sure why!

Collection 6: Home computing/gaming. This is not actually a real collection as I don't seek out things to add too it. It is mainly an accumulation of the old games/home computing bits and pieces I have had, although there are quite a few. Again it's roots are in my early nerdy years.

Collection 7: Model Trains. Similarly this is also more an accumulation sparked from my early years. I haven't developed or pursued this collection since a very early interest, I have just sporadically added to it. I would like to develop this more but really need some space for it, maybe when/if the children leave home.

Collection 8: McDonalds Happy Meal Toys. This don't actively add to this collection any more. I was interested in it whilst I was a keen car boot sale goer. I do however have my collection, in storage.

Collection 9: Puzzles. Not Jigsaw puzzles, but physical challenges like Rubics Cube. Again this is a collection I haven't actively added to for a while.

To go with my Fantasy books and board games, I also have a few other Fantasy bits, Videos and Records etc, but these are not big enough to be considered collections.

I also have a reasonable Stamp collection, but this is just left over from my youth, so I don't really include it.

At this point I must say that my collections are currently in storage as I have any room to display them, a future aspiration.

Am I obsessive? Maybe, but none of my collections is all consuming, most of them I just add too as I come across stuff. I think I am more of a hoarder than an obsessive collector.

In The Beginning there was Reading

Why start a blog? Well mainly as a sort of diary, to not only put down thoughts and things happening to me but mainly to reminisce about my past and in particular to have somewhere   to discuss my hobbies.

Some basic facts about me - Male, born in 1963, English, married, lovely wife, 4 great kids. Tending towards the geek/nerdy side of life.

So this blog is mainly about four of my hobbies, Collecting, Reading, Photography and Running (although I will post on other topics as well). I will go into more details on each of these topics in future posts, but I'll start at the beginning with Reading.

I should also say that I was a bit of a nerd as a child (still am!), which has influenced a lot of what came after.

As a youngster I used to read profusely. I have vivid memories of Enid Blyton, Enchanted Wood, Wishing Chair etc and then the Famous Five, but also many others The Three Investigators, Jennings, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory etc. An odd one that stands out was The Pushcart War by Jean Merrill (one of the great things about having kids is that it allows you to revisit the past and re-read old childhood favourites).

However there were two reading experiences which affected me a lot, and they both happened at school. The first was in Junior school when the class read Prince Caspian by C S Lewis, I was mesmerised and it was the start of my love for Fantasy (although the Enchanted Wood may make an earlier claim). Notwithstanding the whole Narnia series was devoured many times afterwards. The second was a similar experience at secondary school when were studied the Hobbit by J R R Tolkien, thus fanning the Fantasy flames even more. However it was not until the last years of secondary school that the Fantasy love was turned up to the max, when a teacher, Mr Hughes, gave me of The Lord Of The Rings (to be covered more fully in future blog entries). This led to a bit of a problem, I had pinnacled, I had read the best and didn't want anything else so I gave up reading (well almost as I did read LOTR every year).

I still read non fiction, I remember a fascination with history, and also spent a lot of time at the library. I was an early computer geek and spent a lot of time at that (Atari 2600, ZX80, Tandy TRS-80, Spectrum ...) which will also be the subject of a future blog entry. By the way computing ended up as my chosen career (another of my basic facts).

It was not until some years later, when a work college (David Ufton) recommended some other Fantasy books, that I really started reading again. First came the Dragonlance series by Hickman and Weis (a much underrated series), followed by the fantastic Mort by the great Terry Pratchett (and then the rest of the Discworld series, another passion of mine to be covered in the future) and then the more unusual The True Game series by Sheri Tepper (yes another obsessive favourite). This led on to a long period of total devotion, ok maybe obsession, with the world of Fantasy, and it was all I read for the next 25 years (ok there was also a bit of sci-fi in there as well).

Then in 2007, I decided to expand my horizons and branched into other genres of fiction. I now read quite a lot, 45+ books a year, and am a member of two book clubs (organising one). I read anything nowadays, although I do shy away from Horror, but must say that, true to my Fantasy roots, I do like books which are a bit quirky (such as the Time Travellers Wife), the newfangled Magical Realism genre! I don't get much chance to read Fantasy these days which is a bit of a shame.

A few of my favourite books include LOTR obviously, Night Watch by Terry Pratchett, Enders Game by Orson Scott Card, 1984 by George Orwell, To Kill A Mocking Bird by Harper Lee and Beauty by Sheri Tepper. I will give some more of my favourites in other blogs.

The last thing I'll mention in this opening blog entry on reading is the excellent Goodreads website where you'll find more details on what I read.

That's enough for now, a very brief introduction to me and my reading hobby. As has been mentioned, I will be covering more aspects of this in future blog entries.

Next up will be an introduction to my Collecting.