My Material World

    Books! I have a lot of books. Rough estimate is 250. They take up a lot of room.

These are some of my favourite books, all of which I've read multiple times

I love my iPod touch and rarely go anywhere without it, mostly because I get bored without my music

This is a Venetian mask I bough in Italy and it reminds of my trip every time I look at it.

I found my favourite comfy chair on the side of the road for free years ago.

The family iMac is awesome but it sucks up way to much of my time

I put 3 months of my time and energy into making this Cowichan sweater and to me it makes it the most valuable piece of clothing I own.

Some other hand-made creatures that I put a lot of time into. They always make me smile.

A cheap necklace from Mexico that has high sentimental value to me because it belonged to my mom. 

My dog, who I begged for so much as a seven year old. 

I love hiking and camping and my back pack has served me well over the years. 

My house is full of old, interesting things like phonographs, stereoscopes, and this telephone.

      When I started looking for things to photograph, I quickly realized I had too much stuff that had very little value to me. I realized quickly that the things that mean the most to me are the ones that either I've made, or that other people have made/bought for me. If someone makes something for me, it's going to be special to me because I appreciate the effort they put into it. Books are probably the first thing someone would notice when they walk into my room, and they're something I don't mind spending money on. My iPod is almost always attached to me, though my phone is not. I don't care that it's over 3 years old, as long as it plays music I don't need something newer. I would rather spend my money on materials to make a sweater than buy a sweater and I would rather save up to buy new camping equipment than a new phone. Yes, I think I am part of the youth consumer culture, but I try to buy things that are going to give me enjoyment beyond the physical product. Over the years there are lots of things that I've bought because of advertising or other media influences, but those are rarely products which I value for a long period of time.

"Cool" Music

        The article "Why the Old-School Music Snob is the least cool guy on Twitter" talks about just how much music culture has changed in the last decade alone. It used to be that knowing about obscure music was cool, and people were so snobbish about it all. The thing is, like almost every other aspect of our lives, the internet has changed all that. Anyone can know anything about any artist at the click of a button, so the "knowledge guardians" as the author calls them, are no longer needed.
       The thing that the author, and so many people, have a problem with is that they have to share what they thought of as their tastes with the rest of the world. The author realizes this is pointless and snobbish, but knowing that everyone else might love his tastes just as much as him makes him feel insignificant and unoriginal. I find these lines really interesting: "Like friendship, taste should be somewhat exclusive. If everybody is friends, then no one is, really. The same applies to being fans of Arcade Fire." The author has a point and perhaps the fact that everyone likes something makes it less meaningful to some. But would you not be friends with someone just because a lot of other people were also friends with them? It would seem completely ridiculous and to me that's what music snobbery is. Then again, liking something just because everyone else likes it is also ridiculous.
     The author acknowledges that the way we share music now is in many ways better than it was before. Talented artists get the recognition they deserve, and I like how easy the internet makes it for unknown artists to be discovered. I think they point that the author doesn't touch on is that secretly we all  want to jealously guard that obscure song or unknown book and believe it will be "ruined" if it becomes popular.
    Taste in books, movies, and music is all about personal expression, which is why people resent liking something popular. It reminds people that they're not as unique as they thought they were. I try to look at it from a different point of view. To me, the aforementioned aspects of popular culture are less about the actual content and more about what that content means to each person. That song, movie or book is still going to mean the same thing to me no matter how many people like it. Thoughts, memories, opinions, and emotions make an individual, not their tastes. For me it's about the emotions that song evokes or the memories that a book conjures up. That is what makes those things mine.