And you could do all of that and be responsible, but you want to break free, live a little on the wild side, do the impossible, the irresponsible, the self-indulgent.
It’s just the guilt. You know it, it creeps in when you aren’t watching and lodges in your psyche and lingers no matter how you try to fight it, you want that goodie, but the voice of your mother whispering in your head says, “Spend wisely.”
That what you are going to do?
Nope, not this time, you are going to block the guilt and spend that hard won money on stuff that you want.
And then there’s the guilt, again. You take one look at all of the things you need for your art and start parsing out the money in bits and pieces until before you know it it is all gone and you are there with your dreams and an armful of socks.
Okay, so they aren’t socks in reality, but they are practical things, needful things, responsible things.
Don’t do it. You spend the rest of the year doing all of the grown up, needful, responsible things and you only get this one chance and you should take it.
Yes, there is that latest tablet, the one with the touch screen, the thousand and one apps, the built-in Wifi, but will that really help you with your art?
You want to buy something that you wouldn’t ordinarily get and yet something that you can really use in your work and really help with the art that you want to create, so what do you do?
Now I know that most of you use your phone to take pictures or maybe the point and shoot box you got five years ago and have never read the manual on so you haven’t ever set the day/date function and aren’t sure what white balance is and you’re happy about it.
But I want you to think about a major upgrade. Not a little guilt-free, practical, responsible upgrade, but a hemongeous, gianormous, earth-shattering upgrade.
I want you to spend your money on a DSLR.
What the heck is a DSLR? It’s a digital single lens reflex camera. Just like the pros and the big kids use and even though you’ve looked at the ads and gasped at the prices and sighed over the expense, I want you to do it.
Let’s be practical, you ain’t gonna find what you want here. Coos Bay has many things to recommend it, but electronic shopping is not one of them. In fact you won’t find what you are looking for in Eugene, Salem or Portland.
Where if not there and what could there be that isn’t available at one of the big cities?
I’m going to tell you, but first we have to do something.
I want you to take your hard earned cash, squirreled away pennies at a time and I want you to go to your bank and buy a gift card with it.
There are a whole bunch of gift cards around and you could do one of them just as easily, but I want you to think about the bank you do business with and check out their gift card selection.
Why?
Glad you asked, you can’t spend cash on the Internet and you shouldn’t give out your credit/debit card information except to very trusted websites and no I am not going to send you to the Mrs. Adele J. Goodfarthing Charm School, Canning class and waste management systems. No, I’m not but you shouldn’t give out your card number at all and using a gift card allows you to shop over the Internet and not put your identity or financial information at risk.
So get a gift card first and then let’s talk.
If you have leftover 35mm camera equipment I urge you to sell it. Much as I love 35 it isn’t coming back and if you have equipment collecting dust you can sell it and start the process with a little bit of cash in hand. How much will depend on what you have. Canon, Nikon and Pentax are the most desirable, but you can get a quote on any other brand easily enough.
KEH has been around for a long time and are among the most reliable and trustworthy vendors and you can use them with confidence.
And they offer excellent values in used equipment which you can shop for at the same time you are selling off your old 35mm stuff.
So start here, take a good look at what you have hiding on the shelves and start thinking about what you would like and then come back tomorrow…New Year’s Day and we’ll talk about what you might want to buy.
You thought I was going to tell you the whole story tonight? Now why would I do that and miss a chance for a great cliffhanger to lure you back in the next year?
Have a wonderful time, drink responsibly, be gay, be merry and tomorrow we’ll talk. There won’t be anything but football on the Tube anyway and you’ll want to get away from the forty-six games going on at once or the mad clicker channel surfing at light speed trying to catch all of the scores while avoiding the commercials while still getting to see the most important part of the holiday games, the cheerleaders!
Happy New Year!
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