Do You Hide Your Music Purchases From your Spouse?

[Clay Fink]

Just wondering...

[blawless]

Damn you, Clay Fink. If my wife were to see this poll it would occur to her that maybe something's going on. I may have to cultivate new strategies of secrecy and guile.

[Mike Schwartz]

What spouse???
I'm too busy cramming my place with CD's that I'm constantly running out of space to keep;-))

I can actually imagine a conversation with a 'significant other' where the time comes when a talk happens about making arrangments to cohabitate....

'S.O.': Honey, do you have to take ALL these CD's, LP's AND cassttes to the new place? Couldn't you fit just your most special ones in one [1] cabinet next to the stereo?

Schwartz: Your kidding me aren't you? I've been collecting these since I'm 12 years old.

Like my kid sister Valerie says all the time... LOL!!!

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

... shhhhh....

[john williams]

Yeah sometimes, but I am sure she's on to me!

[Chris D]

Mosaic box? What Mosaic box?

[Tom Storer]

I set up a special mad-money account to which I siphon a set amount each month from our joint account, and it's with that money that I buy CDs. Since she knows how much I give myself a month, I have nothing to hide.

[Nate Dorward]

"Hide"? How crude & devious. Now, "don't draw attention to".....that's a different matter.

[Douglas]

No problem for me and even occasional encouragement.

But this understanding is strictly conditional on not playing many of them in her presence.

[Nathaniel Catchpole]

I get general encouragement with CDs, occasionally if it's been a heavy week of buying, I get the "won't it be here next week" which sometimes slows me down if I can't say "No, no it won't, not at this price", which usually works. Books on the other hand I get nasty looks for, since I have little reading time, it takes me a while to get through them, so I buy at a much faster rate than I read. CD buying is a bit like that, but I catch up soon enough when I don't have much dough.

[Dan G]

I used to be a bit more discreet when we were both students and living on little income. Now - we've both got good jobs, and our finances are completely separate. We each pay half of rent, split utilities, and put en equal amount into a savings accunt each month, etc and whatever is left over is ours to blow as we choose. She doesn't question the packages that show up in the mail every couple of days, and I don't questions the closets full of shoes (her obsession).

The only time my wife takes an interest in my collection is that she teaches database design for librarians, and at the end of each year has them design the perfect database for me (which never gets implemented, and I'm stuck with my own poorly configured one). So the day before that class she asks me for a new count to update her notes, and tries not to looked shocked that it goes up a couple of hundred a year.

[jazzfiend]

Yeah, I usually sneak 'em into the house when she's not around. I've got so damn many that she doesn't notice. Although she sometimes comments that the little suckers are taking over the house. Or that "your cd's must be having babies." Or why do you need so many, you couldn't listen to all of 'em if you lived to be 100. When you die I'll bury your ass in a sea of cd's." Another oldie but goodie: " How can you listen to that crap? It's not even tuneful. Don't ever play that shit when I'm at home." Other than that, we've been happily married for 30 years. It's my only real addiction, so shoot me! And yes, feel free to bury me in a sea of cd's.
Then she can open up a used record store or have a garage sale.

[cookie]

I don't have much money for CD's. But I'd say, oh, maybe 4--6 times a year I go buy 2--4. They are usually CD's that I use in my work, so I hand over the receipts to save for tax time. Nothin' to hide.

[Gentle Giant]

Damittohell, Clay, you know the evil that lurks within! Yes, I do sneak 'em in because my wife a) thinks I have too many as it is (she's wrong), b) doesn't think we can afford it (not entirely wrong but not entirely right, either), and c) doesn't understand me.

Tom, I like your idea of a separate account. Next bit of freelance coin I get I'm going to do that.

[HenryMc]

I dont hide my purchases but I do get told, regularly, that I have a Paper (books) and Plastic (CDs) obsession......I can not argue with this.

[hermann]

It's a must for me. In the past she threw my LP's out of the window, I can't forget that.

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

Originally posted by hermann
It's a must for me. In the past she threw my LP's out of the window, I can't forget that.

When they throw your clothes and shoes out the window, that's a real bad sign.

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

I have, David. My least favorite Jarmusch film. Don't remember the scene from there. But I've seen the scene.

My wife still hasn't gotten over my purchase of the Cecil Taylor Feel Trio Box.
Thus, I've resorted to small (but frequent) purchases, no $200 orders, even if shipping-wise,
that's the better way to go. I sort of want to buy the Lyons box set, but if I do,
I'd have it to sell fast to raise money for the lawyer. My wife just can't understand
limited edition box sets (because she's smarter than me?).

[mke]

Originally posted by Squaredancecalling Steve
When they throw your clothes and shoes out the window, that's a real bad sign.

I don't know. With clothes, you can just pick them up and put them on (after washing them). If the CD or LP is broken, it's of no more use.

[Gary Sisco]

I'm with M on this one. Man, if someone threw my records out the window, I'd throw the rest of the shit out myself and be down the road. Hey, you have to make a stand, somewhere.

I don't hide. I do get mocked on a regular basis. She did finally understand the logic of "It's not important whether I listen to it again or not; what matters is that it's on the shelf, so I *can* listen to it if I want to."

Not to say we don't have a serious problem with CDs and books piling up 'round the place. But since she understands the book mania (she being a maniac herself, that way), I don't get too much shit about it. Of course, her being a horsewoman, she has nothing much to say about spending money, anyway, as anyone with horse experience knows. We joked about naming our little barn "Vet Bill Farm," at one point.

What the hell. Like a Jamaican friend used to say, "You can't eat money, man."

[Clay Fink]

I can relate to everything said so far. My wife was a poor musician for a long time and had very few possesions beyond her cello and piano. She has never understood my obsession (with CDs, books, bikes) ; "you'll never listen to all those records", "You haven't even listened to all the CDs you bought last month", "Why do you need another bike?"

I hid a shipment from DMG last month but she saw the Cadence shipment with the Lyons box the other night - "Your CDs from Cadence are here." Thank god she never found out about those boxes from Aldo Sinisio with the HORO LPs or how much the Commodore box I bought off of EBAY cost.

[Captain Hate]

Books and music; what else beside basketball is worth living for?

[Gary Sisco]

Horses.

When I was an active player, I didn't have many records, either. In those days, when we wanted to hear music, we played music. I had a shoebox full of cassettes for years that was my entire collection.

[Tanager]

Originally posted by Captain Hate
Books and music; what else beside basketball is worth living for?

Plants and birds, you cretin. BTW, is it time for us to start the 2003-2004 NCAA thread yet?

[Uli]

[censored]

[Captain Hate]

Originally posted by Tanager
BTW, is it time for us to start the 2003-2004 NCAA thread yet?

Almost, midnight madness is almost upon us. If we do it too early I might get carried away re: the tarholes.

[Dennis Gonzalez]

For about 12 years, all the CD money went to the boys, so when I buy an occasional CD, Carol is happy for me.

Now that the boys buy their own (Stefan just got a job at the local art movie house and Aaron works for the Dallas School District) I buy a few more, and I usually get her one as well. The last 2 I got for her are Gorecki's 3d Symphony and Leroy Jenkins' Space Minds, New Worlds, Survival of America.

[Frisco]

this is the Mrs. FRisco and we do not only have seperate accounts because of music purchases, but seperate banks!!!!

[gnhrtg]

Due to the sheer frequency and volume of my purchases, I simply cannot. Most of the time, I depend on the following line for sympathy, though: "But, as great art goes, CDs are very cheap, no?"