the Death of Touch and the Lost Joy of the Unexpected

great read FTA:
"I spent much of my youth, from the moment I could drive, rifling through the musty bins of the used record stores on Coventry Road in Cleveland looking for hidden gems (where I first heard Yo La Tengo playing while I shopped). After college, in NYC, I spent even more hours on St. Mark's rifling through even bigger bins at five or six stores along one small block - they are all gone now. After moving to San Francisco, just over a decade ago, I was introduced to Amoeba Records, a massive former bowling alley on Haight Street still filled with literally millions of pieces of music. Although it still survives, I haven't been in years. I have probably spent a few thousand hours of my life collecting music, flipping through vinyl, inspecting the grooves, breathing in the unique smells of the stores, chatting with the overeducated clerks and peering over the shoulders of the surrounding hipsters looking for tips. "