Retro Stereo

Raise your hand if you grew up with a console stereo in your living room. {raising my hand} Yeah, me too. And I LOVED it. My brother and I would play records and my Dad and I would dance (although I remember dancing with my Dad to the reel-to-reel we also had, but that's another story). When my parents decided to put our console stereo away I convinced them to hang on to it for me. I would take it off their hands one day. And I meant it.  I really loved that thing:

There it is over to the left.  That's me on my bike (that, yes, I still own) at 2 years old.  

And here it is again in the back at my 7th birthday party (and that's my brother standing there with his favorite Farrah Fawcett t-shirt).

Isn't it cool?  So back to our story.  My parents were holding on to it for me and it was stashed away in the basement.  As a teenager I loved it and longed for the day that it would be mine (even as CDs had become the newest thing).  But it was not to be so.  One night it rained heavily and flooded our basement.  The console was veneer and was damaged beyond repair (at least we thought so … now I know better!).  So my parents got rid of it and I grieved the day.

Fast forward to today.  Two thousand and ten.  The time of electronic music files and "perfect" sound.  And what do I want?  An old console stereo to play vinyl.  Brandon and I have been searching antique stores and sales and thrift stores and Craigslist.  And we finally found one this weekend.  Everything works and it's a lovely retro piece of furniture.  I ♥ its imperfections.  It's a tube radio (♥)  and needs some tweaking.  But the turntable spins and the needle works and we listened to the Police and the Beatles yesterday afternoon.  And you know what?  Vinyl doesn't sound as bad as I remember.  I think I must have fallen victim to the latest and greatest advertisements in the 80s and 90s.  It actually sounds really really good!

That last one is my favorite … it makes me :)

Much like the Polaroids (and I just bought another {new} one by the way) some people think I am a bit odd that I ♥ this thing.  And they would be right.  I am a bit odd.  But I like what I like.  I won't apologize for that.  It's perfectly imperfect, just like me :)