Enthusiasm. Ultimately, everything comes down to enthusiasm. For me, that's the meaning of life. My 42. There's no more attractive quality in a person than seeing them light up over the things they love. And nothing that drives me more than my love - yes for others, yes for life - but I'm not here to talk about the soppy stuff, thank goodness. I'm here to share my lifelong, defining passion for stuff and things. Ah, stuff and things! What sweet music those words are to my ears, and word-reading eyes.

My name is Marshall Julius and I am a nerd and professional appreciator. By nature and nurture a fan, a collector, and by trade, a word monkey driven to wax lyrical about the things I go bananas for. My mission in life is to both celebrate, and maintain, the memory of everything I can’t think about without getting a lump in my throat. Which is a lot. My nostalgia knows no bounds and my enthusiasm has no brakes.

My mum was a nerd before the term existed. She loved movies and art and passed that on to me. My cousin Ronald was likewise obsessed. I guess it was just in our genes to love film, television and music, comics, games and toys. The things that make life worth living. The stuff that dreams are made of!

I just turned 56 and have hunted now, and gathered, for fifty happy years. Half a century ago, at my sixth birthday party, I acquired a handful of Magic Roundabout badges that I still own, and still adore. As I write these words, I'm gazing up at a couple of pin boards hanging before me. There, my favourite four hundred badges enjoy pride of place in my field of vision. And yes, those Magic Roundabout pins are there, faded now, but still sparkling in my eyes.

Badges were the first thing I felt an irresistible urge to possess. They were my treasure, my precious, and to this day, I still feel the same electric thrill, that same spark of excitement, every time I add one to my stash. But while badges were my earliest obsession, I’ve since expanded my interests to include EVERYTHING ELSE: toys and comics, movies and soundtracks, stickers, magnets and model kits, posters, props, paperbacks and everything else that catches my eye.

Author: Marshall Julius