From obsession to collection...

So I got some weird spy-ware on my desktop and I'm currently in the process of cleaning it out using Spy-bot Search and Destroy. Of all places, I got it trying to download a torrent of the new Rick Ross album?!? What is wrong with me? I realized a month or two ago when one of my Terabyte drives crashed (full of movies luckily) that I am spending way more time actually accumulating this crap than I am enjoying, appreciating or watching anything. Since then I have slowed down tremendously, almost to a complete halt. It had kind of become a hopeless obsession -- it’s always been a fantasy to have this immense collection of music, and when it became so easy to grab excellent copies of the latest flicks, the obsession spread to that realm as well.

I remember when I was younger heading up to Wax N’ Facts (Little 5 Points) to spend my last 20 dollar bill on some records to take down to my man T-Bird’s house. He had gotten him a little Gemini start-up kit (a dual turntable set and mixer) so we went from listening to cassette tapes to going through our parents old records, puffin’ L’s and trying to do mash-ups of the latest 12” rap singles -- and whenever we got some extra cash we would go hunting and grab a couple more records for the collection. I specifically remember browsing through the categories of soul music, jazz, rap, etc., wishing I could take everything with me, and just own it all. Now I realize how absolutely useless that would be, because there would be no time to give that music the listening that it deserves, I mean really let the good stuff marinate in your soul for a little while, like we do with great records. There really is not that much time in this world…but there are some great albums, movies, books, etc that when taken the time to appreciate are truly fulfilling, and in some ways help make us who we are…and we’ll be able to pull it out and get the same effect for years and years, like, wow, that is a classic! I think from here on out, those are the only ones I’m trying to collect…sorry Rick Ross.

Here are a few of the tracks from that timeless classic collection...