I crab a lot on this blog. I know that.
This is how I handle stress. Writing gets it all out. I don't drink to excess. I don't speed down the street. I don't gamble or use substances. I don't talk to a therapist. This is it. Whatever is going on my life -- whether it's mentioned specifically or as vaguely as possible -- appears in some fashion on this blog. I'm getting it all out.
So I'm aware I'm turning some people off. I'm "too negative" or maybe not what someone wants to read in their down time. They want to see happy, little cards. I get it. Sometimes when I'm reading blogs, I just want to get in, see the cards, and get out, too. But other times I want to see that the people who are writing about the cards are human, too.
June was a difficult month and full of grousing, when I was blogging at all. So I feel like I should write about the good times, too. Like now.
Now is a good time. I started a vacation. Today. It's the first day of it. I have two weeks of doing whatever I want ahead of me. The perpetual problems with the car seem to be resolved, too. Gonna get that back home tomorrow, finally. Elsewhere everything's great. The cat's great. The daughter is doing well. The extended family is healthy and functioning and on track.
We're doing well. I'm doing well. And the collection? Heck, it's never been better. Thanks for asking. It appreciates that.
I mean look at that. Tell me it's not doing well. Say that to my collection's face. It will laugh back at you. All these shiny cards just arrived from Sportscards From The Dollar Store and made my collection even healthier.
I added four brand new Dodger autograph subjects with this package's arrival. The Dodger autograph binder is healthier than ever! OK, maybe some of these guys could have better signatures. But no doctor is going to raise concerns, they all look like doctor signatures! (Especially that Tomari Story-Harden one, what the heck).
The Pedro Guerrero, of course, is the star of the lot. I wasn't aware those Upper Deck Past Time Pennants autos came in different metallic flavors, but I should have been.
Even these Bowman cards look more impressive than their usual sad selves. I like the packaged-toy concept used with the Joendry Vargas card. I wish we'd get something like that for players who are actually in the majors. The mini yellow Jeff Brigham is numbered to 12/25 -- my first "Christmas card"!
My collection is definitely doing a lot better than the state of the Dodgers' pitching. They have so many injured pitchers that I forget that several experienced hurlers are doing their thing in the minors. Bobby Miller is one, though apparently he's not safe enough to bring up for an extended period of time.
I think no element of my collection has grown at a healthier rate more than O-Pee-Chee baseball in the past year. Douglas sent me several OPC Dodgers from the late '80s/early '90s. I had most of them, but these two are each new.
Just a handful of Bills this time, which is perfectly fine. Not all aspects of my collection can grow unchecked. That's definitely not healthy. Collection pruning is a necessary thing and it happens often with football cards.
I always get Sabres from SCFTDS. All of these are from Upper Deck and similar enough for me to confuse the years. But to focus on something positive, that's my first Jordan Greenway card. Greenway is from my neck of the woods. We've done stories on him at my paper, though I've never interviewed him.
More Sabres of the fancy kind. Every time I see a shadow box card I wonder why baseball can't do something like this (it probably has and it's in some super high-end set I never see).
Another fancy card. These feature backs you can open up to reveal another card.
I lucked out and mine contained a Tommy Lasorda mini!
A Brooklyn Back numbered mini!
Yup, both my collection and I are doing well!
(And I think it can be a healthy way to manage stress, too).
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