If I am a discerning shopper, it is because of my mother.

She is the one who taught me how to touch fabric, leather, and paper, and how to recognize the differences in quality. It was my mom, in the grocery store who would encourage me to always choose vegetables and fruits in a smaller size as they would have a better flavor or sweetness.*

My mom applies her finely tuned sensibilities to every shopping endeavor whether she is looking for a house, a vacation destination, or a pair of shoes. And, in one of those odd, gaps in the brain that can result in genius, the cost of something never enters into her estimation of its value. Naturally, she is as delighted as the next person when it turns out that what she bought had been reduced in cost for whatever reason (sale, discontinuance, off-season, etc.), but that is always an added bonus, never the deciding factor.

Had she taught me nothing else, I would be well-equipped to navigate the terrain of a capitalist society.

I remember once, years and years ago, Tara and I were shopping in Harvard Square (NOTE: it was not then, nor is not now, a great place to shop) and she said to me, "I love how you never look at the price tag." Which isn't to say I don't have to know how much something costs before I can finalize a decision to buy--- it's just that I don't buy things strictly by price. And that is a difference. Whole industries have built up around the culture of buying by price-- Wal-Mart, Outlet Centers, etc. etc. etc which leads to stuff piling up in people's basements, garages and then the storage units they rent because they have so much fucking stuff they don't need or use but thank the Holy Roman Emperor-- it sure was cheap!

Okay.

THIS is why I do not recommend my blogging method. Sitting down in one go is sort of like jumping from a plane with a parachute strapped to your back. You think you know where you are going to land, you have a clear idea of where you want to land, many times you have hit the mark you were shooting for, and yet-- please explain (in 25 words or less) how you are now stuck in the branches of a tree, legs dangling wildly.

I did not sit down here to share my thoughts about people's consumer habits. I sat down to share some of my thoughts about this, my second experience of Artfest, but now I have to go jump in the shower and I've lost my train of thought.

In a nutshell-- it was different. And, more to the point, I am different.

As Lewis Carroll wrote-- "I could tell you of my experience," said Alice. "But that was this morning, and I was a different person then."

((You might wonder if I carry obscure quotes around in my head and the answer would be no-- I don't. The only reason this one is permanently tattooed on the inside of my skull is that when I applied to college this quote was all that I submitted to fulfill the personal essay requirement-- oh! I was so sassy!))

Gah-- must stop here. I promise to continue-- but as we leave early tomorrow for the trek home-- it might be a bit til I'm back. Til then--

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*As opposed to the decidedly American urge to buy the BIGGEST of everything. Of course, some vegetables are, by nature, quite large (I'm looking at you blue hubbard squash) so I trust you understand I am not talking about only choosing vegetables that are small.

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