Nuts.

Exhibit 1.

A lovely Japanese notebook I just acquired. 

This will go in a leather case with several other notebooks...for a rainy day...

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This nonsensical monologue goes with this: 

A good friend with some (wise) words.

Some Words

The following is a rambling mess. 

I don't care. 

It's going up.

I buy far too much stuff. 

I used to collect. 

Now I acquire and perhaps just amass. 

I then end up 'archiving' and eventually just storing it all. The act of buying something becomes the enjoyment in itself. 

I managed to shrug off the completist bug a while back (the need to have every release by a specific act; be it 12", 7" box set or merchandise). 

I think this is a chap thing.

Multiple versions of films and music. 

Bags. 

Notebooks. 

Wallets. 

Boxes. 

Pens. 

T Shirts. 

Shoes. 

Gadgets. 

Leather. 

I am a market man's wet dream (well I do scrub up well for a dinner date). 

I think I mentioned I spend more cash on accessories to travel with but then cannot afford to go anywhere.

Having no children affords me the luxury of being able to pamper Pia and myself. 

The thing is the stuff I buy for myself doesn't really make me any happier. 

I have no credit card. 

I know, to the exact penny, what cash I have. 

I have absolutely no savings whatsoever. 
I'm nuts.

It was (unkindly, although not deliberately so) put to me that Pia and I will eventually have no one to look after us and eventually be alone. Never mind!  we're here for a good time not a long time…

I'm constantly catastrophising about life changing in some catastrophic way. 

Bunker mentally in that I squirrel things away (in mint condition naturally) and never use/wear them for fear they will wear out before I 'really need' them. 

My thinking seems to have been if things go wrong now then at least I will have a lifetime's amount of stuff to fall back on. 

Bit daft really. (but I do have some decent denim and coats that will outlast me)

How may bags should one chap have? 

Is there a guideline somewhere? 

T shirts…is 62 too many? 

Do they need to be kept in original packaging for 'special occasions'? 

Every one can remind me of a time and place that was great in some way.

I suppose we all like a nice thing or 3. What is that they say though:  the things you own will end up owning you? (Never understood that to be honest...)

Is consumerism bad? 

Apparently so. 

The internet is awash with lifestyle sites telling us buy and own this and you will subsequently feel better about yourself (often with an elitist undertone).

Limited editions? 

Seeking out something for exclusivity that no one else has. 

Why? 

Just to own it? 

Because you have something that others don't have? Gives you an edge or superiority? 

Respect from your peer groups? 

Why do I have multiple versions of Blade Runner'?
I feel all giddy when i read the words 'limited edition'...
Why does this search for rarity value have such a hold on us?

I don't have the answers but the questions keep popping up for me. 

If anyone has any bright ideas or decent philosophies then pipe up. 

All advice gratefully assimilated. 

I try to work out where it all came from whilst talking with Tim and Richard. 

Complex but very enjoyable chats, usually with sausage and mash. We still can't come up with an answer. 

Simply identifying and buying 'the stuff' becomes the modus operandi for us both.

The stuff I buy impresses none of my friends - it's not for that. No one really shares my interests; we all seem vastly different in our outlooks and I suspect I'm viewed as more than a little odd in my ways. I suppose 'I know' what I like and this is the trick?

Where is the root of it all though?

The NME started me off years ago. New Order and Joy Division were the beginnings for me. The way I dressed, the books I read the clubs I went to were all in some way branches of that lifestyle. 

Pals of mine went the new York 'No wave' route, one the German prog way. 

For others it was the Smiths. 

Mo Wax seems to have the biggest long term influence for me. The late 80s and early 90s were big times for me. The music kick started it all. The design of the sleeves soon took me to Futura. From there it was a quick jump into Bathing Ape, Recon, Stash, Japanese toys and gadgets, uber limited editions, hip hop (I refuse to acknowledge the term t**p h*p) and obscure design.

(Why couldn't I have been lured into the delights of some cultural pursuits a tad more affordable...tap dancing, soft furnishing or colouring in books?)

From then on I took a nose dive into house and techno and had some of the greatest times of my life with friends at clubs all around the world. It was great to have felt part of something. 

A movement. 

Missed punk and the late 70s by being too young. 

Acid house was mine/ours. 

Amazing times. 

I am in awe of my friends. 

They all seem considerably more mature, balanced and focused than me. 

I try to be as generous as I can to them. 

I'm a giver. Whacha gonna do?

Maybe I need to spend more time with them than considering my next ridiculous purchase.

I wonder if it is too late to change and be more grown up? Nahhhh I secretly (not so much now) quite like it.

I do however pledge that from now on I will live a simpler existence.

A bowl of rice and a prayer mat is all I shall need..

....The mat must be limited edition Japanese selvedge though.