Jonny Numb

I’ve detailed the experiences I had in proximity to my 45^th birthday, but while cathartic live music and movies are all fine and good and sanity-preserving things – sometimes by bringing us close to an expressed version of insanity, paradoxically! – we all know birthdays are nothing without a couple George Washingtons tucked into a Shoebox Greeting, asking to be spent as superfluously as possible!

I took annual leave on Friday, February 20^th with the intent of hitting up two record stores in York. While a check-up vet appointment for tuxie-cat Zoey snuck up on me (she’s fine), I was still able to complete my mission.

First stop: Iko’s Music Trade, which I’ve been frequenting for the last quarter-century. (You know you’ve made it to Old Age when you can speak of things in terms of quarter centuries.)

This visit was two-fold, as I was under the impression that, on Record Store Day (April 18), owner Paul would be commencing with a liquidation sale to see the store – fixtures and all – emptied out by his retirement in July.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I walked through the door, as Paul spoke casually to part-time clerk Elliott.

Seeing as how I only get out to Iko’s a couple times a year, I thought I’d be a collector-geek-creeper and ask for photo with Paul.

But when I proposed this aloud, some important information was imparted:

The liquidation isn’t going to begin until the April 2027 RSD.

So I tucked my phone in my back jeans pocket and did my usual browsing of the CD racks.

Between the regular-priced albums and the discount bin in the back room, I walked away with:

After Iko’s, I made my way to Mothership Records. The owner of that establishment is far less talkative – outside of a “hello” when you walk in – but I don’t mind. The store is much smaller than Iko’s, which creates a more controlled inventory, easier to sort through if you have limited time.

I pawed through the CD shelves – along with a couple cardboard boxes situated under an elevated rack of vinyl LPs – and left with a modest stack (I wound up sifting through the pile and putting 2 or 3 back before checking out):

That evening, I went out for a nice celebratory dinner at Thea with my S.O. A mutual friend was our dedicated server. We both ate too much, but it was a nice departure from the norm.

On Saturday the 21^st, following my screening of Psycho Killer, I made my way to Retro Rocks with a gift certificate from my S.O.’s family in tow.

The store is an interesting hybrid: a lot of tie-dye style clothing and posters celebrating iconic artists from the ‘60s and ‘70s (Jim Morrison; Jimi Hendrix; The Grateful Dead, etc.) next to actual rocks and other metaphysical accoutrements.

In the back half of the store are bins of vinyl, CDs, and Blu-rays/DVDs.

I’d picked through their movies a couple months ago, so decided to focus on the more extensive CD selection. I had 3 hours at my disposal before the store’s 7pm close, and wanted to take my time sifting through their offerings.

While the pricing overall is not competitive compared to Iko’s or Mothership, the selection sort of justifies the inflated cost. This could also be a result of Lancaster being a bigger city than York, and perhaps in a higher tax bracket. Who knows?

Again, I put back maybe 1 or 2 CDs before taking my selections to the checkout. (As you can see, I wound up picking up a DVD anyway.)

I ended my day with a stop at the desolate-looking (but open!) Copper Cup on Columbia Avenue, picking up coffee drinks for myself and my S.O.

During the drive home, I waffled between making dinner or just simplifying things by ordering a pizza. The latter won out – not fancy pizza, but comfort pizza via Pizza Hut – with the words of the wise Billy Crash echoing through my head:

“Indulge.”

(Below are some pictures of other stuff that arrived through the mail around the time of my birthday. Enjoy!)