Write on Wednesdays - I collect...

The things I collect are not quirky, or rare and valuable, or from faraway places. The things I collect are simply things that I have loved dearly my whole life. Things that I always have, and always will, retreat to on a daily basis, and absorb myself in whenever I have a moment of "me" time. I simply collect cd's and books.

I am meticulous/nerdy with both collections. I maintain lists for both, including:

-a list of every cd I own, in alphabetical order
-a list of all the books in my bookcase that I haven't yet read
-a list of how many books I've read in the current year so far
-a list of cd's or books that others are currently borrowing (I can't STAND it when people don't return my stuff!)
-a list of cd's and books that I don't currently own but want to buy

I know, geek right?

I have exactly 233 cd's, a smorgasbord of delights ranging from Tori Amos to System of a Down, The Cat Empire to Pearl Jam, Madonna to Jimi Hendrix. They are proudly displayed alphabetically in a specially-made bookcase-turned-cd cabinet, which even has spaces for those huge double-cd cases which never fit in regular cd towers.

My very awesome cd cabinet with stereo on top

This collection is like a collection of memories to me, listening to Jebediah-Slightly Odway reminds me of high school, my Audioslave cd's make me think of my husband, my Cold Chisel double album reminds me of listening to those songs with my Dad as a child, the Duffy-Rockferry album takes me back to visiting London for a few days in 2008. There's something in that collection for every taste, every mood, every occasion.

A small sample of my cd collection, behold the diversity!

My book collection doesn't take me back to certain times, or people, or places, but to me is simply a treasure chest of stories and adventures waiting to be uncovered. Yes, my book collection is not as organised and clean-looking as my cd collection (see the pic below, time for another bookcase for the overflow perhaps?), but I kind of like it that way.

Here's my jam-packed bookcase and reading chair

It's a mish-mash of all kinds of fiction genres and non-fiction topics. One of the things I love the most is the ritual of finishing a book, and walking it back to the bookcase, finding a place (if I can) to fit it back on the shelves and then searching over the titles of the books waiting to be read, deciding what I feel like immersing myself in next.

Hmmm...what to choose next? Here's a little corner of mainly fiction titles in my collection (spot the one non-fiction title here)

Books and music....surround me with these things and I'll always be happy!

*****

This week's Write on Wednesday prompt was to talk about "collections", whether non-fiction or fiction, your own or someone else's. Pop by inkpaperpen and take a look at the other posts. And if you have a collection of cd's or books, let me know what is in yours! I love nothing more than talking about music and reading!