collections
i read a lot of books, zines, and comics, and listen to a lot of music. i'm also a big believer in the ongoing importance of having physical versions of the media i like, and go out of my way to collect cds, printed books or zines, and so on. as someone who abhors subscription- based services, advertisements, and algorithmically-suggested content, i prefer being able to have ongoing access to the creative works i enjoy.here, you'll find an (incomplete) list of some of the more notable things from my library. why are they notable? don't know. maybe it has to do with how much i enjoy the work itself, or the circumstances of how i procured it, or its importance to a culture. there's no way i could possibly dedicate equal attention to everything i've got, nor do i want to, so this isn't meant to be a database. still, i encourage you to explore the works listed here. most of them are really excellent!
music
i mainly listen to punk, folk, prog rock, indie/alt, the overtly-vague "world" genre, jazz... it really depends on my mood and what i catch on the local college radio station, or the public stations. i make a big effort to pay attention to the titles or musician names while i'm driving, often to my own detriment when it comes to basic traffic safety, since the playlists they later publish online don't always seem accurate or updated timely enough for my mind. ah well! most of my cds are second-hand from thrift stores or record stores. i don't own a lot of vinyl because, since it's having a moment again, it tends to be more expensive than cds of the same title. also, i can't play vinyl in my car.books
my first love, in terms of physical objects. i've always been proud of the books i have and always wanted a big library from a young age. whenever i travel, i always hit up local used bookstores. each city has its own cultures, and each neighborhood/district has its own subcultures, so what you find is going to be very different from what's available at home. i live for the hunt in used bookstores. my favorite event that's typically yearly is the massive book sale in support of my town's local libraries, where i usually go multiple days and come out with a stack of cheap, good books. needless to say, shelf space is a problem in my house. i typically collect history books about queer culture, medicine, and leftism. my fiction tastes tend to be a bit less predictable, but i love literary stories and genre fiction alike.Osamu Tezuka's works
one of my favorite artists is the godfather of manga himself, Osamu Tezuka. in the u.s. he's known mainly for Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion (or Buddhacomics
(coming soon)before i collected books proper, i went out of my way to collect comics and particularly manga. nowadays, i've culled a lot of my manga collection in favor of much shorter series, or authors whose work appeals to an older audience. the bulk of my comic collection was written by Osamu Tezuka; i can confidently say that i have just about every title of his that was officially printed in english, except one preview of a comic that was never translated in completion. i'm way pickier about the comics i add to my shelf these days and generally don't have any interest in superhero stuff.
zines
(coming soon)i've only recently begun actively collecting zines, but i'm probably most excited by them because of the freedom allowed in self-publishing. i seek out zines by queer people and especially transmasc people, and ones that emphasize visual art, eroticism, politics, and identity. some of the zines in my collections are ones that i found/bought as digital files and printed out (but only when they weren't available to purchase directly from the artist as a print version). i'd love for my zine collection to grow and grow.
