Ok, I'm just going to say this briefly. Wealthy bloggers sort of make me crazy. Yes, I would love to try your salmon recipe. Salmon has been off the grocery list for almost a year ($6.99 a pound!?!). I sure love the precious wooden toys made from renewable forest wood. But I won't pay $40 for them. Those are the cutest shoes ever, and quite a steal at $300. A tremendous amount of disposable income (and being able to justify $300 shoes) have never been part of my lifestyle. Some blogs are really like lifetyle magazines or Restoration Hardware catalogs: shiny representations of a sort of luxurious meta-world to which few Americans can likely relate.
Nicholson Baker describes the sort of scene one is likely to see in catalogs (and now catablogs, yes I just coined that term but it isn't that clever):
In one of the latest J. Crew catalogs, there is a literary interlude on page 33: a man in shorts and plaster-dusted work boots, sitting in a half-remodeled room — on break, apparently, from his labor of hammering and gentrifying — is looking something up in what close inspection reveals to be a Guide Bleu to Switzerland, probably from the forties, in French.
That's from his essay, "Books as Furniture" in The New Yorker, June 12, 1995.
3 comments:
I really need a friend like you here! I love the "catablog" new word -- does the OED pay for new words? (Oxford english dictionary)
Nearly everyone here is just a vocal catalog -- "Oh these shoes, just on sale for under 400"
Trent now has me watching men's fashion -- did you know there are prada shoes for MEN????
do you have a February school break like we do? I think you should come to New York City if you do. I happen to know the best free lodging available!
You have such a way with words--reading your writing is so enjoyable.
I have often wondered when looking at "catablogs" (surely this word will catch on--it's perfect!) who their audience is. I mean, are there really that many people out there who can afford $1,000 for a purse? Or a couple hundred for shoes? Who are these people and what are their occupations? Because, man, they must be totally loaded. Or totally in debt.
I love the J.Crew image. Who in the world would wear expensive (because yes, I consider J. Crew a bit expensive) clothes while doing manual labor? I would kill Bil if he wore his "nice" J.C. Penney's jeans while working on the house.
I agree with everything you wrote. I just have to point out, though, that the guy who pauses from his dirty remodeling project to read something hoity toity would be my dad. As expert with a hammer and nails as he is with a creme brulee, he somehow combines sweaty labor, such as working on cars, with random indulgences, such as reading about post-modern chair design.
But I get the point that most individuals are not very much like him. And I agree 100% that wealthy bloggers make me crazy. Especially if they seem totally unaware of their relative status.
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