#23 A Conversation with James a.k.a. midwest_record_collector

It was a pleasure to finally link up with Donovan, a 22 year-old collector from San Diego. Donovan shares his unique perspective on the hobby with me, including growing up thrifting, breaking up with his girlfriend, taking a break from collecting, and his friendship with Ryan a.k.a. @amanandhismusic, amongst other things.Listener confession form: https://dgmono.com/confessionEmail: [email protected] have been creating and sharing free hobby resources online since 2013. If you have ever benefitted from my content, please consider donating by clicking here: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=4VFU8XA8URC9A

Listener confession form: https://dgmono.com/confessionEmail: [email protected] have been creating and sharing free hobby resources online since 2013. If you have ever benefitted from my content, please consider donating by clicking here: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=4VFU8XA8URC9A

This is the official start of season 2,. By coincidence, our first episode launched one year ago today (June 15), so this is also our one-year anniversary!Check out my first conversation with Jamie in episode 13 if you haven't already.Conversation with Gabriel and Malik referenced in this episode: https://www.instagram.com/p/CZyDrWgpZcv/Listener confession form: https://dgmono.com/confessionEmail: [email protected] have been creating and sharing free hobby resources online since 2013. If you have ever benefitted from my content, please consider donating by clicking here: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=4VFU8XA8URC9A

Listener confession form: https://dgmono.com/confessionEmail: [email protected] have been creating and sharing free hobby resources online since 2013. If you have ever benefitted from my content, please consider donating by clicking here: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=4VFU8XA8URC9A

Listener confession form: https://dgmono.com/confessionEmail: [email protected] have been creating and sharing free hobby resources online since 2013. If you have ever benefitted from my content, please consider donating by clicking here: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=4VFU8XA8URC9A

I just want to add a quick comment about this episode here: Although I talk quite a bit about potential life changes aimed at helping prevent future anxious episodes, in hindsight I believe that was my perfectionism creating unrealistic standards for myself to live up to, and I am not convinced that is a healthy outlook. When I am in an anxious episode, I now believe it might be better for me to stick to my day-to-day routines and to not put pressure on myself to upend my current way of life, and I believe my personal road to recovery might be more about acceptance than change.Since I recorded this episode, I had another anxious episode, and I am trying my best to work through all of this. Wish me luck.Listener confession form: https://dgmono.com/confessionEmail: [email protected] have been creating and sharing free hobby resources online since 2013. If you have ever benefitted from my content, please consider donating by clicking here: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=4VFU8XA8URC9A

Listener confession form: https://dgmono.com/confessionEmail: [email protected] have been creating and sharing free hobby resources online since 2013. If you have ever benefitted from my content, please consider donating by clicking here: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=4VFU8XA8URC9A

Listener confession form: https://dgmono.com/confessionEmail: [email protected] have been creating and sharing free hobby resources online since 2013. If you have ever benefitted from my content, please consider donating by clicking here: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=4VFU8XA8URC9A

Stay tuned at the end of this week's episode for a special treat to celebrate our 50th episode.After recording this week's episode, I realized that I failed to drill home an important point about audiophiledom. I think the main change in my thinking since I published my audiophile article (https://dgmono.com/2025/04/25/why-i-dont-call-myself-an-audiophile) is that I now I feel I understand that I don't need to exhibit all or even most of the traits associated with a certain definition or label to be considered in that category. Though I still feel I do not identify with the majority of what I feel makes one an "audiophile", I do believe in a simple definition of the term that is more or less simply "someone who loves music but is also passionate about *sound*". I also believe in "fighting the good fight" in that I guess I consider myself a "sensible audiophile". If someone else decided to refer to me as an audiophile at this point, I don't think I would object.Listener confession form: https://dgmono.com/confessionEmail: [email protected] have been creating and sharing free hobby resources online since 2013. If you have ever benefitted from my content, please consider donating by clicking here: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=4VFU8XA8URC9A

Listener confession form: https://dgmono.com/confessionEmail: [email protected] have been creating and sharing free hobby resources online since 2013. If you have ever benefitted from my content, please consider donating by clicking here: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=4VFU8XA8URC9A