Skip to main content

I'm just not that into you


I get a lot of trade requests or offers from people to send me cards.

I don't know how it compares with other bloggers -- maybe it's not as much as others, maybe it's a lot more -- but it seems like a lot to me.

I try to respond to most, although I do get a little wary if the offer says "hey, I've got cards for you, send me an address." A little more information, please, so I can be reasonably certain that there won't be a human head in the package when I give you my address.

But I admit lately I've gotten a bit unresponsive.

It's not because of my increasing fear of receiving a human head. It's something more mundane.

Before I went on vacation, I was bored by blogging, What I saw on the blogs, what I saw of the cards. Bored, bored, bored. This isn't a comment on anyone's content, it's a comment on me. I just didn't care, for whatever reason.

Then, when I went on vacation, I did something I haven't done since before I had a blog. I didn't write any advance posts for when I was away. I didn't respond to anyone's posts when I was away. I barely even looked at anyone's blog when I was away.

I know what you think I'm going to write next: "It was wonderful."

Well, no, it wasn't "wonderful." A little relaxing, yeah. A bit disconcerting, too.

I was trying something out.

What would my world be like without blogging?

Now don't get nervous. I'm not leaving.

But the fact that I'm thinking more often about a life without a blog means something, doesn't it?

Here is what I've decided it means:

I'm just not that into you.

Ah, geez ...

Now you're offended.

It's not about you. I said that already. It's about me.

I just can't get wrapped up in the "hey, you wanna trade?" fusillade of offers anymore. And the contests, so many contests. I can't do that. I've always had an issue with "pimping." I don't even like pimping my own stuff. But I can't even enter the contests most of the time now.

My enthusiasm for cards is still there. My enthusiasm for writing is still there. But the other stuff ... eh.

So what you're probably inferring from this is the following:

"I'm an anti-social weirdo who doesn't want to participate in your wonderful community, keep your stinking cards to yourself."

And you'd be correct.

Well, not the "weirdo" part. I'm quite normal. And not the keeping the cards to yourself. I want your cards, I really do. The want list is still there. The Nebulous 9 is still there.

I'm just not as enthusiastic about it as y'all. Make of that what you wish.

But to prove that I still do trade, here are some cards from a guy who is ALL about trades, Oscar, from All Trade Bait, All The Time.

He sent an impressive stack of Dodger cards and hoped some of them stuck.

Fortunately, a few did, which is a pretty impressive feat if you know how many Dodger cards I have.

Here are a few:


Ugh. Kevin Brown. I feel about acquiring Kevin Brown cards the way I feel about pimping contests. A necessary evil. My own private hell would be pimping a contest in which I won nothing but Kevin Brown cards. I think the blog truly would shut down that day.


Did you know 2012 Finest is out now? I barely did. I don't get fired up over Finest anymore because I'm still trying to acquire Finest cards from 17 years ago, like this one. I don't see the urgency.


Normally I try not to show cards I already have in trade posts. But my nine-year-old self won't let me come across an Andy Messersmith card and not DO anything about it. It's Andy Messersmith!!!! So here he is.


The Dodgers do not have any Asian-born players on their roster. It's probably been quite awhile since that has happened.


A mess of Ishiis. "Mess" is the official collective noun for more than one Ishii card.

Once upon a time, people used to hoard a mess of Ishiis. Now they try to get rid of a mess of Ishiis. I welcome a mess of Ishiis.



People are so mean to Circa. Look at that card! How can you not love that card? Todd Hollandsworth is busting out of a theater curtain ... in outer space!

That's fantastic.

So there. Proof I still do trade.

In fact, there are a number of card stacks on my desk as further proof. If you've transacted with me in the last 2 months, or we've agreed to some sort of deal, then one of those stacks is likely for you. You'll get it ... eventually.

I still want to trade, even if I'm not as responsive as I once was.

Since I've returned home, I've tried to get back on track. I'm not up to two posts a day yet, but I'll get there. I've searched my collection for some cards, and I'll be packaging up items in a couple of days. I'll even try to enter a contest again soon. (But I ain't pimping it).

I guess I'm still into you. A little.

Why, even yesterday I responded to one of those "hey, I'm nobody you've ever heard of, but I've got cards. Send me your address."

I really hope I'm not getting a human head.

Comments

BASEBALL DAD said…
I think we all go through times like this.Sometimes when you are just totally gung ho about something, you tend to get burned out. I know I am way behind on some trade posts. I have a box full of mailers, most have been photographed and put into limbo in my pictures waiting to be posted.The task seems so monumental that it's hard to get started.It's difficult to keep an even keel which would make things go so much smoother.I pretty much read most of the blogs everyday, but I need to set certain times to actually work on some of my projects.Cheer up, we understand !

But right now, I need to find a box about 12x12x12 to send a package out.
carlsonjok said…
Congratulations! I think, in one form or another, you hit all five of the greatest relationship breakup cliches.
madding said…
I really enjoy trading, but I don't enjoy the whole process of trading. I don't like exchanging emails, or figuring out what to send, or the guilt associated with needing to send a package that I swore I would send days or weeks ago. I like getting the cards, though. And I like to get rid of the cards.

I also don't particularly like to write about the cards I receive, really, but I don't think most people do. It's just only fair that I write something, because I like to read about what other people have to say about what I send.
night owl said…
@carlsonjok,

That was by design. I wish I had that list before I wrote the post. I would've fit the others in, too.
--David said…
I totally get it. I've been there many times since I started blogging. Even now, if I wasn't so determined to post a pack every day of the season, I wouldn't be posting much. Trading has all but dried up for me, and it is mostly my own fault. Of course, I've never really "traded" so much as sent out packs when I could and happy to receive them as they were sent to me. Step back and find the passion you had for it. And, if you don't find that, find your next one!
AdamE said…
I do that send me your address and get free cards sometime when I find a new blog. I never really thought it might scare someone to get free cards.

David - I would trade with you but I can't ever find any damnCleveland cards you don't already have.
Spiegel83 said…
I also like to get a whole mess of Ishii cards!
Nachos Grande said…
Night Owl: Just think of all the cool and exciting (and scary?) packages of cards you could get if you'd change your collecting habits to that of say, the Athletics. Heck, I could probably send you 800 different A's cards without even leaving my desk. And think of all the green you could talk about? Wouldn't that make blogging more fun? No? Oh. Well, maybe things aren't always greener on the other side (ok, bad analogy, the A's are definitely greener than the Dodgers). I need sleep.
Commishbob said…
"...."hey, I've got cards for you, send me an address." ..."

Guilty as charged. I've never sent a human head but I DID once send a Don Mossi card, and that's probably scarier.
Scott Crawford said…
I read this a few hours after I sent the "Hey, still got a '75 mini for you" email, but if you're not that into me, I guess I'll just have to put it in my spokes...

I keed, I keed.

I was practically invisible for about 3 months there, for different reasons. I'm just now getting to the point where I'm caught up on trades, I've got a bunch of things scanned, I'm writing posts, and I'm having fun doing this again.

I'm not in love with the deluge of contests either. Though I've won a few beauts, run a few beauts and am still running one where the winner gets a free Mariano Rivera TTM autographed card (provided that the winner is 12 or under), the ones whose sole purpose is to crapflood the entire community with advertisements for the contest, those don't really fly with me, never have.

I get some pretty good trade offers, but sometimes, it takes me FOREVER to wade through a want list and a trade list. I've had one guy waiting for a month, just because (and I told him this, so I'm not talking behind anyone's back) his structure for organizing his lists turned my OCD up to 11. (A good chunk of you reading this have seen my lists and know that Bo Rosny and I have sent a few thousand cards back and forth a few times, so I'm sure you can imagine what it'd take to do that.) Finally getting to it, though, in small stretches.

I think the trick is to keep it light. Fun doesn't need to be a routine, and it also probably shouldn't overwhelm us with its crushing weight all the time. I have trouble with that last part sometimes, something to do with finding cheap box lots and thinking "Oh, it's only another 20,000 cards" a few times last year.

You don't have to constantly have something up to keep us interested, Mr. Owl. Just write about what you dig, for the sheer joy of it, when that joy grabs you. We'll keep busy in the meantime.
Even though I don't collect any particular team anymore (I'm one of those dopes who feels betrayed going back to the 1994 strike) I appreciate your efforts to collect Dodgers. That's why I sent you some cards you needed.

It's actually fun to buy a lot and find something that someone will really like. I don't even need any particular item in return, just something comparable even if it is an extra Dodger of yours.

Today, I received a bunch of full Hostess boxes. Are you interested in the one with Ron Cey?
night owl said…
If it's a Cey from a Hostess box from 1977, believe it or not, someone just sent me one.

Otherwise, yup, I could use it!