I got paid yesterday. I spent most of it today.

I'm supposed to be saving up for my trip, but I'm due about $200. I sold an old car (or rather, my sister convinced one of her friends to buy it) the other day. This little tidbit of information must have managed to convince my subconscious that I needed to spend money.

Most of it went to my rent, so that was no fun. But then I took off for Wal-Mart, and they had a toy I've been looking for: the Beast Wars Transformer Megatron in his Red Dragon form. I love that show, and I love dragons. When I saw the episode where Megatron turned into a dragon, I knew they would be bringing out a toy based on that form. I had to have it.

And now I do!

My friends consider it a little odd - here I am, a grown woman, who loves toys and cartoons. I'll even set my alarm clock for Saturday mornings so that I won't miss my favorite shows. That in itself should qualify as a mental illness.

But if men in their 70's can spend hours playing with their electric train sets (which I also find fascinating), I don't see why I can't have a few action figures. And a large pile of stuffed animals. And a huge bucket of green army men that I got for $2. I still have to figure out what I'll do with those guys.

Now, I'm not one of those Beanie Freak collectors who think they're going to retire when they sell their collection, though. I have a grand total of three Beanie Babies, and I only bought those because I thought they were cute. Out of curiosity I looked up how much my three beanies are worth, and it turns out two aren't worth anything because the tags are mangled.

How are you supposed to enjoy a stuffed animal if you have to keep the tags attached and in pristine condition?

That's kind of like those people who buy two sets of every toy they get. One to play with, and one to keep unopened in their attic, in case it might be worth something someday. Or people who have lots of furniture in their homes, but you can't sit on any of it. (I'm talking about chairs here, not pianos.)

Please. If you buy it, enjoy it. Play with it. Sit on it. Snuggle up to it before you fall asleep.

I understand the concept. These people who buy stuff just to have it get pleasure out of collecting things. But they obviously have never read The Velveteen Rabbit. Toys that do not get played with do not become Real. I would assume the same thing for furniture. But no one has ever written a book called The Victorian Sofa about a well-loved divan who gets thrown out one day because it broke a leg, but the Good Fairy visits it at the dump and turns it Real so it can play with the Real sofas. Therefore my information on the subject is incomplete.

Even Jay Leno takes his cars out for a spin every now and then.

So join me! Rip off those tags! Free the beanies from their oppression!