I talked in the past about emotional support porn, but at least that doesn’t take up any physical space; it’s just sitting on my hard drive.

This… this takes up actual space.

What you’re looking at is a box of VHS tapes that I’d collected from the mid-90s all the way through to 2013 or so. Some of the videos were copied from others; some of the videos were purchased (like the Raven Hill Studios sampler that I ordered in the early days of internet shopping); still others were played from my computer, through my VCR, and onto a tape that I could then more easily watch from the comfort of my bedroom. There was a lot of great stuff on those tapes, and for a while I seriously considered transferring them to digital. All I’d have to do is buy a VHS-to-digital converter and play the tapes onto my computer.

But do I really need to do that?

No, I do not. I don’t even watch my emotional support porn anymore; why would I watch the contents of these videotapes? I mean, other than the initial loading of the video into my computer, which would take at least 30 hours, it would probably just sit there, unwatched and unloved.

I actually thought these tapes were gone until about 2018 when my first ex-wife moved out of the house we’d shared and she delivered the box to me during one of our custody handoffs. Since then the box has been collecting dust in various places around my house — most recently on a new set of shelves I put up some months ago. When she first gave them to me I actually considered buying a cheap VCR off eBay or somewhere just so I could watch them again. That never happened.

It’s been thirteen years since I recorded any porn to VHS. I think it’s time to say goodbye. So, as you are reading this, know that that box of tapes is sitting in a landfill somewhere. An era has come to an end, and I reclaimed a small amount of space in my house. I’m a little sad about it, but it had to be done.