the grunt work of collecting is a terrible thing, friends. i mean i know it was part of the reason to start this infernal habit, but little did i know how out of control it was going to get. (real out of control is the answer, by the way.)

history
i started out small -- palm-sized actually -- as i set up a basic database on jfile for my handspring visor. then as the collection started to grow, i got scared. because comics were piling up. my fiancee got scared, too, as short box after short box started to mar the decor of the apartment. all of this started happening fast, real fast. and as i entered rehearsals for a new play, i had even less time to devote. every month or so, i'd sit down, bag, board and alphabetize, but the actual computer entry stopped. at work, i decided to get back into it, so i built a filemaker pro database, complete with simple reporting capabilities, and imported the 80 or so issues i had catalogued into the visor. and that was that. what i did not do was start to diligently enter my back-stock. mistake.

present
i have hundreds of issues that are uncatalogued. i'm not a cataloguing kind of guy normally, although i have always been a categorizer and alphabetizer, with my book and music libraries. but with this new hobby, i thought, "hey, sounds like a good way to zen out." and it is, but i work in front of a computer eight hours a day, and the last thing i want to do when i get home is look at the damn monitor again. so the impetus to catalogue has dwindled, and i have stacks of unbagged, unboxed issues. and grand dreams of sitting down for ten issues at a time, just to make a dent, and in a month or two it may all be done.

future
there's a con in my city next weekend. can i get it done before then? (no is the answer, kids.) but, i'm moving this summer. halfway across the country. which will cost money. i happen to know that a number of books in my collection are worth a fair amount of cash, which i could use, but i don't know where they are, and to look for them would require a system, which i just don't have in place. i need to get everything catalogued before i am able to decide which issues to keep, which to junk, and which to bring to upcoming cons. and it's not only about the money. oh no. for example, i have a bunch of original miller daredevils that i picked up some time ago for cheap, but i don't know which ones they are. so i go to the next con, and i can't remember if i already have the damn issue.

and so...
i need a system to more easily help me catalogue. i really like the interface i've built on the fmp database, but it means entry pretty much from scratch (although i've just written a script that should ease things a bit.) there is a very expensive solution out there called comicbase, which does all the grunt work for you, all you have to do is check which ones you want, which you need, and you're set. it even has a report generator for palm. if i had the dough, i'd pick it up in a heartbeat. but i don't, so i can't. as it is, there is a more full-featured palm database that i'm looking at which is another (much smaller) cash layout i don't have -- although that may get lumped in with wedding expense, as i've built a pretty comprehensive wedding planner on the demo. the palm solution though would not really help with the grunt work, just mobility. i've looked at a bunch of web-based solutions, and nothing will let me export details of records, just which issues i have. there has got to be a way that won't cost an arm and a leg. a way besides the damn grunt work.

i know. i know.