Expedition 5280: Moving Days and American Consumerism

Monday, July 30, 2007

Moving Days and American Consumerism

So I'm an "organized" sort of lady who thought she had her act together and could write an excerpt on moving 101. I figured that we had the token "moving sale" and had given enough away that we would have very little to transport to 5280. Nonetheless, the American gremlin of today, possessions, had already moved in, landed on Boardwalk and added hotels. Why is it that we choose to have such a senseless amount of “things”. Ultimately I believe we were active supporters of American consumerism. Good for the economy, but really, what do we have to show our abundance?

con·sum·er·ism
1. The concept that an ever-expanding consumption of goods is advantageous to the economy.
2. The fact or practice of an increasing consumption of goods.
3. Attachment to materialistic values or possessions.

As we settle into our new home, quite smaller, we proceed with a fresh perspective: do we really need _____? Our home will not be defined by increasing the number of possessions at hand, rather, by the collective experiences we share with one another. What defines your home at this moment?

No comments:

Post a Comment

A Recent Rare Phenomenon

Last night we were at a local coffee shop with some friends. While sitting by the widow, we noticed that it had unexpectedly begun snowing. A few minutes later we all looked up to notice bright flashes, similar to that from a camera flash reflecting in the window. Since you never see lightning (or hear thunder) during a snow storm we all looked around for the abnoxiously bright flash from someones camera. It was nowhere to be found. Next thing we hear the boom of thunder and immediately car alarms start sounding. At this point we all look outside to see what looks like hail....but its not. It is simply pea sized snowballs that are falling like rocks from the sky. Needless to say, this was the first time any of us had experienced anything like this. The snowballs were not hard but soft...just like snow. The lightning and thunder continued for a while longer, as most everyone who was in the coffee shop either was glued to the windows or went outside for closer inspection. Bethany, who was sitting with our group, said that she had heard something like this happening before and said it was called a "thundersnow storm". Well, it is a true and rare event that is even more rare in a "land locked" state like Colorado. Here is the local newspaper headline from the Rocky Mountain News: "We were enjoying the lights, sights and sounds of a thundersnow that rolled through downtown around 9:30 p.m. And, we didn't make up that word thundersnow, either. It's a real, but rare phenomenon (and very rare in landlocked Colorado), according to a quickie Google search. In the simplest of terms, cold air meets warm air. As those two air masses interact, it causes friction, or a convection (up- and-down movement of air), which if violent enough, can cause lightning and thunder".

If you are still interested, check out the Wikipedia article for it : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thundersnow