My Card Room

We are a country of self-improvers. A search on Amazon books for "Self-Improvement" tells me that there are 64,077 results in the category, including 48,660 "self-help" books, 10,971 "Motivational Management & Leadership" Books, and 6,557 "Personal Transformation Self-Help" books. 

Practically every facet of our lives is subject to this self-improvement industry. Websites have proliferated as well. Nearly every business website must have an article about good work environments. On Google, a staggering 269 million results for "good work environment" (without the quotes) are returned. The first one gives 5 characteristics of a positive work environment, the next gives 7 keys to creating the best work environment, and then the third result provides 23 ways to create a better work environment.

It's positively astounding to me. But it doesn't stop there. When I search for "good work room," Google provides me with over 1 billion results in under a half a second and gives me "30 ideas for [my] crafts room, home office, or workroom."

I wonder if any of those ideas include Starting Lineup Figures?

Judson over at My Cardboard Habit recently ran a contest that I completely spaced out on and missed in the midst of my red mist over ToppsNow ignoring the Brewers and cutting up bases and selling them for $1,000 inside a card. P-Town Tom was the deserving winner of the contest, though I was disappointed that his man/card room did not include his mole trap.

But, since I have been in a bit of a dry spell in terms of getting new cards, I thought I'd give a look at my card room/home office. I'm very lucky in that I have a large, well-lit room with a decent amount of outside light that comes in as well as having its own full bathroom and closet. 

But, rather than try to describe it, let's go to the photos:



Here's the view as you walk in. I have two computers because I had to buy a Mac for work when I went out on my own as an attorney, and then I didn't need it for work because I joined a firm. So, it's two computers for me. The couch used to be in my wife's house that she rented before we met, and I got it because it's comfortable, has recliner sides, and frankly I like it.



It's also two monitors for me. Ever since I got two at work, I feel lost without a second one. Call me spoiled. #FirstWorldProblems

You will get a better look at these book shelves in a bit.



Here's the view from behind the desk. Those of you with cats will recognize the cat tree on the right side of the room. My buddy Gus sleeps in the upper level when I am home on the weekends. My old Sony plasma TV is still my TV of choice -- 12 years old and still works like a charm.



Here's a better view of the TV, with Gus on the floor hanging out. You can see the bathroom entry at the left and the closet at the right. Yes, I have a lot of books too. 

Inside the closet, you can see my monster boxes set aside for each team. Sadly, they are mostly filled with junk wax/early 1980s cards and a bunch of 2013 series 2 cards (since I bought and broke a case of that back in 2014). Seriously, if you need anything from the 1980s, let me know.

The bookshelf in the corner next to the closet houses most of my soccer books, my pro football and college football books, and a fair number of my baseball books as well. The metal "Play Ball" sign was a $10 purchase at Hobby Lobby, if I recall correctly. That middle row of glassware came mostly from my local Taco Mac restaurant back about 7-8 years ago. They would have glassware giveaways of their featured beer every Thursday night, so I picked up a few.

This photo: The bathroom door, the TV, the Vince Lombardi Successories wall-hanging that I got as a groomsman's gift, the three four boxes of junk wax from my Christmas Haul that I have yet to sort, another Hobby Lobby special in the ESPN College Gameday metal wall hanging, a couple of Georgia football wall items (one of which is a print from the first Blackout against Auburn in 2007, when Verne Lundquist danced to Soulja Boy on national TV) and my three programs from attending three English Premier League games back in 2006 around London (Tottenham, Chelsea, and Charlton, in case you're interested).

The two main book shelves. The one on the top has my team collections in binders sorted by card issuer along with my Robin Yount and Ryan Braun collection. The one on the bottom has my other player collections. Next to this bottom one you can see the stacks of sheets that I still have remaining after my Christmas haul. It's the gift that keeps on giving!

The little bookshelf peaking out next to that bottom one holds my bobbleheads, my Starting Lineup Figures, and other odd stuff that couldn't be stored anywhere else. The signed football features Georgia Football legends David Greene and David Pollack. The black thing on the shelf is my Sonos speaker, which I use almost all the time that I'm in my office to listen to music.

Above my couch. The Brewers pennant was signed by Don Sutton just before he pitched in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series in 1982 against the California Angels. My mom let me skip school that day and took me and my older brother to watch that game because, well, the Brewers had lost the first two games and we had no idea whether we'd get to see any more playoff baseball in Milwaukee that year.

The one in the middle is Brett Favre, of course. It's a certified autograph displayed with two facsimile tickets from the two Super Bowls that he went to with the Packers.

The Milwaukee Braves pennant was my mom's when she was under the age of 10 in the mid-1950s. I used to have it in my work office, but I decided I'd rather have it at home.

And finally, the other corner. There's the Nestle uncut sheet from 1984, and it's next to two Topps-issued items from 2014 that I bought and really like. I guess this is why I complain when Topps leaves the Brewers out -- I mean, I've tried to buy the stuff up when I can!

I hope that you have at least endured the quick tour through my card room/home office. I suppose I should really try to put more stuff on my walls since I have those posters now, but I kind of like the clean, minimalist look I've got going on. 

Thanks, Judson, for the post idea. Too bad I didn't remember to join the contest!

And because this post needs a little music, here's a song I think I've heard every day in the morning for the past week and a half:

Hanging Around in a One-Card Post (A Card From My Cardboard Habit)

In October of 2004, I went to a rock concert at the Fabulous Fox Theater here in Atlanta. At that time, I lived and worked in the City of Atlanta proper -- Midtown, in fact -- and was able to walk to the show.  The main act for the show was the reunion tour of seminal alternative band The Pixies, and they put on a great show -- all the old stuff, one new song that was decent, and all the original lineup in its pomp.

Opening up for them was this Irish band that, in honesty, I hadn't heard of before that show. The Irish band was called The Thrills, and I found their music to be catchy without being annoying and musical and earnest in a way I appreciated.  As it turns out, The Thrills were big in Ireland, pretty big in the UK, and barely made a dent in the US (despite an appearance on David Letterman's Late Show) before their third album went *thud* everywhere in the world and EMI dropped them from the label.  

For being an Irish band, The Thrills had a very laid back, California vibe to their music. One of their catchier, more enjoyable songs to me was this song:

As much as the song laments the fact that hanging around in a one-horse town is a bad idea, I'm not as sure that a one-card post should carry any shame.  This is especially true when the one card being posted is a great one, as is the case with this beauty from J. Meeks at My Cardboard Habit.  A few weeks ago, he broke a box of the 2015 Series 1 Topps, and he found a card that was right up my alley:

I know.  All y'all Braun haters are gonna hate, and I wonder myself if he has ever been clean in his career when he's been healthy -- time will tell, and even then, he probably won't ever get the benefit of the doubt from anyone (nor should he).  

But, he's about to become the top home run hitter ever for the Brewers, and he is undeniably one of the best players to put on a Brewer uniform.  With those facts and my PC for him in mind, this card is an excellent addition to my Braun collection, which is rapidly approaching 300 cards/items.

Mr. Meeks -- thank you very much for this card and for thinking of me immediately when you got it!

A Little Trade With My Cardboard Habit

Judson from My Cardboard Habit and I both recently and unsuccessfully competed in the Gint-A-Cuff box opening competition.  I say unsuccessfully because I'm pretty sure that there's only one box being given out this year from Topps and I'm nowhere near number one. While Judson is nearer to the top than me, he too has been outpaced by the Design on Deck juggernaut.

In the course of the GAC competition, though, I bought two boxes of A&G hobby. On opening the first one, I pulled some Creighton basketball player on a full-sized card that impressed me more than getting a piece of Adam Schefter's dress shirt but less than getting a Freddie Freeman white swatch.  

Since I couldn't care less about "Dougie Fresh" but in the interest of curiosity I asked the question at GAC as to how many points that would be.  The Commissioner refused to engage in a hypothetical discussion -- leading me to believe that Mark Aubrey would be a better federal judge than Kenesaw Mountain Landis was -- but the question led Judson to shriek like a teenaged girl from the 1960s watching the Beatles on Ed Sullivan.

Thankfully, that shriek could only be heard in Texas, Oklahoma, and parts of Louisiana, so I was spared. However, in more measured tones, Judson asked whether he could trade for it.  I was more than happy to trade it away -- eBay sales be damned -- and, in return, I got two fantastic Brewers cards for my collection:

I know -- it's a cream-colored swatch of fabric of undetermined origin. But it's implanted inside a card of the Mighty Mexican Yovani Gallardo. That makes it worthwhile already.

Topps certifies that Ryan Braun signed this card in their presence, so that is an even more awesome card than just a swatch of fabric. 

In all seriousness, these two cards are more than enough in my opinion to get in return for a Dougie Fresh card from A&G.  Judson, thank you very much for the trade, and enjoy the Creighton Blue Jay autograph!

Mailbag Post: My Cardboard Ratterree

Just a quick post tonight in between scanning in some surprise packages that arrived in the mail today.

Last week, Judson from My Cardboard Habit couldn't resist splurging on some Bowman Platinum. It seems like, on occasion, pack-openers remorse kicks in about the time that the post for opening some packs is getting written, and that remorse had started to kick in for him.

To make him feel better, here's a wonderful version of "America the Beautiful" from September of 1972. I was not yet a year old at this point, but I'm pretty sure that if I were watching Dick Cavett that night, I would have shut up and listened.

Since he made anything non-Rangers available for trade, I asked if I could have the Michael Ratterree autograph.  Judson agreed.  I still owe him a return envelope, but here is that beautiful Bowman Platinum shedding its grace on me.

Thanks again, Judson -- I will get you a package put together shortly and back at you!