Nathan Key

Don't Panic

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Help Me Spend 50 Bucks

2/13/2009

 

From Guest Blogger, Christopher Cocca

I heard today that consumer spending on retail rose 1 percent in the latest metric, despite projections of a .8 percent decrease for whatever period was being measured. People are still buying stuff. Decreased (on the whole) gas prices certainly help.

I got $50 from my grandmother for my birthday and tried really hard to spend it last night. It's still in my pocket. It's not that I'm cheap, it's just that lately, I'm finding it harder and harder to find things I actually want to buy. I'm not a consumer of art in the way some people are. I listen to new music for free on the radio (or on YouTube or seeqpod or Pandora or Facebook or Last) and I've never been one to hoard albums or books as artifacts or totems. Remember those 35 bones I had to spend on iTunes? I still have 15 left. I'm not against spending, but in the economy of gift money, the only thing worse than spending on food or bills is spending arbitrarily. You're supposed to put some thought into it. I put so much thought into it that the money usually ends up floating into the general account where it eventually becomes burger and wings money.

I blame my junior high religiosity (yes) for this: one year I gave up buying baseball cards for Lent because of how obsessed I'd become with them. When it was over, the collector's impulse was gone. I'd been going strong with sports cards and trading cards and comic books till then (oh, 90s foil-embossed, laser-eyed comics boom, how I do still miss you), but I never really got back into the discipline that enthusiast collecting requires. The bottoming out of the boom (next month: 11 variant covers!), my lack of funds, and the baseball strike also helped.

I don't need to buy music.I also don't need to buy books. There are libraries and, let's be honest, blogs. Wikipedia. Project Gutenberg. This guy. I don't need collectibles, and even though I like them, they're more fun if you're not buying them yourself. (The exceptions here are vintage, middle-grade comic books, like "Batman and The Outsiders #1" or other things from the 70s and 80s that don't cost a lot but look cool in your office). I already own "Watchmen" and "Heart of Darkness" and "Leaves of Grass" and 3/4s of the so-you-wanna-be-a-writer cannon. The truth is that I have a lot of stuff, but not because I enjoy collecting or even because all of these things are worth having. I've had a lot of birthdays and Christmases and interests and buy-one-get-one-half-off-at-Borders trips. I stopped buying movies a long time ago.

I'm thinking of writing a craiglist's post. "Wanted: a good, legal way to spend 50 bucks. Best offer of stuff for my half-bill wins." Nathan's readers, you have first crack.

Is my consumerist anxiety heightened by the economic crisis? Not really. It's more a poverty of enthusiasm for music or art or literature as products or for their creators as those with access to some sublime aesthetic I'm otherwise cut off from. Maybe I'm getting arrogant. Maybe I'm getting older. I think the more we practice our crafts, the less mystical these become and the less mystified we are with their processes. In the move from fanboy to artist, we lose things. If we're growing, the tastes and agendas and priorities of our heroes become more like those of our parents (our hipper, more famous parents) as we stake our own claims.

50 bucks. Seriously. Make me an offer.

* * *

From Nathan: "My good friend Christopher Cocca was nice enough to let me borrow his words today so I can concentrate on another job interview. He's an amazing writer / thinker and you should be reading his blogs daily (if you're not already). Send him some love by visiting one or all of his websites:

www.christophercocca.net
christophercocca.wordpress.com
christophercocca.mlblogs.com/

"Thanks Chris! I owe you one!"

Chad Hogg link
2/12/2009 11:32:40 pm

Nice post. I still buy a few albums each year, perhaps to ease my conscience for the gigabytes of MP3s about which I would need to plead the fifth. I have not bought a non-textbook in years, and have found that both the library and the collections of friends are quite sufficient. I was never into movies to begin with, but my wife still likes to buy them.

Is there no tool that would help you with your craft or occupation? If I had $50 of discretionary funds, I would probably save it until a few more $50s joined it and I could get a 2x10 speaker cabinet or a set of 3 hard drives. Of course, you are right that it would get lost in the general fund long before that happened. Or if I was feeling particularly indulgent I would go for a video game. While I have far less time for that hobby as I once did, I've gotten a ton of value out of the last two games I've acquired, Super Mario Galaxy and Final Fantasy XII.

Finally, don't underestimate the allure of burger and wings money. A good meal can bring greater satisfaction than a great many things.

Beth Key
2/13/2009 05:55:46 am

Chris, I have $50 also. It is left over from my August birthday. Right before I read this I decided what I would buy with it as I was rocking our baby to sleep. I want. I NEED a white noise machine. Top of the line. The No-Sound-is-Getting-Through-This-Baby-Noise-Blocker-Machine. We live on the first floor of an apartment building. Walls are thin. My baby is THE lightest sleeper on the planet other than myself. I must have it. I must have it tomorrow.

Dana link
2/13/2009 11:15:22 am

If I had a spare $50 and no responsibilities... $50 that was supposed to be spend on ME as a gift... I'd probably find an awesome concert opportunity and buy a ticket or two.

Whatever was left over could go for stuff on the way like gas and food.

Joe
2/13/2009 06:51:57 pm

In lieu of a concert, you could go indulge in a day of America's pastime.

http://www.ironpigsbaseball.com/tickets/singlegame/

Field level tickets are $9. So you figure... you, the Mrs., a family member or two. That'd still leave you a few bucks for a couple hot dogs. Trinkets collect dust. Outings leave memories. (Plus their significantly more cost-effective than visiting the World Champions.

Joe
2/13/2009 06:53:12 pm

Doh! I meant they're. Darn, Typing while Tired.

Chris link
2/17/2009 06:53:45 am

I ended up getting a second controller for my Wii bundled with some games. A sound choice in the end.

Chris link
2/17/2009 06:54:34 am

...but these were all sound suggestions as well!

Nathan link
2/17/2009 11:45:38 am

Nice choice, Chris. No one should play video games alone. It's like drinking alone...

The only other thing I could think of would be a cheap knock-off of Desmond's Glasses... How amazing would THAT be?

I'm sure NYC's got something in a back alley?


Comments are closed.

    About Nathan

    Nathan Key likes to think about faith and philosophy and talk about it with others. He lives with his family in New Hampshire. He doesn't always refer to himself in the third person.

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