OtterZero ([info]otterzero) wrote,
@ 2003-12-01 20:59:00
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Current mood: thoughtful

On holidays and spending
While my librarian job certainly has its frustrating moments, it has its high points as well. While I have to work two nights a week, I usually spend the last hour of those nights searching for books to add to the collection. And it's not even technically slacking! Woo hoo! It almost makes those college and grad school education debts seem worthwhile.

An even better feeling is when I find a book that I want to add to the collection, so I can read it... and it's already there! Case in point: The Overspent American: Upscaling, Downshifting, and the New Consumer by Juliet B. Schor. Admittedly, I just got it off the shelf now, so I will withhold any sort of editorial review. However, I'm happy to have found it, since consumerism is the main topic crowding my mind right now.

Why? Probably because I spent Black Friday (the shopping day immediately after Thanksgiving here in the US) with relatives, watching the news most of the day. And what was the big news? People were shopping! Woo hoo! In droves! And the sales were great!

And I had to ask myself... why is this news? Why is the media covering this? Why are viewers lapping it up? Fine, let them discuss how this day is an economic indicator, but do otherwise sane journalists really have to broadcast from WalMart to talk about the great deals?

The other reason this is on my mind is that, for the first time in my life, I really want to get away from the whole consumer aspect of the season. Not only do I not want anything, but I'd sort of rather not buy anything for anyone else, either. Not out of miserly selfishness, but because I really don't want to keep this cycle of buying and spending going. I don't want to be a participant, and I don't want to drag others into it along with me.

Fortunately I have a partner who feels the same way... or, more correctly, has probably felt this way for some time. For the holiday, we're getting each other clothes and maybe some other necessities, but otherwise tucking money away towards the possibility of getting a house next year. Even better, my family is not even doing a Secret Santa thing -- we're just buying for the kids, and that's it. (So I get to buy my nephews and nieces the cool boardgames that they don't sell in the toy stores. That sort of shopping I enjoy -- getting them creative games they wouldn't otherwise be exposed to.)

So why am I rambling about this? Why is this on my mind? It's just that, despite the similar feelings of my partner and family, I'm finding it hard to escape the feelings of the rest of society. I've had problems with spending too much in the past, especially in college and graduate school. It's tempting for me, when faced with a rough day, to want to pop on an online bookstore or games store and think about buying something. Looking at things like the Tech-bargains sites cheer me up once in a while.

Perhaps it's a childish notion, but I'd like to have a model of non-consumerism to support my own escape from this cycle. Religious figures quickly jump to mind, but there's too many things about those that conflict with my own notions. I just wish... I don't know, that there was a holiday special about people saying, screw this, why are we letting material things make us happy? Technically there are a few holiday specials like that, but don't they all just get all the loot at the end anyway? Or maybe give all the loot to the needy. Consumer goods as a gift to the poor. I've always found that odd. "You're poor, so here are toys for your children." I support the spirit of the thing, but toys don't change economic status.

Maybe I should look into Kwanzaa... yeah, not exactly a tradition for an Irishman, but I like the idea of a holiday with ceremonies marking things like Self-Determination, Collective Work, and Cooperative Economics. Maybe I'll just tuck those ideas away with the bits and pieces I've salvaged from other religious traditions or holidays.

I am so rambling right now. Anyway, time for me to wrap this rant up.


Rant over *grin*. I'm going to start reading the book tonight, so maybe I'll be reflecting on these sorts of issues later. Til next time....


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[info]podling
2003-12-02 06:41 am UTC (link)
Hmmn. I don't know, the consumerism thing is hard to escape. For some people it represents caring, and I'm all about buying something that I see if it's perfect for someone. Though probably this year I'll be giving out mix cds more, to my friends, anyway, due to budgetary reasons. For the family... well, it's weird, because in a sense, it does show that I care, and I'm so far away, I think it actually represents for them, in a more realistic tangible sense, that I am indeed thinking of them off in the wilds of NJ, so I couldn't really stop. I mean, I don't buy stuff for each aunt and uncle or any of the extended cousin people, but for my immediate family... well, honestly, Pete and I try to outdo each other for coolness every year. See, we're still competitive, but now we have it working for us instead of against us. Though even still, I try to only give people things they'll really *use*. Like I got my mom all the Harry Potter books last year, 'cause I know she'd like them, and I generally get my parents DVDs, because it's all

It's odd though. My aunt on my dad's side decided we should do a secret santa thing this year. Oh, except she decided this on Saturday. Which would be fine if I didn't already have gifts for that side of the family done (there's 4 of them).

I don't know. Maybe other people are right, and I am shallow and materialistic (I'll tell you who thought this some other time). Though really, I go for the emotional rush that I get listening to music, so maybe I'm less shallow than I thought. I feel bad not giving people things when they give me things. But at the same time, I can't really consciously and conscientiously decide to more into debt to assuage my feelings of guilt. Hmmn.

Okay, so I just rambled forever here... sorry! Talk to you later!

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[info]otterzero
2003-12-03 05:17 pm UTC (link)
Hmmn. I don't know, the consumerism thing is hard to escape. For some people it represents caring, and I'm all about buying something that I see if it's perfect for someone.

I'm totally down with that... if I see something rare or unique that I know someone will appreciate, I'll pick it up for them. I think my problem this year is that I really haven't seen anything like that for anyone. I don't have any gifts in mind, and I'd feel kinda weird to "force" myself to keep shopping until I find something.

The only exception this holiday, as I noted in my post, is that I have some cool gift ideas lined up for them this holiday. I have the tradition of getting them cool games (like Fluxx and Apples to Apples.) I like that because they enjoy the presents, and it's also like I get to share a part of my hobby with them.

The tricky part for me this year is that I'd kinda rather not go crazy buying presents for my friends. In fact, unless people already had something in mind for me, I've been asking people if they don't mind if we skip the whole present thing. I feel like such a Scrooge just asking that! But a few people have been cool with it.

Anyway, mix CDs make excellent presents, especially for certain people *cough cough*... want to trade mix CDs for the holidays? :)

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[info]ariadnesthread
2003-12-02 01:40 pm UTC (link)
I tend to enjoy the process of finding something unexpected for friends and family. My ex-friend-group (they pretty much dumped me via noncommunication) did a gift exchange the last year I was part of it. I had fun collecting small things for my assignee--a CD from a local band she'd never heard but I knew she'd like, a book that was just so very her, and a pair of handmade barettes for her newly-cut hair. Perfect.

My parents are always hard--they now have enough money to buy whatever they want. Last year, I knitted my dad a sweater and got him a couple of DVDs I knew he would love. I knitted a pair of socks for my mom, and I bought her two gorgeous sweaters. This year, each of them is getting handknit socks, plus Mom is getting a handknit scarf (and some decorative crocheted potholders, if I get them done). Beyond that, I'm at a loss. Oh, and the dogs got handknit sweaters last year, too. I was darned busy all fall! I made hats for the little cousins and scarves for my aunt, mom, and one cousin.

The girls in my writing group are getting handknit scarves (I've taught two of them to knit. One is going to learn after she finishes her current crochet project. Another is an embroiderer). The leader of the group, who's my closest friend of the bunch, is getting handknit fingerless gloves--she's ALWAYS cold. I need to find some manly yarn to dash off a scarf for our Token Male. We used to have two, but we're back down to one.

As you see, I'm big on making things when I can. I like personal gifts, especially handmade ones. I think that's why my knitting groups enjoy charity projects a lot--you can buy the same kinds of items we donate, but there's something about knowing a person cared enough to make something.

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[info]otterzero
2003-12-03 06:20 pm UTC (link)
Hmm... if I'd planned ahead a bit more, I probably would have worked on some sort of handmade gifts for people I know. I have the disadvantage of being a bit rusty in the crafts department, though. [info]vilhelm and I have been talking about trying to develop hobbies like sewing or knitting that have real-world applications and enable us to make things we could use. It would certainly open up other gift avenues as well.

If I do take up knitting, I'll have to ask you for the pattern for the knit fingerless gloves. I've been having problems finding ones in stores that don't make me look either like a hoodlum or a chauffeur (or both...)

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[info]ariadnesthread
2003-12-04 06:12 am UTC (link)
You know, I could teach you to knit. :-) I have proteges already, and they're doing swimmingly. It would, of course, necessitate a trip north by me or south by you, but still....

The glove pattern I have is designed (sized) for a woman's hand...the designer recently did one for men, and I may buy it in a couple of weeks (she designs for a small sheep farm in Maryland). It is basically a tube with a thumb (thumb has no tip). Some time soon, I'll try a pair of full gloves or fingertip-less regular gloves.

You know, I still remember re-sewing the seam on your fur-lined leather glove back in school. :-) You were upset that your new glove had broken. I told you I could fix it, and you gave me this look of wonder and disbelief. Very cute. You were quite appreciative when I finished, too. Nice memory.

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Memories and sewing
[info]otterzero
2003-12-04 08:03 am UTC (link)
Hey, I remember that :) I think i bought those gloves after I lost a pair in the computer lab... was it Kreiger Hall? I remember they changed the name of the computer lab building, but we wouldn't call it by the new name... funny how memories come back all of a sudden like this :)

I have to admit that I'm still amazed by sewing and knitting and such. Well, maybe amazed is the wrong word... but it's still so new to me that it seems rather complicated and daunting. We just recently went to the local bookstore to browse through some books on sewing, and I was surprised to see so many differences between types of fabrics, knits, stitches... but it is something I'd like to learn about, it only because it's rather useful stuff to know. I have rather a lot of shirts missing one button, so I think button sewing will be the first thing I practice (not on the shirts... probably some scrap fabric.)

I just wish they had a book of sewing and crafts for men. So many of the examples in the books are for women's shirts, slacks, and so on. I'd really like to find a somewhat smaller book about things like buttons, clothing repairs, and maybe some house stuff like pillows and all that. Know of any good ones?

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Re: Memories and sewing
[info]ariadnesthread
2003-12-04 11:57 am UTC (link)
Actually, I remember those gloves as a Christmas gift....from your parents or a sister, can't remember which. Krieger was the new name for Remson Hall, wasn't it? After the CogSci department got the Krieger Mind-Brain Institute? Which all happened the year before we started. I have such interesting memories of campus--the Evil What Lurks in the Sculpture Garden (seriously--that's a bad juju place, and I'm not the only one who felt the vibe there), Scary Squirrel Guy, the anti-rape stairs, the emergency call boxes, the long hill leading to Bloomberg, the gorgeous ravine behind Bloomberg, the rats that lived in front of the student union building (forget its name--starts with an L), the HUGE waterbug/mutant cockroach things in Mergenthaler's basement, the "you can't get there from here" tesseract nature of Gilman Hall's second floor, the way the marble stairs between Upper and Lower Quads and between Upper and the dorm side would get so treacherously slick in rain or ice.....

One of my LJ-friends has what he calls "man-crafts night." I find that amusing. I know it includes painting miniatures, but I don't know what else is involved.

There are at least two knitting books with All Men, All the Time patterns. One, which is new, is called "Men in Knits." The other is something like "Sweaters for Men." They are both conscious that most men like classic, traditional, non-flashy, comfortable styles with nice texture but no wild multi-color things going on. I also have a pattern I love for a "Wonderful Wallaby" sweater--it's designed after a hooded sweatshirt with a pocket! Very easy to knit once you know the basics, and it comes out great. Dad got one for Christmas last year, and I'm going to make Mom one. The pattern's great--it goes from toddler to Manly Man size.

I will see what I can come up with for non-female-centric sewing books. You are right that they are usually geared toward women or girls. These days, it's not too hard to find female-oriented guides to carpentry, plumbing, and house repair, but the same isn't true about sewing and other "traditionally female" skills. I'll try to remember to poke around at Barnes and Noble tonight after my writing group meeting.

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