From Bowl Cuts to Vodka Sodas: Becoming A Sellout and Loving It, Mostly

Fire on the Beach - San Diego - 2015

There are certain things that a money conscious mind has made me. Perhaps sell out is the wrong word, but close enough to the right word. I'm not here to put myself down for a couple paragraphs though, I'm here to tell you the perks of being a sellout.

1. I can't afford something like, oh I don't know, a Van Gogh original. Are there even any still available for sale? So instead of buying a poster for $29.99, I got a paint by numbers for $18 straight out of China. I've learned upon beginning it that in replicating a masterpiece, I am doing exactly the opposite of being artistic. Art isn't about staying in the lines, making sure you follow the number tutorial to the T. Art is about feeling and this activity has made me appreciate Van Gogh even more for his ability to create such an amazing piece of art without someone telling him what to do. Don't worry I'll share the finished product, theres just a lot of numbers in very small spaces and as we all very much know, I'm not Van Gogh.

2. I've also begun downloading samples of books on iBook instead of going to the book store, reading the back, then purchasing if it's cool with my mom and full of just the sort of thing I love to read. I don't have a kindle or tablet or anything that really makes downloading samples reader friendly, so instead I read portions of books on my phone like some caveman. A tablet for ants. But what I'm getting at is, although the author doesn't get anything from this sample they provide me with, it is just brilliant. I love being able to see if I like the style of writing, the characters, the plot, everything before I buy it. Its also terribly intriguing because whoever makes these samples knows exactly what you'll be dying to know and will be sure not to tell you it.

3. Lastly, I'm not entirely sure how this started, but I became very fed up that clothing wasn't ever exactly how I wanted it. I was getting weirdly upset that I would buy something only to wish it was slightly different. So I took to buying things all my little dudes in China made for me and every other person in the world because if I'm not going to love it, at least it'll be cheap. And then a passionate wave of "I will get what I want out of my wardrobe!" hit me (this is unusual, a passionate wave hitting me as well as me exclaiming anything) and I went to the thrift shop and decided to alter preexisting clothes to be just the piece I imagined. Not only do I love being able to customize things, its also such a great feeling to see that I took a size large tank top from a mom in 1995 and transformed it with the help of my grandmothers sewing machine. Accomplishments rock!

While this kind of became a story about me being poor, I didn't intend for that. These realizations just happen to come out of a search for a way to live how I want to live regardless of the income I have. Its so incredibly fun to take on activities and learn something new about yourself and the world around you. Who says you can't have things the way you want them and who says you can't make them that way yourself?

A couple of pictures I love from the film I just got developed.