The Soundtrack of My Life

Hauling every single thing out of the home office, and then going through it piece by piece, has been just like moving (except for the fact that we didn't go anywhere, thank goodness).

By the time I had gotten most everything cleaned up and displayed in the new room, my efforts came to a halt--and there they stayed for the last few weeks. Finally, when I realized that friends who dropped by seemed surprised that the dining room wasn't completely clean yet, I had to push past the last few obstacles to a post-renovation dining room.

Most of the remaining clutter fell into two groups: (1) the results of a genealogy obsession that I indulged a few years ago and (2) a collection of LP's, some of which were even older than I had realized. It's almost as hard for me to throw away music as it is to toss out a book, so procrastination had reared its ugly head. Tackling the records seemed like a logical next step. A quick look at similar items on Ebay told me that I wasn't going to waste time trying to sell them there.

It had been my impression that the album collection was equally divided between DH's records and mine, but my careful perusal said otherwise. Nope--it was 99% mine. DH had Sergeant Peppers' Lonely Hearts Club Band, a flute album and some Boccherini Quintets. Conversely, my unusual stash included such classics as an interesting record by Rod McKuen and "SRO" by the Tijuana Brass. There was Heart, Judy Collins, Dan Fogelberg, Jackson Browne and some names I've already forgotten. They covered every genre--pop, rock, classical, a little country, and just plain strange. Some of the LP's dated back to my childhood--a rather unconventional childhood, at least in terms of my pre-adolescent musical taste. After a little nostalgia-fest, waltzing back through the memories associated with all of that old music, I decided it was time to let go.

DH had a little fun with me before I finally cut the cord.

TS: I threw out some LP's last night.
DH: Oh, did ya?
TS: Yep--I've had some of those records since I was a little kid. I tossed the 1812 Overture/Capriccio Italien 'cause I'd already downloaded it from iTunes. As for the others . . . it was time to let go of "Mr. Spock's Music from Outer Space."
DH: That was probably the one that was actually worth something.
TS: My childhood crush on Leonard Nimoy notwithstanding--I always liked the smart guys--that was possibly the worst album of all time. But it is still in the garbage can . . .
DH: Maybe you should go fish it out.
TS: Oh, stop enabling me! You know I'm a pack rat!
DH: Are you really? I don't think of you as being a pack rat.
TS: How many other people do you know who own "Let's Get Small" by Steve Martin?

The records remained in the trash, and my chi is flowing a little more freely now. I did hang on to Sgt. Pepper, though.

Next up: the family tree.