Christmas gift shopping on Consumption Day did not disappoint. I found great joy in watching the video exploits of the herd trample each other for knicks and knacks. I delighted in the video of some dude standing outside of Best Buy and insulting the mob as they dutifully waited in their line to collect their Christmas booty. I almost understand the frustration these people feel at having to go to such extremes to collect bargains for their Christmas gifts. The American economy forces this activity on the flotsam. It’s like a one-day economic stimulus program. I prefer to stay home. I purchased my wife’s Christmas gift a month ago. The children’s gift’s were likewise taken care of in month’s past. The only thing left for us to do is purchase the odd giftcard when out-of-their-mind retailers sell $50 of money for $30.
There used to be a time when I was a concentrated man. I could create websites, complete with graphics and 5 fresh articles, in a day or so. Today I have developed such a case of ADD that I can hardly get anything done. I think it’s why I like Squidoo. I can crank out a stupid page of crapola in an hour.
It’s one reason why I don’t waste money on Warrior Forum stuff. I start reading their PDF or watching their video and I’m instantly clicking over to Extra to see if Jennifer Aniston is pregnant yet or clicking Pinterest to see the latest photo of a flat bellied babe with a new exercise program. I hope for inspiration from the $17.90 wonder but I end up bored and ultimately pissed that it sucks. And even if it doesn’t suck I’m too bored and uninterested to do anything with it. Take action! Eh. Whatever.
MMO has completely wore me down. I admire those who continue to stick with the process. I’m envious of those pups that can look at it with a fresh perspective.
Luckily it isn’t my life. It just seems so from the collection of well-placed words I drop on my infrequent missives. Many of my peers from ’04-’09 were stacking fat piles of government currency while bidding adios to their full-time jobs. It worked out for some. Others it was a disaster. I continued the grind on both fronts somehow knowing the ride would be, at best, a whirlwind. I reaped nothing but mediocrity while surviving to take care of family and enjoy those moments not looking though the scope at the Matrix.
Today, folks are all excited about their chances of winning the half a billion lottery. $20 buys you a place in the office pool. I opted out instead focusing on the better chances of getting a flesh eating disease which is free to play. Peer pressure pulled many into the game somehow thinking they didn’t want to be left behind while the others enjoy the massive riches. I think I’ll simply enjoy the quiet of their absence.
I bought a new camera a month or so ago. I kept it hidden because I didn’t want to make my oldest daughter sad and envious and I didn’t want to buy her one before Christmas. I didn’t actually need a new camera but given that I support capitalism and could make said purchase without debt I thought I’d go for it. I needed/wanted a sweet compact camera. I narrowed my choices down from the Sony RX100 (too expensive) Canon S110 (video lacking) and Panasonic LX-7. I chose the latter due to its video strength, middling price and rich feature set. It will be nice to tote this thing around instead of my DSLR, which I will one day upgrade as well. I love playing around with the color swap and miniature effects. The time lapse feature is really fun. A DSLR is an important tool to have if like photography but a compact camera is just more fun and convenient.
It’s rather odd that I would choose to buy a compact camera as I aspire to get photos into the micro stock photo sites. They won’t take most photos that aren’t taken with a DSLR. A small sensor compact like the LX-7 would make submission virtually impossible. But it’s not about that. I got it so I can take groovy video, and photos, when I go on vacation with the family. I grow weary of toting a DSLR and lenses around recording memories. There is a time and place for more polished photographic activity. Sneaking a camera onto Big Thunder Mountain roller coaster to record my kids in the seat behind me is more rewarding than trying to stage something for iStockPhoto.
Sorry to ramble about the camera purchase. I tire of assembling words about my online activities. Trying to game Google is a horrible way to try to collect coin. One month it’s video, the next its articles, the next it’s social, the next it’s local SEO. No thanks. If you want advice on that then the Warrior Forum can set you up with a myriad of exciting programs, ebooks and/or memberships (upsells galore!) to get you going. Perhaps you will find value in spending a few minutes reading about my life’s observations, MMO or not.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
That LX-7 is a really sweet camera. B&H photo has a stupid cheap sale on it, and I should have pulled the trigger and bought one.
@Fraser – It is. I finally unveiled it around my oldest last night. She loved it. So much so that she sold her Canon Powershot SX20IS…today! A damn fine camera but she wanted something more compact. I hope the price will drop for her but it looks like the deals are few and far between now and it will stay at $450.
I’m fed up with this IM stuff, I’m gonna do something different next time.
I’m just pleased I saved every cent that my HubPages and niche sites made. It turns out that it is enough money to allow me to quit my job, and go live in Asia for 3 years – maybe more if the Google gods are kind to me and my niche sites stick around for a bit longer.
Don’t waste your valuable money on iCrap people! Go do something really special with that hard earned cash.
As to cameras, my digital SLR is awesome, but I might be tempted to swap my Canon G10 compact for something more lightweight.