The dusty Thrilling Days of Yesteryear archives

If you’ve been reading the blog for a good while now, you’re probably aware that I frequently joke about the titular subject, a phrase I use to describe my-larger-than-any-normal-person-should-have collection of DVDs.  Two years ago, Raquelle at Out of the Past – A Classic Film Blog did a post where she took photos of her movie collection and encouraged others to do the same; I had planned to participate but the digital camera I use for such occasions was spending more time at the Double K Ranch than I normally do…and when the camera finally made its way here to the House of Yesteryear I either probably lost interest or got distracted by some new shiny object in the meantime.

I was on the phone with my high school BFF The Duchess (I should qualify this for reasons I’ll get to in a sec) a week ago and was bragging about the above pictured item of furniture at Rancho Yesteryear—my new chair—or I should say, my new old chair; sister Kat had it in her living room for as long as she’s been making house payments and when she got new furniture a while back she was going to ask a friend of hers if he wanted it but he waved her off.  So I asked her if I might inherit the chair, and she graciously allowed me to do so—something that pleased me to no end because…well, folks, let me tell you—it is one darn comfortable piece of furniture.  (That ratty looking quilt draped over it is one of the few remnants of my childhood; my grandmother on my Dad’s side made it and awarded it to the first male grandson born to the family.  That would be me.  I’d like to say that I’m the bigger person and that I never let my cousin Steve—born four days later—live this down but that would be a fib colossal enough to send me to H-E-double hockey sticks.)

I went on and on and on for so long about this chair that The Duchess joked I should take a picture of it and use it as my Facebook photo…and then that’s when I remembered Raquelle’s post from years ago.  So because I’m working on something for the blog but haven’t quite completed it yet, I thought I would take you on a photographic tour of the dusty TDOY archives.

Part of this also stems from several e-mails that my BBFF Stacia and I have swapped back and forth; we’ve often joked about the runaway pile of DVDs that we’ve recorded off The Greatest Cable Channel Known to Mankind™ (ka-ching!) and yet can’t find enough hours in the day to sit down and watch.  Now, because I can be a first-class numbskull sometimes, I made the mistake of mentioning Stacia in a conversation with The Duchess Sunday, because Stacia was nice enough to buy me something pretty and have it sent to Castle Yesteryear (the contents of which I will divulge in a moment).  This news did not sit well with Her Highness, because she then accused Stacia (whom she has never met, so I thought this was a mite presumptuous) of trying to buy my friendship…and of course, I had to deny this was happening, because I think you know me well enough by now that I can’t be bought.  (I can only be rented.  Rimshot!)  Well, she soon calmed down and forgot all about it (except for a brief relapse when we were interrupted on the phone on Tuesday afternoon when I heard the postal person outside and she said snarkily: “Oh—did Stacia send you something else?”), and everything is back to normal, and the big, bad rabbit never bothered anyone else again.

This is the “nerve center” of the communications department at Yesteryear University.  You’ll notice that my TV set is still one of the old gasoline-powered models, but I honestly am okay with this because sister Kat has a honkin’ big screen TV and whenever I watch it always seems to me that the people look…I don’t know, kind of squished.  You can also see on the coffee table at the bottom of the picture that recording is in a constant state of flux at my place.  That gi-normous shelf to the left of the entertainment center is something I hope to have stuffed with some more DVDs that are currently doing short time in my father’s storage shed (a lot of my Britcoms and serials, I believe).

When you enter the front door, this is what will be to the left of you.  That big green ottoman is supposed to go with my new comfy chair but if I put it by its rightful owner I lose my coffee table, so it’s crashing there for the time being.  You will also notice the “Rolling Rock” beer sign to the right; this is merely a product placement ploy in the hopes that the people who make my favorite brew will sent some free samples to me for the gratuitous plug.

These shelves are located in and near the hallway back to the bedrooms (I have two).  Most of the contents on the shelves are of the TV-on-DVD variety.

These two shelves are in my bedroom (sorry about the unmade bed; it’s the maid’s day off).  I also have this dresser in the room…

 

…with some DVDs that need to be filed but have not been at the time of this post.  The two large stacks to the right are discs with TCM recorded stuff.

This dresser is in the other bedroom, a guest room that doubles as my computer room/office.  The two boxes near the air freshener contain more recorded movies.

A work desk that sits to the right of my computer.  More stacks of paper enveloped DVDs—I think it’s material taped from Encore Westerns.

Finally, the guest room bed to the left of my computer also has a few stragglers from the herd.  I don’t know if you can see it but that one DVD that reads “Laramie” is the first season set of the classic boob tube oater released by Timeless Media Group on the first of March, and BBFF Stacia not only sent that to me but a spindle of blank discs (50 in all) as well.  Therefore, I hereby proclaim for all to hear and take heed that Stacia is the Queen of the Classic Movie Blogosphere, and that all who deem themselves worthy must present her with gifts of Donettes, and chicken fingers, and Pepsi Throwback.  (Oh, and some cheesy sci-fi flicks to wash all that down.)

Thanks for taking the time to visit the archives – the gift shop is next to the kitchen on your way out!