I buy CDs a lot less now, but every once in a while I binge a little. On our way back from lunch today, we stopped in this college student convenience store; one of those places that has everything a young learner needs:

• Cigarettes
• Cheap soda
• Incense
• 3000 different types of Purdue shirts (to remind you where you are)
• Maxim magazine
• Really cheap used CDs

It’s the last item that I was particularly interested in. The average price of a used CD there is about $5.50, whereas most places would charge $10. It’s not like they’re all winners (there were about 30 copies of Coolio’s It Takes a Thief), but there are usually a few gems to be found. Here’s what I picked up during this expedition:

• R.E.M. - Green
• GTR - GTR
• Nullset - Nullset
• Ride - Carnival of Light
• Izzy Stradlin and the Ju Ju Hounds - Izzy Stradlin and the Ju Ju Hounds
• Tom Waits - Rain Dogs
• Soundgarden - Superunknown
• Buckcherry - Buckcherry
• Guns n’ Roses - Live Era ‘87-‘93

Some of these were nostalgia pickups (GTR, for example), and some were taking a chance because I liked a song I heard (Buckcherry, Ride).

Now, the ripping begins…