*Please note that this article is an opinion-editorial.

I think that right now is my favorite time of the year to be a geek. I do love Memorial Day, when all the big, exciting movies hit the theaters, Oscar season, when it is socially acceptable to be a movie snob, and the holidays, when all the new video games come out. Unfortunately, there always seems to be a lot of pressure to complete the lists that inevitably form. I never get out to see all the movies I want to watch. I have never in my life seen all of the big Oscar nominees. I never have the time or disposable income to catch all the video games that are Game of the Year contenders.

This is why I love the slow times in the summer. I get to focus on my back catalog. I have been catching up on Breaking Bad, which is incredibly good, and I just finished Ico, which is the most emotionally satisfying video game I have ever played. These are just two of the things that have been on my incredibly long list of media I have committed to consuming. I have a small pile of things that I OWN that I haven’t gotten through yet. (I feel obligated to mention that some of the movies are ones that I have not seen again after I bought them.) (Also, thanks to Adam C. for lending me his copy of The Witcher 2.)

This pile does not include any of the digital stuff, like Limbo, Super Meat Boy, Bastion, or the dozen or so books on my Kindle. I also have a long list of games that I haven’t bothered to pick up because of the piles of stuff ahead of it. There are also a few TV shows and movies that are burning holes in my Netflix queue.

I suspect that this is a relatively common state of affairs for anyone who obsessively collects things like my people do. I would imagine that there are one or two books, perhaps a video game or two, and a few movies you got excited about owning and forgot that you don’t have time to enjoy. I say good for you! Buy Blazing Saddles because it’s on sale this week for $8. Pick up Brutal Legend for $3 and hope that you can get around to it.

So, I have been enjoying this time off from major cultural deadlines. I have been reading more books from my depressingly large pile, watching movies that I just couldn’t get around to, and whittling down my backlog of video games.

Next week I think I’ll finish The Wire.