Dear Disgruntled in St. Louis,

    I have considered it now.  While you certainly have the right to be
angry, my reaction was joy.  I could finally figure out "who I am" in shell
collecting.  No - I didn't really fit any one neat category.  I, too,
bridged across the defined limits.  My library exceeds 70 shell-related
books from the beach-walking pocket books to the encyclopedia-types.  My
collection is well over 1,000 species, but a large part was a purchased
collection a few years ago.  While I don't spend everyday with shells, I am
building a museum for kids in my barn.  I log onto Conch-L daily, but
usually stay in the background.  I am so far behind in cataloguing my
self-collected specimens (collected on vacations) that sometimes I think
it's hopeless.  But I share the two joys I see in everyone on the list.
First the joy of discovery.  On the beach.  Diving. Shell show.  Shell shop.
In the mail from trading.  Second, the joy of sharing.  The beauty.  The
form.  The color.  The knowledge.  At last I know that everyone else is a
hybrid.  I am not alone after all.

Joyful Sam in Delaware
(no sense in naming a town - most people don't even know where the State
is).
[log in to unmask]



-----Original Message-----
From: Linda Bush <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wednesday, June 14, 2000 5:15 AM
Subject: [CONCH-L] HOLD IT1


>This is the first time in over five months of being on Conch-L that I've
gotten angry!  Are we so obsessed with categorizing shells that we have to
"neatly" categorize collectors?  I submit that each of us has his or her own
unique approach to collecting, as we each have unique personalities.  Oh
yes, there are similarities among us, but why try to "pigeonhole" approaches
to collecting.  I really think some of us have "gone of f the deep end" this
time.  For example, I am a very serious collector of Pectinidae, wanting as
much data, organization, and correct names that I can get.  I am a casual
collector of other families, only wanting the exactness similar to that in
my Pectinids for rather unusual shells.  But also, I am a shell crafter who
could care less about data for the shells I choose to use in this work.  I
do have to know the species, but don't agonize if I don't know anything else
about the shell I glue down.  Aren't we each a little different in our
approach to our!
> shells?  Why do we need a neat category to belong to?
>
>There, I've said my piece.  Think about it.
>
>                Disgruntled in St. Louis,
>                Linda Welch Bush