being a consumer is exhausting

sabin decided she wanted to use her savings on a PS3 yesterday, so we ran around in search of one. after fortifying ourselves with starbucks (as one does, if one can), we went from electronics store to electronics store, looking for PS3 consoles. we hadn't done proper research and ended up getting one with only 12GB. we also bought that little big planet game and GTA (woo hoo, i'm a resourcestærke forældre, you know). we got it home and sabin hooked it up and found that it was too little memory for GTA to even load! waah! why do they even sell such a small playstation and who can use it? (tho' it explains why it was so cheap.)

so today, after a bit of research into external hard drives, i ran around seeing if i could find one. i was talked out of trying by a pimply earnest kid in an electronics store (why are they always like that). and felt harried and run ragged by all of the dashing around.

it didn't help that i've been back and forth to the vet 4 times in two day with five different cats. two were neutered, one spayed and all of them vaccinated. two are on the pill now. dang, cat birth control is exhausting.

and on one of the trips past a bicycle shop towards the vet, we stopped and bought sabin a pretty new yellow bike. once i start my job in february, i won't be home to play chauffeur to sabin at her whim, so she needed a new bike that fits her (she's grown a lot). they were on sale (or at least they pretended to be by listing a high price and a less high price on the sign). it's a super cool neon yellow city bike. i'll take photos soon. it was pissing down rain and blowing today and not a fit day outside for man nor beast nor trying out a bike nor photographing it.

it's 16 days from the child's birthday and so far this month, she's gotten an iPhone 5S (you have to grab them while they're in stock), a PS3, two games for it, and a new bicycle. at this rate she'll have nothing to open on her actual birthday.

and tomorrow, i've got to run and take the damn PS3 back and trade it for one with 500GB so we can actually play our games. grr. i've gotten completely out of the habit of being a consumer and i'm beginning to think that's a good thing.

lest you think i'm no longer capable of shallow consumerism

there's a kind of pop-up store in town. it's run by a couple of local bored housewives of wealthy husbands. they buy up a bunch of remainders and various things that apparently "fell off" a container somewhere and then open up for a week or so and sell it all out. i've actually not visited it previously, but i stopped by on a whim the other day. and amidst various nescafe coffee machines and lamps and some suspicious-looking computer equipment, they had these shoes by paris hilton. i would have bought them if i'd been able to squeeze my big fat cinderella's ugly stepsister foot into them, but alas they didn't have my size.

instead i got these. they're not paris hilton. i see that as a good thing. and better yet, they fit and make me seem very tall.

and i also got these. and for both? a mere 200 kroner (that's $36 for the currency-challenged). they look black in this shot, but they're dark blue. and surprisingly comfortable too.

i also got these, but i ordered them online, i didn't get them in the pop-up shop. i didn't know havianas made wellies, i thought they only did flipflops. aren't these the best color? they called it aubergine, but i think it's a bit more of a plum.

* * *

postmodernism is alive and kicking lady gaga.

on how we consume music today

there's suddenly a lot of swirl in the interwebs about illegal downloads. here in denmark, the government has just proposed the very daring step of "dialogue" about it, rather than laws and punishments (quite an odd move for them, as they like to legislate the hell out of everything). they're taking a hit in the press for that. but i also just read this, a response to a young intern from NPR's all songs considered that recently admitted on the NPR blog that she had 11,000 songs in her library but had only ever bought 15 CDs in her life (this is not to say that most of those songs were illegal downloads, she goes on to say).

as someone who has plugged my iPod into someone else's iTunes library and downloaded to my heart's content as well as ripping CDs from the library into my iTunes library, i'm not really one to talk, but i have to say that i find the debate to be quite a lot of whining all around - from both musicians and record companies. while i'm in favor of people being paid for their creativity, what's needed is a radical rethink of the way we consume music. apple has, in many ways, already done that for us, as we've got the devices and despite all of the frustrations and misgivings i have about iTunes, they have actually made it quite easy for us to legally obtain the song we want, at the moment we want it.

i know that the iPod has radically changed my own CD-buying habits. i used to buy 1-2 CDs every week - up until about 2006. now i can't remember the last time i bought one. and i'm sure that both musicians and record companies are legitimately feeling the pinch, as i'm not unique. and perhaps there's a bit of darwinism at play here as well - survival of the fittest. the trichordist piece says that there at 25% fewer professional musicians than there were in 2000. i'm not convinced this is a bad thing and when i listen to the radio, i find myself wishing the number were even higher, as there's still a whole lot of bad music (especially pop music) being made.

i actually think the danish government might not be so far off in their challenge to dialogue - what's needed is a conversation around this topic that results in seriously rethinking the way musicians provide music and the way we consume it. and when they have the conversation, they need to talk to children, because the way they're already consuming music points to the future. despite having iMac, iPad and iPhone, sabin doesn't ask to buy music. she listens on spotify (premium is part of our mobile phone package) or she finds the music she wants to hear on youtube and plays it on her computer in the background while she edits a video or builds a SIMS family.

services like spotify are changing the game and complaints that their payment model isn't good for artists sound like a whole lot of whining to me. my inner capitalist says that the prices will land on what the market will bear - so if musicians want different prices, they'd better change their tune. or come up with a viable alternative. i seriously don't believe that all these creative people can't come up with a creative solution.

snippets

i accidentally bought this ring in manila back in november. the kind of accidental purchase akin to a sausage consumed in a train station. it was there next to the cash register, i was paying anyway, so i accidentally bought it. the purchase filled an awkward moment at the cash register, where one is otherwise just waiting. and i've been wearing it all day, just for fun.  and fun it was.

* * *

it's friday evening. i love fridays. we don't eat dinner so much as graze on a series of snacks...salty almonds, pork rinds (with a bit of pinoy kurat), tasty bites of salty prima donna cheese, slices of spicy chorizo. maybe a loaf of freshly baked bread slathered in butter with a sprinkle of flaky salt. it's casual, comfortable. probably my favorite meal of the week.

* * *

i didn't do that well on finish friday. i did one garland, put finery on a couple of birds and promptly made the scarf i said i wasn't going to make - tho' the version i made was my own and i didn't really follow the directions (when do i ever?). on the bright side, it's lovely (see the background of the photo above) and soft and i've worn it all day. but how could it not be great when it's made of anna maria horner's beautiful flannel.

* * *

i feel at times starved for women friends...someone to hang out with and tell secrets. i haven't found that here. yet. i think just the laughter would do me good. but women are often hard on one another. so perhaps i'll stick with the blogosphere. tho' women can be hard on one another there too.

* * *

i'm also starved for a room of my own...a space to create, where i don't clutter up the dining table and where i can leave things out, so i don't spend so much time arranging and getting ready and more time making. more time finishing on friday...

* * *

it feels like things are beginning to happen. i don't know exactly where they're leading, but they are beginning. and beginnings are exciting and wonderful, but also scary. but i think i like that.

* * *

i'm ready for february to be over. it seems like the longest february in the history of februaries. and it's the shortest month, which is quite ironic. i won't be sad to see it go. i long for sunshine and buds and snowdrops and crocus. they'll be here soon, won't they?

* * *

happy weekend, one and all!

christmas gift panic

would like to feel as calm and peaceful as this photo

every year, no matter what...no matter how much i declare this is the year to be frugal and sensible...every year, panic sets in around december 20. panic surrounding the christmas gifts i've acquired for those near and dear to me. did i get the right thing? the right size? is it the right color? will it arrive in time? but mostly, are there enough gifts?

why do i feel this way? if the gifts were chosen with love and caring, isn't that enough? why do i have to have this sense of panic, which drives me to run out and buy several more gifts in a kind of numb frenzy?

every year, i declare that i'm not going to let myself feel this way. and every year i fail. sadly, this year is no different.

o christmas tree, o christmas tree...

the world is covered in a blanket of fresh, white, fluffy snow. and while that brings joy to my heart and makes everything seem fresh and new, it also keeps me indoors because it's pretty friggin' cold out there to go with it (-7C). it'll also make it a bit problematic for getting our christmas tree this weekend, because how do you shake all that snow off before you bring it in the house?

last year's tree

and i've been thinking about the christmas tree. for years (and i mean like 20 years), i've been collecting shiny purple ornaments, adding a few new ones every year. and there are many that are meaningful and which i love getting out year after year, but suddenly, this year i'm not sure purple feels right. and most of what i've got for the tree definitely isn't handmade (except for that nordic sun symbol that's on top) and i'm in this handmade mode and wondering how to reconcile that with my glitzy purple tree. especially since i haven't made any ornaments this year and it's getting a bit late if i should embark on that now.

when you think about how nature can decorate the trees, it seems rather pathetic to even try to trim the tree with all that fake glitz and spangle, even as much as i love shiny things.  maybe next year i'll felt a bunch of old sweaters into homey new ornaments, like trinsch did. maybe i'll go out to the blue room and make up a few of the spool birdies and it'll make me feel a bit better.

but i sound a bit more depressed than i mean to and than i really feel...i'm looking forward to christmas. sabin loves it so much and i've gotten her some really nice clothes and some games and lego and some fun stocking stuffers (think robots) that she will love. we'll have wonderful food with friends and family, starting already tomorrow. we've been baking up a storm while it stormed outside. so really it's all good. i think i'm just trying to reconcile my new thoughts on consumption with the old me and with tradition. it's a journey, what can i say?

one small step for julie, one giant step for austerity april

i would like to share that because it is austerity april, yesterday, i tested myself and allowed myself to meander through the duty free in kastrup (one of the best in the world, lacking only hendrick's gin (loved by a small handful of people, all over the world)).  sounds dangerous, doesn't it?

and i would like to report that i remained strong in the face of this, despite being a known and diagnosed perfumaholic:

it's the summer line from kenzo

tea - silk - magnolia

light and gorgeous (magnolia is best)

(i didn't say i resisted TRYING them on)

(that's what they're THERE for)

but aren't you all proud of me?

i think i'll extend austerity april into may, just for fun.

but i will do a new perfume review soon, after all, i've still got all this to go (and more):

kabul safer than wal-mart

dang. for the second time in a week or so, i'm reading about deaths at wal-mart. i knew that wal-mart was evil, but this is getting ridiculous. employees, who are already not treated well by their employer, are trampled to death as they open the doors. and now there's talk of other employees who tackle poor shoplifters (who are probably desperate, sad people in the first place) and kill them.

when i was in college, i went to wal-mart. i liked that they were open 24 hours. you could go there at 1 a.m. to buy your cleaning products and avoid all the freaky crowds. tho' you didn't really avoid the freaks, since that's when they were there, wandering the aisles, muttering to themselves and gesturing wildly. still, that's when i chose to go. something about breathing in the chemical smell and the reassuring whirr of the floor polisher just had its appeal.

but, then somewhere along the way i read barbara ehrenreich's book nickle and dimed: on not getting by in america and i decided not to go to wal-mart anymore. and i haven't set foot in one since 2003. of course, it helps that where i live there aren't any, but even when i'm in the US i avoid them. and my dad, who just turned 75 yesterday, has NEVER set foot in one. i'm so proud of him for that. of course, it didn't help my resolve that i spent a number of years working for the world's largest container shipping company and that wal-mart was a major customer (they had a whole fleet of key account managers hanging out in arkansas). however, i had no direct association.

but this latest rash of madness and mayhem at wal-mart further reinforces it for me. i'll definitely not be setting foot in one again now, i don't care how bad this financial crisis gets. i'll just make do with less cleaning products. and i'm sure with the economic slowdown, it's only going to get worse for wal-mart workers--kept on part-time hours so the company can avoid paying benefits, paying only minimum wage, all so we can get the jumbo pack of paper towels for $1.99. and we can see how much they care about the safety of their customers. no thank you. i'd rather walk through downtown kabul. which is probably actually safer these days.