A Bit of My Life » Anarchy

More Frugal Tips

With the Dow heading south faster than a snowbird, it’s time to share more of my tips for being frugal. Those of you who know me may be like “Whoa dude, how are you frugal, you guys go out all the time and you drive two cars…”. To which my witty riposte would be “how do you think we get the money to do that?”. Anyways.

1. Second hand is OK
I can’t tell you how infuriated I get when I hear someone say that they won’t “stoop to” buying second hand. If it works, its good. Don’t throw out a toaster because it is old, throw it out because it sucks or is not working anymore. There is a coffeemaker at my guy’s family cottage that still makes great coffee after 15-20 years. Ending is not better than mending - if you haven’t read “Brave New World”, now would be a really great time to pick it up.

2. You Don’t Need New Clothes
Nobody needs new clothes. We want new clothes. Old clothes can be taken in, let out, hemmed, etc. for far less money than going out and buying new.

3. Stop going to Wal-Mart and buying useless shit.
You don’t need it and it isn’t making you happy. Put the money towards a gun for when the economy collapses and you need to fend off marauding hordes - wouldn’t that be 10 times better than a trip to Wal-Mart? Who needs a fucking egg slicer?

4. Do Free Stuff
Go for walks, go to lectures, enjoy your friends. Going out and getting faced at a bar is going to cost you 100.00 a pop for the average drinker - just stay away. I have to admit this is the most painful tip for me to make. Which brings us to…

5. Drink @ Home
Most of us have a stash of hard liquor at home. Have a shiteface party where you research enigmatic girl drinks and make them. That is its own reason for a get together. Make sure you have lots of sleeping bags on hand and a mop.

6. Budget Grocery Stores
Around me, the Price Chopper is the discount grocery store of choice. Why pay more for the same stuff because the interior decorating of the store and layout is more attractive? I kind of like the vintage feel of the Price Chopper myself. Shopping here will allow you to subsidize buying a 35.00/week box of fresh veggies from a local organic farm - check out this one if you are local to Hamilton. I’m signing up for that stuff. Nums.

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Posted: October 16th, 2008 under Anarchy, Food & Drink.
Comments: 1

Life Changing Moments Are Innocuous

I just finished watching “Michael Clayton” for the second time. Besides having really impressive writing, the final scene impresses me so much because it is what would happen to a regular guy. There is no hoisting on shoulders, no hugs from other men. When you do truly great things and make truly good decisions, you still have to go home, make supper and have a shower. In Michael Clayton’s case, you reflect upon life from the back of a taxi. Life goes on.

I had one of those moments earlier this year when I realized clearly that I could start my own business and work at it for the rest of my life without having to worry about who I was working for, what they thought of me, and whether or not I was being paid what I deserve. I feel like I had a victory over the monotonous life that I thought was ahead of me. While I am making it sound all noble, it is a hard road to make a name for yourself, and you have to find people along the way who are eager to help you out.

I had another one of those moments today when I got my first assignment for a popular tech website. While I have worked on many websites before, I have never really worked on one that actually had name recognition. It was a moment that came and went without any celebration, without any recognition. Just a quiet realization that things are changing.

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Posted: September 29th, 2008 under Anarchy.
Comments: none

Why Country Music is More Appealing When You Are Older

Right now a spate of really bad shit is happening to our parents and the parents of our friends. Between brain tumours, cancer, and death 2008 has doth sucked the bone extremely hard, except for the birth of my second niece, which of course is awesome.

I used to not understand why any fool in their right mind would enjoy the simple, depressing lyrics of country music. In fact, country music is so depressing that I’m surprised My Chemical Romance hasn’t released a cover of Hank Williams greatest hits by now. Johnny Cash proved just how uncomfortably close the genres of alternative and country were to each other when he masterfully covered Nine Inch Nails “Hurt”. Trent Reznor marveled that he had made the song “his own” after he saw the video. And he did - because sad songs belong to both genres.

Check out the lyrics of the following song:

Capo: 2nd fret/key: e/play: d
[d] in the world’s mighty gallery of pictures
Hang the [g] scenes that are painted from life [d]
There’s pictures of love and of passion
Then there’s [e7] pictures of peace and of [a7] strife
There hang [d] pictures of youth and of beauty
Of old [g] age and the blushing young [d] bride
They all [g] hang on the wall - but the [d] saddest of all
Are the [a7] pictures from life’s other [d] side.

[d] just a picture from life’s other side
Some-[g] one has fell by the way [d]
A life has gone out with the tide
That [e7] might have been happy some [a7] day
There’s a [d] poor old mother at home
She’s [g] watching and waiting a-[d] lone
Just [g] longing to hear - from a [d] loved one so dear
It’s just a [a7] picture from life’s other [d] side.

The first scene is that of a gambler
Who had lost all his money at play
An’ he draws his dead mother’s ring from his finger
That she wore long ago on her wedding day
It’s his last earthly treasure, but he stakes it
Then he bows his head that his shame he may hide
But, when they lifted his head - they found he was dead
That’s just a picture from life’s other side.

Now the last scene is that by the river
Of a heart-broken mother and babe
As the harbor lights shine and they shiver
On an outcast whom no one will save
And yet, she was once a true woman
She was somebody’s darlin’ and pride
God help her, she leaps - for there’s no one to weep
It’s just a picture from life’s other side.

Extra verse:
The next was a scene of two brothers
Whose pathways so diff’rent had led
One lived the life of a rich man
The other one begged for his bread
Then one night they met on the highway
“your money or life”, the thief cried
And then with his knife - took his own brother’s life
It’s just a picture from life’s other side.

Who do you think wrote this? Christian Death? Sisters of Mercy? The Mission? My Chemical Romance? Marilyn Manson? Nope - Hank Williams.

When we are young, alternative music makes us feel like adults - when I was young, listening to alternative music made me feel like I belonged in those ultra cool Black Label commercials - although maybe not this one. God, that beer was awful. But its marketing was brilliant; it got “rebels against society” to drink the very same beer as each other. Enough about the beer of the early 90’s alternative scene - the music is why we are here. I loved, and still love, the hard driving music of Ministry that presents a nihilistic view of society. I adored the dark tones of Andrew Ulrich singing about Lucretia Borgia - it seemed intelligent at the time.

When you “grow up” you long for simpler tunes, ones that don’t require a degree in literature to figure out. Maybe it has something to do with the mental laxity that we all settle into when we have been out of school for 10 years or more - maybe it is just the amount of brain cells that we have murdered along the way. The upshot is, I enjoy a good boot kickin’ country tune now just as much as I love Skinny Puppy. Yes, I know that is entirely too fucked up. Yes, I expect that the people in the Black Label commercials would be picking up their beer at this very moment and moving away to other tables. But there it is.

When we start experiencing real death and horror, maybe we don’t find the concept so romantic anymore. Death feels final rather than curious. Sickness feels more like pain than an excuse to stay home from school or work. Mostly, you realize that life is infinitely more enjoyable than the concept of death, and you would give your left kidney to experience just one more moment with someone special, or just have a chance to say goodbye.

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More Frugal Tips

Life Changing Moments Are Innocuous

Why Country Music is More Appealing When You Are Older