Into a sudden, unexpected obsession.
Rekindling an interest in Lego. They call it coming out of a dark age.
Concerned spouses might call it entering a dark age, of quickly dwindling funds and space.
For me, it began with a random Facebook post. A garage sale.
This lady was selling her kids' Lego City vehicles. "These are so cool!" I thought. "And at great prices too. M would love this." M is Little Miss S's best friend, and he's just old enough for Lego, unlike Miss S herself.
"I'll get him a set for Christmas," I said and ended up buying one for myself too. How could I not? 'Cos there were four adorable huskies pulling a sled.
I looked up Amazon to check how much those sets are worth today. That exposed me to the newer sets and themes. "These are so cool!" I thought for the fiftieth time.
"I'd love to have this chibi Mandalorian. It's only, what, 10 bucks? OMG, wait. Is that the Treehouse?! And it's on Black Friday sale!"
I had seen a Lego Treehouse once, in a friend's home. Back then I thought it was the bee's knees, cat's pyjamas, and ant's pants added up and multiplied by 21,318. But the thought of buying one never crossed my mind. Sets like these were luxury items I couldn't afford in good conscience.
My parents had never bought things for entertainment that were beyond a modest price range. As a kid, I didn't get an allowance. My parents simply bought what I asked for on a case-by-case basis. As an adult I'm still influenced by what they consider a reasonable purchase (though less frugal than they are).
So it was totally out of character when I bought a Treehouse instead of waiting 12 months to save up my personal allowance for it. That put me into a year's worth of allowance "debt."
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While excited, I was also bewildered by this deviation from my usual spending habits and terrified that it was merely the tip of a slippery slope.
Because soon after getting my Treehouse in the mail, and even before I started building it, I lusted for a Medieval Blacksmith set. I seriously considered going into double debt for that blacksmith.
Thankfully, I can discuss such embarrassing thoughts with Miss S's daddy. He took it in good stride, given his own interest in toys for adults. (He doesn't collect them, but does own an Earthrise Scorponok). Our chat prevented me from making a second impulse buy. But it didn't stop me from obsessing over that slick Blacksmith every waking moment. I started selling old stuff to repay my debt quickly.
So yeah, I've gotten into a bit of Lego mania.
It's made me try to understand myself and past obsessions. Seeing how much I coveted a Medieval Blacksmith instead of enjoying my new Treehouse underscored something about me (or human nature at large): I'm always looking for something new and exciting, feeling restless till I get it, but the satisfaction never lasts.
I started this blog serial to write down thoughts like those. But mainly to post pictures and blab about a new interest, short-lived as it may be. (I'm not ready to call it a hobby yet, less it become a self-fulfilling prophecy of financial ruin.)
While I look forward to building and displaying, I'm most excited about writing and taking photos. You'll have to pardon the less-than-professional quality of my photos, though.
Next post: You'll see what I bought from that Facebook garage sale, the one that triggered it all...