I've started a number of articles this way because this is too good not to talk about. So, as literally, everyone I know has figured this out in one way or another. I like vinyl. I'm a record collector. Now, before you go into reading this with the mindset of, "oh, she's just into vinyl because it's the big thing right now." The last reason I'm into vinyl is that it's popular.

The reason why I'm into vinyl is because I think it's awesome. There's so much music on vinyl that is overlooked in this day and age. I'm talking about used vinyl. There's stuff in the used vinyl section that is only a few dollars, but you can find a lot of rare stuff if you really dig in those bins.

When I was younger, I never felt that I ever loved anything that was mainstream. Oddly, the coolest stuff I got to hear was what my dad played when I was growing up. I was a little kid when I heard "Detroit Rock City" by Kiss and "Golden Age" by Midnight Oil.

I was surrounded by it and it sunk in. I have vivid memories of looking at my dad's record collection. There were shelves and all these different titles I had never heard of.

I was in public school until 5th grade and I fell into the mainstream because of my friends, but I was always looking for different stuff to listen to. I never felt really into what everyone else was into.

I had this little MP3 player that my mom got from Staples, and I wasn't an expert on transferring files but I figured out how to put music on it and I ended up finding out about The Raconteurs, Beck, The Virgins, and Louis XIV. It was stuff I had never heard anywhere before and I was always hunting for music, generally stuff that strayed from the norm.

Eventually, I started doing online homeschool from the rest of the 5th grade until 12th grade. It was in these years, that I really got into the music I loved. I had my dad's CD and vinyl collection and Spotify and I found all these interesting artists from his collection and I started listening to different stuff on Spotify.

A big part of me being into so much music is because of Gallery Of Sound. There used to be a location in a strip mall near us in Westfall but they ended up closing it. My dad used to take us all the time when we were younger and I would always be looking at all different titles and my brother was always reading something.

Eventually, after Westfall closed. We started going to the 24 South Main location and the district manager and longtime employee, Jim became a close friend of ours. So much so that we consider him family. He was one of the very few people that has been there for us as long as we've known him.

It was at 24 South Main that I really started getting into vinyl because I had this insane love for the Lime Spiders and I figured that I might be able to find their albums in the used section. Little did I know how rare those are.

From my days at 24 South Main, I got into Don Ho and Jack Jones. I started digging into oldies style vinyl. Most of my days were spent at 24 South Main digging for vinyl, making album displays and taking pictures. All of which factored majorly into who I am today.

I really got to dive into a lot more than I realized back then. 24 South Main gave me an outlet to really explore and find what I was truly into, instead of straying into the wrong things. It gave me practice and experience in finding cool albums and determining condition. It taught me not to just buy any album. It's never worth it to get a good album in bad condition.

I found out about a lot of artists like Mott The Hoople, The Knack, Loverboy, which I knew of by name but seeing the albums inspired me to photograph them. I didn't need to get them because my dad owned them in his original collection. This time in my life was a time of discovery and just really getting my radar for cool music. I always had a good eye for cool art though, even when I was little. I always had a knack for finding cool stuff so I guess all my little characteristics tied together in a great way!

Anyway, at the end of 2013, 24 South Main closed. It was insane. A place where my family and I had so many memories was no longer around. It seemed like it was all over. How could such a thing happen?

A few months passed, but we were reunited with Jim at the Mundy Street store in April 2014. Everything was gonna be okay. We started going to Mundy Street all the time and I started exploring used vinyl and I began my record collection.

Thanks to the used vinyl section, I found out about City Boy, Nantucket, Russia, Pseudo Echo, Burning Rome, Funhouse, and Burning Sensations to name just a few. I found a lot of amazing albums as promotional editions and all kinds of gems.

So, after all my backstory. The question stands. Why do I love vinyl? I love vinyl because it's an experience. There's something to watching a record spin and looking at the artwork and the lyrics. I love vinyl because it brings back an old feeling of just going into a record store and not knowing what you'll find interesting.

It taught me about listening to an album beginning to end, instead of only a single song. Every album is an adventure. There are so many gems to be found when you dig for vinyl.

I assure you being a vinyl lover is so much more than a trend. It's so much more than being bohemian to CDs. It's so much more than being "radical" for buying old albums.

Please be advised that if I'm in the used vinyl section, I will openly have vinyl everywhere in "maybe" piles and I won't hesitate to point out cool stuff if I see it. I may or may not talk your head off with a lot of casual music knowledge...but we'll see if we knock into each other and a record store and this craziness will be a reality instead of some random sounding explanation in this week's article.

Don't be afraid of the used vinyl. You can find a lot of awesome stuff as original pressings and promos. It's not easy to find original pressings or promos. There's a good price range, so if you end up in the record store, don't hesitate to flip through them. You never know what you'll stumble upon.