# I've satisfied my compulsion. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 5, 2006, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-satisfied-my-compulsion/338500 "2006-01-05T01:02:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-satisfied-my-compulsion/338500/1 "2006-01-05T01:02:02Z")
Any of my ex-girlfriends can testify as to my obsession with organizing my books and DVDs. When I moved in with one (a girlfriend, not a DVD) about 4 years ago, I was unpacking about 12 boxes of books. I looked at the piles of books strewn on the floor and said to her “I’m missing 3 books!” She looked at me like I was insane (she could be right), and did not believe me. I prompty wrote down 3 titles, which I remember to this day: _Polar Star_, _Gorky Park_ and _The Death of Hitler_. We drove to my storage locker and I found those 3 books in another box. My books are decently organized by Author and Subject on my many bookshelves, but I am religious about DVDs. They are strictly organized alphabetically by title, with sequels following the original provided they also follow alphabetically. For example, _American Wedding_ comes after _American Pie 2_ (I don’t have the original _American Pie_ - I am postponing getting it because it could pose an existential crisis for me). By the same token, _Blade_, _Blade II_ and _Blade: Trinity_ fall in the proper order. When I only had a few James Bond movies, I put them all at the beginning of the “J” section and tried not to think about it. Today I received in the mail the complete (so far) collection of all 20 official Bond films. However, they are not in standard DVD cases, but rather in a presentation type case that holds a small CD booklet inside. The case is about 12" long, 6" high and 2.5" deep. I could not for the life of me figure out how I was going to get this on my shelf, as I don’t have enough shelf space to fit it sideways amidst the others, plus putting it that way so I could read the face of the box would have it set too far back from the fronts of the other cases, which would be aesthetically displeasing. I solved my problem, satisfying my compulsion at the same time: Since the front of the box has “007” in big characters on it, I put the case sideways on the top shelf, just before _8 Mile_ and _12 Monkeys_. Whew. Another psychological crisis averted. ---
**Author:** ![Campion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@Campion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Campion)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-satisfied-my-compulsion/338500/2 "2006-01-05T01:27:04Z")
> [@CynicalGabe](#): > > Whew. Another psychological crisis averted. Not sure I’d go that far. ---
**Author:** ![Bernard\_Marx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@Bernard\_Marx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bernard_Marx)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-satisfied-my-compulsion/338500/3 "2006-01-05T01:41:06Z")
I take CDs and DVDs out of their plastic cases and put them in those portable wallets (you know, with the plastic sleeves inside). I can then put the wallet in a cupboard and forget about it, thus saving myself hours of compulsive rearranging which I would be doing if my collection was in full view! ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-satisfied-my-compulsion/338500/4 "2006-01-05T01:46:22Z")
Dude, I think you left the stove on. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-satisfied-my-compulsion/338500/5 "2006-01-05T01:51:14Z")
> [@Bernard Marx](#): > > I take CDs and DVDs out of their plastic cases and put them in those portable wallets (you know, with the plastic sleeves inside). I can then put the wallet in a cupboard and forget about it, thus saving myself hours of compulsive rearranging which I would be doing if my collection was in full view! That’s even worse, because you can’t tell ata glance if they are all in proper order. ---
**Author:** ![cowgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cowgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-satisfied-my-compulsion/338500/6 "2006-01-05T02:24:18Z")
> [@CynicalGabe](#): > > … my obsession with organizing my books and DVDs. I had one of those once. And then I got married. Now, it’s long gone. I miss it. And I miss those books and CDs I can’t find. Question: where would you put a soundtrack for a film done by all one artist? In the artist’s section, or the soundtrack section? Since I can’t keep my own stuff organized any more, I have to live vicariously through others’ organization … ---
**Author:** ![Linty\_Fresh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Linty\_Fresh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linty_Fresh)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-satisfied-my-compulsion/338500/7 "2006-01-05T02:28:54Z")
> [@CynicalGabe](#): > > _Polar Star_, _Gorky Park_ and _The Death of Hitler_. [Hijack]Great books, but you lose points for **Blade II** and **Blade: Trinity**. [/Hijack] After I finished basic cataloging when going for my MLIS, I began cataloging my personal not-entirely-insubstantial library in LC format. Luckily, my wife staged an intervention in which she threatened to donate all my books to the Christian Harry Potter book burning festival going on upstate if I didn’t come to my senses right then and there. Saved me a _whole_ lot of trouble. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-satisfied-my-compulsion/338500/8 "2006-01-05T02:31:46Z")
> [@cowgirl](#): > > Question: where would you put a soundtrack for a film done by all one artist? In the artist’s section, or the soundtrack section? > > Since I can’t keep my own stuff organized any more, I have to live vicariously through others’ organization … I’d put it alphabetically in the Soundtrack section. FTR, my CDs are in artist order and then oldest to newest. Groups like Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers go under the main person’s name. Various artists compilations are under “V” and sorted alpha by title. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-satisfied-my-compulsion/338500/9 "2006-01-05T02:37:32Z")
> [@cowgirl](#): > > Question: where would you put a soundtrack for a film done by all one artist? In the artist’s section, or the soundtrack section? > > Since I can’t keep my own stuff organized any more, I have to live vicariously through others’ organization … All my music is on mp3s on my laptop. Organized by Artist, then Album. > [@Linty Fresh](#): > > Great books, but you lose points for Blade II and Blade: Trinity. Those were free, I never claimed they were good. I’m also a compulsive collector of media. ---
**Author:** ![Linty\_Fresh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Linty\_Fresh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linty_Fresh)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-satisfied-my-compulsion/338500/10 "2006-01-05T02:44:10Z")
> [@CynicalGabe](#): > > Those were free, I never claimed they were good. I’m also a compulsive collector of media. Well . . . OK, fine, but JAMES BOND?? After forty something years, isn’t it time for that guy to break a hip while beating up some random henchman? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-satisfied-my-compulsion/338500/11 "2006-01-05T02:48:08Z")
> [@CynicalGabe](#): > > Since the front of the box has “007” in big characters on it, I put the case sideways on the top shelf, just before _8 Mile_ and _12 Monkeys_. But those are Ohs, not Zeros; Double Oh Seven. OO7 belongs just before [Oo na sige na](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0440691/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnx0dD0xfGZiPXV8cG49MHxrdz0xfHNvdXJjZWlkPW1vemlsbGEtc2VhcmNofHE9b298ZnQ9MXxteD0yMHxsbT01MDB8Y289MXxodG1sPTF8bm09MQ__;fc=15;ft=22;fm=1). ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-satisfied-my-compulsion/338500/12 "2006-01-05T03:00:35Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > But those are Ohs, not Zeros; Double Oh Seven. Sorry, “double-oh” is simple a method of pronunciation, like “double-aught” buckshot. The fact that they are numerals is not negated. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-satisfied-my-compulsion/338500/13 "2006-01-05T03:21:21Z")
Uh-oh. My books are in alpha order by author and then title (and I’m gradually entering them into a [database](http://www.collectorz.com/book/)), and my CDs are in alpha order by artist and then title (no sections, but they are all ripped to iTunes), but so far I’ve refrained from alphabetizing my meager DVD collection (though I do have them all in a database that I created myself in MS Access). I now have a little mini-project for myself this weekend. Thanks a lot, **Gabe**. :mad: 😉 ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-satisfied-my-compulsion/338500/14 "2006-01-05T06:44:54Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > Uh-oh. My books are in alpha order by author and then title (and I’m gradually entering them into a [database](http://www.collectorz.com/book/)), and my CDs are in alpha order by artist and then title (no sections, but they are all ripped to iTunes), but so far I’ve refrained from alphabetizing my meager DVD collection (though I do have them all in a database that I created myself in MS Access). I now have a little mini-project for myself this weekend. > > Thanks a lot, **Gabe**. :mad: 😉 You’re welcome. One can never be too organized. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-satisfied-my-compulsion/338500/15 "2006-01-05T07:33:47Z")
My albums, singles and CDs are alphabetical by artist, and chronological within each artist’s section. All 13,000 of them (there are more since last time I mentioned it). Separate sections for Various Artists and Soundtracks. The 78s are arranged by label, then ascending in catalogue number by label. I keep two main databases in MS Works, one for Singles, one for Albums. Everything about them is in there, except for the parts I haven’t got to yet. I’ve been working on it for five years. I have about another five years’ work to do on it just to get up to where I am now. Assuming I get more records / CDs in the meantime, that’ll add a bunch of time to the completion date. Only my wife knows how her books and manga and anime VCDs / DVDs are arranged. She keeps two Access spreadsheets for her collection - one for books she has, and one for books she doesn’t have yet, with some provision for indication of Read / Not Read, and Comments. It’s true, you can never be too organized. Especially if you have a lot of anything. You don’t want to end up buying another copy of something you already have, so you have to document everything.