A hobby of sorts…
I had a ton of hobby’s growing up. Mostly involved collecting. As a child, I can recall having a cigar box filled with used stamps. They had all sorts of pictures and were very interesting to me. I also had a large baseball card collection, which I continue to drag around with me throughout all my moves. I also recently gave up collecting comic books. I had a ton of them and majority of them, I’ve only read once.
My newfound hobby was autograph collecting. I always browsed helpful forums containing information about upcoming celebrity signings. I love collecting from the people who inspired me to be the guy I am today. They either taught me something I will never forget or did something I had admire. I begin getting certain comics or books signed my favorite authors or CDs signed by my favorite artists. I have admittedly confronted several of these guys in public, but having the respect and even sometimes star stuck would strongly prevent me from approaching them. I often run into these celebrities at my place of work. Brandy rapped at me once. Yes, she did. I got to talk to Nascar driving Danica Patrick about online radio. I masked my excitement well.
I haven’t chased after any autographs in a while. I did start collecting the entire 2010 Chicago Blackhawks for my daughter due to her birthday falling on the same day as the victory of the Stanley Cup. I waited many hours in all sorts of lines waiting for their signatures and even tried catching some at public events. I even donated blood a few times in hopes to catch a couple. I begin to build my daughter a scrapbook that has a bunch of cut outs and pictures. I think the most memorable thing in that collection was her picture with the Stanley Cup. We went to the Gay Pride Parade, hearing about its appearance at on a float. We ended up taking a quick pic with it, as it was being place in a limo. My daughter was just a couple of months old so she was petite compared to that cup. Several Hawk players were really generous on responding to my request for autographs for her collection as well. That was an idea given to me by a friend when I realize some players were traded to far off teams.