If there's one thing you should know about me, it's the fact that I'm a collector (a mild version of a hoarder hehehe). I collect anything that fascinates me -lenticular photos, autographs, commemorative bills/coins, glow in the dark stuff, arcade tokens, foreign currencies, sneakers, candy/chocolate dispenser, stamps, flashlight, business cards (WTH!), tickets . I'm not a big collector though, I can't afford it. The stuff I mentioned, I have very few it may not even qualify to be called a collection. Still, I collect them whenever I could. There are priority collections, they are: Music box, books, and Ellen stuff. Out of the three, books won the number this year, I think I've bought a record number of books, (32) which is not much either, but still, for an average reader like me, I feel that's a lot. Most of the gifts I gave out to my niece and nephews are books too. I'm hoping that I could encourage and promote a culture of reading in my family. But I kinda hate this attitude I have when I keep on buying more even when I still have towering titles yet to read. I pledged over and over that I won't buy another one till I've read the other books I bought earlier, yet I keep on breaking them anyway. I'm an impulsive buyer. I guess it will be part of my new year's resolution to reduce my expenditure.
Books on the queue for 2013 reading hehehe
My music box consumption had also waned, I realized that I can't completely quit the toy collection, I had to compromised a reasonable bargain with myself. So the deal is, I should only order twice a year. One is for Christmas and one for my birthday. But can you imagine, I would scour the internet for music box all year round, and when the time comes, I'll choose the one I like the most, it's like a selection process.
This is what I got for Christmas (I bought it sometime in September as an advance Christmas present). This music box has all the elements I like - a Panda, a Santa, a blonda (blonde kid hehehe). Despite the Christmas design, it plays a non-Christmas song, but one of my favorite music - The Entertainer by Scott Joplin. I love the details of the figure, you can expect nothing less from Enesco. The music box is manufactured by Sankyo, another top name in quality, the sound is crisp and right on.
So yeah, it's not an absolute cessation. I know for sure that I've stopped buying any action figures, gashapon or die casts, but once in a while, I'd break the promise. But I've matured and have become really picky. I think about the future use and worth of what I'm buying. I'd like to think I am more reasonable now. Like when I decided to get a view master. It's an out of date toy, but I believe Mattel is still manufacturing them. We used to have one when we were kids, my dad got it for Oliver, but we take turns in using it. I decided to get one so my niece and nephews can enjoy some old toys that we used to enjoy. I got a 1950's model of the view master made of bakelite. I figured, the older the better, it has more stories and it's a good way to avoid made in China products (I try to avoid them as much as possible due to political reason, nothing against the Chinese people). I have 13 reels so far, 10 are scenes of old American TV shows like Mighty Mouse and Rin Tin Tin, and 3 our scenic spots in Japan. I plan to get more scenic reels next year. I'm hoping to use it to educate my niece and nephew of our beautiful planet.
Another thing I stopped collecting is the the Starbucks sticker for the Starbucks planner, years ago. For 6 years, Starbucks had always been my planner "provider", but collecting it has lost its charm on me. Everybody's going for it, even my sister, the competition just got boring. Besides, I've switched to tea. I still love Starbucks and sometimes I still have their coffee beverages, but I'm not getting their planner anymore. I decided to get something more practical and more appropriate for my usage. I realized how fun it is to look for the perfect planner. I found the perfect planner for me from Yeah Just You journals.
It's small and waaayyy cheaper, designed with a year, monthly and weekly planner, there's a space for budget planning (which I love), the weekly planning space has a weather indicator, there are blank spaces at the back which gives you freedom to doodle, it's colorful and cute I think I'm solved! Until I saw the Free Speech Publication journal, too late! But next year I'd love to have that one. Smartphone and tablets don't work for me, I like writing things down and i love to doodle, I think planners would be a yearly thing for me for the long run.
Speaking of gadgets, I also got me a copy of the last print issue of Newsweek. TIME's biggest rival has gone all digital, I think it's only a matter of "time" before they go the same direction. I'm not really a fan or follower of Newsweek, but I'm such a sucker for commemorative stuff like this (hoarder instinct kicks in). Both magazines, however, were my staple companion in the library when I was in college. So yeah, I may be crazy and all over anime and all those Japanese stuff at the time, but I kinda knew what's going on. In a way, it gave me a sentimental reason to get the issue for my collection.
In a way, I feel like my collecting (or hoarding) habit have toned down this year, I hope to keep it lower next year. I plan to shift my priorities to collective initiatives. I pray that I'll have the discipline to do that.
It's small and waaayyy cheaper, designed with a year, monthly and weekly planner, there's a space for budget planning (which I love), the weekly planning space has a weather indicator, there are blank spaces at the back which gives you freedom to doodle, it's colorful and cute I think I'm solved! Until I saw the Free Speech Publication journal, too late! But next year I'd love to have that one. Smartphone and tablets don't work for me, I like writing things down and i love to doodle, I think planners would be a yearly thing for me for the long run.
Speaking of gadgets, I also got me a copy of the last print issue of Newsweek. TIME's biggest rival has gone all digital, I think it's only a matter of "time" before they go the same direction. I'm not really a fan or follower of Newsweek, but I'm such a sucker for commemorative stuff like this (hoarder instinct kicks in). Both magazines, however, were my staple companion in the library when I was in college. So yeah, I may be crazy and all over anime and all those Japanese stuff at the time, but I kinda knew what's going on. In a way, it gave me a sentimental reason to get the issue for my collection.
In a way, I feel like my collecting (or hoarding) habit have toned down this year, I hope to keep it lower next year. I plan to shift my priorities to collective initiatives. I pray that I'll have the discipline to do that.
No comments:
Post a Comment