NoStuff

World in Crisis, and you really don’t know?

findinggood:

I’ve been talking with a lot of new people lately, and have started to venture away from the usual NYC conversation fare which, since I work in the Arts, usually has something to do with the new production of whatever’s at the Met, the fact that no one is buying touring attractions, and the fact that all my coworkers are, well, overworked. ARE WE ALL BLIND!??

I just assume that everyone, underneath the veneer of vapidity, is also thinking about the coming peak oil crisis, the pending extinction of cod, and how to invest in wind turbine manufacturers. Dream on, child. Apparently these concerns aren’t as widespread as I wish.

By way of further explanation, here’s a note I wrote to a fellow musician the other day (and tellingly - didn’t hit send…)

Dear X,

I remember when I used to feel obligated to go to things. I think that ended about the same time I stopped performing and/or pretending to like things I don’t. I’m not saying that I always want to exist so far away from my art, but learning to say “no” was definitely a needed and long-time-coming lifestyle switch. That said, I’m actually dying to know *more* about why you do what you do (ie take part in the madness of contemporary art & music a la that film “*(untitled)” - and no I haven’t seen it in its entirety) - and if you really do espouse the strange form of hedonism I observe in all head-in-the-sand artistes these days. I mean, you seem more intelligent than that!

Also, have you read the book “Hot, Flat and Crowded”?
You can see blogstuff (and I don’t promise profundity) at htp://findinggood.tumblr.com.

Yeah. So there you have it. Sffice to say, although this person and his girlfriend are lovely people, they remind me of me before I WOKE UP and realized that our responsibility is not to the arts, or to an ephemeral sense of “hope,” but to taking concrete steps to save our planet from ourselves.

My anti-doppelganger is down the street.

This is a window display in New York’s Halloween store on Broadway.  The mannequin was animatronic.  It moved back and forth in a jerky fashion.  I imagine it to be a symbol of the future. When there is a collapse in consumer culture, people will rock back and forth, repeating the mantra “buy stuff”.

Last purchase of 2009…

So, I didn’t cheat, but I DID think ahead-  On December 31st, I purchased a Timbuk2 bag similar to the one in the picture here.  They had a blowout sale at the end of the year, and I was in need of a new bag.  It actually arrived last week, but I forgot to post about it until now.

Carrying a bag is a really interesting part of owning “stuff”, especially here in New York, where we don’t own cars that we can keep things in.  It is essential that you have a bag that can keep your daily essentials organized and easy to carry.  The type of bags that we choose really say a lot about us.  The T2 bag makes sense for me for a few reasons-  1) It’s big and lets me carry my gym shoes and other things easily 2) It has a ton of side pockets to let me stay organized. and 3) It is designed to be slung over my shoulder while on a bike.

Actually getting the bag was a big moment since this was the last purchase I was going to get for the rest of the year.  I don’t know about you, but I take a lot of pleasure in opening up a package and seeing what I have been anxiously waiting for… it takes me back to when I was a kid and I’d be waiting for a good couple of weeks for something to come in the mail.  The thrill of the unwrapping is one of my favorite parts of getting “stuff”… and now I have 11 months before I’ll get that little thrill again.

Rule 5

“You can accept gifts, right?  I’ll just buy something for you!”

I’ve gotten this a lot, so I feel the need to clarify.

Let’s say a friend comes to visit me, and they bring me a gift of some sort.  Imagine how rude it would look if I told them I can’t accept it on principal…  it would be rude, and make me look weird.  That’s why I am aloud to accept gifts from people.  However, I would be breaking the rule if I expressed an interest in an object, and had someone buy it for me as a gift.