How Long Have You Been Collecting Stamps?

I began collecting stamps in 1953 when I was 8 years old. Have stopped and restarted several times, each time with a new narrower focus, until I have finaly restricted myself to selected areas I feel that I can achive a moderate percentage of compleation in. At first it was the U.S. and the world. As a grade schooler, I soon figured that at the rate the world was producing stamps, I'd spend most of my hobby dollars on albums instead of stamps. By the time I was in my 30's I was collecting mint U.S. and using crystal mounts, thankfully that was a short period! By the time the kids had grown up and began their own lives, I had specialized to selected areas or periods in the U.S., Banknote issues, including the back of the book Departmentals, First Bureau Issues, National Parks and Farly's. As I got deeper into the Departmentals, I began collecting the 1875 Special Printings and then added Departmental proofs.Somewhere along the way, postal history began to become appealing.

I'm a young collector; I've been collecting for about 6 months. I'm 28, so I don't see this as a childhood phase. I'm in the process of figuring out where my collecting interests lie. I'm also a member of the APS. I love the American Philatelist; I take it to work with me and read it on my breaks. :) I'm also a hopeless nerd. But there are a lot of hopeless nerds in my generation; you just have to find us. :)