Less is more...whatever

I am sitting on an airplane right now at 30,000 feet. I’m having a bad scotch after finishing an even worse sandwich, and I am starting to think about what makes me the way I am. Now keep in mind that I travel a lot for work, and largely this time is spent alone. All this time inside your own head lends itself to self-dissection, self-deprecation, hell…even self loathing. Mostly, it just makes you evaluate where you are at in life. I am a cyclist. For eight months out of the year, I drink, eat, sleep, and breathe cycling. I obsess about bikes, bike parts, races, and training. When the racing season is over though…I always turn to all the other interests that I have in my life that have been neglected over the past ¾ of a year. I love music, watches, fashion, food, wine, sneakers, art, etc. The common thread that pulls all of these things together is that I only like the hard, even impossible to get. The more “limited” the better. Limited release, limited production, limited edition, a good vintage. Is this to say that I covet? Yeah, I guess to some degree, I do covet. If a friend of mine has something hard to get, then I’m super happy for them. I don’t want their stuff. I want my own version. My own end to the hunt. All I know, is that if I can’t have it, I want it that much more, and it sets the wheels in motion to find it. The hunt is on. A few examples come to mind. I like guitars. Acoustic or electric doesn’t matter. My playing ability is just OK, and half of the guitars that I am looking for I don’t deserve in the sense of musical accomplishment, but who cares. Mostly I look for hard to find Fender Stratocasters. This one in particular has always gotten to me. It’s a Stevie Ray Vaughn Signature Edition. I have always looked for a 1996, because it was the Stratocaster Anniversary edition. It is no different than any of the others, save a tiny hidden sticker on the back of the headstock. But that’s the one I want. You don’t see them that often. Largely I look for these things on Ebay, and last year I found one. I botched the bidding, and got outbid at the last minute. I didn’t sleep for a week. The last one a saw before that one was about 3 years ago. Then I just couldn’t afford it. Now, I can, and low and behold, there is one available. I’ve got it all worked out, a good price, all the specs are good, and the guy will even end the auction early to sell it to me. Now…my interest is gone. Now I want the first production year of this version…the 1992. I must be fucking sick. Sure, I’ll find a ’92, and then I’ll only want the ’92 with the Brazilian Rosewood fret board. So goes my life. It’s the same for clothing…It always has to be unique. Hard to get, and sneakers…don’t even get me started on sneakers. I could be called a closeted sneakerhead. Oh yeah…Limited Edition Nike Dunk, LE New Balance, Alife, BAPE, you name it. The crown jewel has been a pair of VisVims, and yes I just found them today. In Italy. I paid way too much for them. But they are cool, thereby making me cool. At least that’s the rational. Stupid I know. So there is the question. What makes some people completely happy once they reach a certain point? A certain job, a certain amount of money or stuff, a certain woman? And more importantly, what makes people like me constantly search for the next best impossibility? This I do not know. It is the question that keeps me up at night, and it’s the answer that keeps me looking.