Collections

[serene]

Copied over from a comment I made on porcinea's LJ:

Things I collect, with "collection" defined as "I already have more items than any sane person would consider reasonable or necessary, *and* I would cheerfully welcome additional inputs to the collection (and indeed have no compunction about buying)".

* books, including cookbooks (but I do cull them regularly). The ones that take up the most category-specific shelfspace are comics/graphic novels, books on writing, books about atheism/skepticism/etc., and of course cookbooks, which threaten daily to take over my apartment, even though I give away dozens of them a year.
* spheres (the only actual, conscious collection we have -- in the sense that we *decided* to collect them, when a friend gave us a cool fiber-optic sphere as a housewarming gift)
* books and art (including jewelry (including the way-fab bracelet porcinea made me)) by people we know
* fridge magnets
* building toys
* cooking magazines (filed in magazine organizers by month)
* sex-related toys, gadgets, gear, and clothing (they have their own dresser, but they've overflowed it)
* schlocky old horror/sci-fi movies on DVD

I think that's it, but I'll probably think of more.

What do you collect?

Comments

[vasilatos]

I collect needle files, rifflers, and hand planes. I've been waiting for someone to ask me that for *years*.

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

What are needle files, rifflers, and hand planes?

[vasilatos]

Here's a sample:

http://vasilatos.livejournal.com/37961.html

The planes are smoothing tools as you might expect of woodworking with smaller stuff. Many of the tools are Japanese. Thank you for asking, I also have a selection of handsaws, hammers, and pliers.

[micheinnz.livejournal.com]

Oh, I love planing wood by hand! It was my favourite thing in woodwork class.

[wimsey70.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure I deliberately collect anything. That is, I don't go out looking for different specimens to create a collection.

That said, I have a lot of books. I don't "collect" them, really. I just buy a lot of them :) Despite the fact that I give away, easily, 100 books to my library each year, my collection just keeps growing and growing (over 1600 now). That was fine when my ex and I shared a huge four-bedroom house (together, we had over 3000, not counting Greg's graphic novels), but in my tidy little house here, I've got half of them in the basement, and the rest overpowering my third bedroom.

I also have quite few movies and TV series on DVD, although not nearly as many as some people I know.

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

That said, I have a lot of books. I don't "collect" them, really.

Sounds like you may fit the definition the porcinea gave for "collect", though. :-)

[vvvexation.livejournal.com]

I have a lot of books, but I wouldn't say I "collect" them exactly. I do collect polyhedral dice, and I used to collect beads and very specific Magic cards.

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

But would you say you collect them according to the above definition of "collect"? :-)

[vvvexation.livejournal.com]

That's the definition I meant to refer to; I don't think I have more than a sane person would, because I'm not even sure there is an upper bound on that number.

[phinnia.livejournal.com]

I collect art and jewelry made by people I know (and books, too, I guess, although there's not as many). And BPAL perfumes. And things that speak to my muse: sometimes those are links, sometimes they're pictures or books ... the oddest one recently was a uranium glass perfume bottle. Stuff that the muse thinks I need.

[hobbitblue.livejournal.com]

I collect musical instruments, and carved crystal animals, and wooden carved netsuke.. also seem to collect hobbies, which sounds quite ephemeral but usually involves lots of accessories and stuff to trip over and take up space.

I'm not sure I consider books as collecting, they just sort of multiply and pile up a lot, though I suppose I collect Bibles in different languages, specifically.

[pameladean]

Books.

Seed packets, regrettably. They are not all like the date palm that germinates after thousands of years.

P.

[karenthecroccy.livejournal.com]

salt and pepper shakers: cats, crocodiles, bears, cows, cats ... Friar Tuck. I used to have so many, but I don't know what happened to them after The War.

books.

I guess ... I wouldn't say my Fiestaware was a collection, but I have 9 place settings and I think 12 would be ideal. ;) I always run out of dishes at thanksgiving and christmas dinner. I guess when I move out west, I'll have to make at least 10 friends if I want to have a party of 12 :)

[hitchhiker.livejournal.com]

books, cds, kitchen gadgets, spices (and spice mixes). when i have a reasonably permanent place of my own i'll probably add lego to the mix

[loracs.livejournal.com]

We have lots of books, but if it was up to me I wouldn't keep so many, stonebender is the collector person on books. I have a small collections of magnets, but I don't really add to it very often. It's been at least a year since I bought a new one. I was going to say I don't really collect much and then I remembered xmas stuff. I guess you could say I collect xmas decorations - don't laugh serene, I really did forget about them. Out of site, out of mind!

[lissamc.livejournal.com]

Fiber related tools. I have a neat display of old hand shuttles up on my wall, a container full of drop spindles, more looms than I have room for, a couple of really truly Medieval spindle whorls, and to top it off, and scrap of fabric from the 4th century AD.

Oh, and books and beads and patterns and fiber and all sorts of that stuff, but I use those. The fiber tool collection is intentional just to hoard it and fondle it occasionally, while muttering 'Precious' under my breath.

scrap of fabric from the 4th century AD

[porcinea.livejournal.com]

*faints*

Re: scrap of fabric from the 4th century AD

[lissamc.livejournal.com]

*smug grin*

My daughter has already claimed it as her inheritance. She'll be a good caretaker, I think.

[darklily1.livejournal.com]

I think I probably have too many collections:

*books (gardening, landscape architecture, architecture, religion particularly heretical writings)
*art glass and pottery(mostly from various artists affiliated with Rosenthal, but also local southern U.S., some Russian, and a really amazing piece I picked up in Wales by a local blind artist)
*vintage jewelry and Baltic amber
*plants at one time, but had to leave them at the old house :(