keeping up with the jone$es

Transitioning from summer into fall with a breezy floral blouse buttoned-up underneath the more autumnal mustard knit and tweed...

(sweater: H&M; shirt/belt: Bargain Boutique; skirt: Goodwill; shoes: Seychelles; nail polish: American Apparel)

The other night, K and I watched another Redbox gem, "The Jone$es," which I actually thought was rather timely and clever. It's a modern twist on the old catchphrase "Keeping up with the Joneses," which [fun fact!] originated in 1913 when a fellow named Arthur R. Momand penned a comic strip of the same name:

(source)

*SPOILER ALERT* In the film, a perfect nuclear family (the Joneses) moves into an enormous tudor mansion in an affluent suburban neighborhood and immediately infiltrates (and corners the market on) the "cool" sector of the community. They have all the newest gadgets, all the most fashionable clothes, and a picture-perfect life. As the story progresses, we discover that this "unit" is not a flesh-and-blood family, but a sales team--designed to push a variety of products on their unknowing neighbors with constant product placement and viral word-of-mouth advertising. And it works! As the indie-funk new girlfriend of the teenage "son" remarks, "You've been here two months and everybody's already drinking your Kool-Aid!" It was refreshingly clever--a creative portrayal of our current possession-obsessed consumer culture that had me nodding all the way through. I like these new movies (Up in the Air is another good example) that explore an attempt (and failure) to de-humanize us, to strip away the very best natural human qualities (compassion, love) and create a corporate robot that lives for the benefit of some economic coup (saving money, making money).

I just thought it was interesting, especially in lieu of recent blogger debates re: sponsorship and trend-chasing. It's like we've unwittingly signed up to inspire each other to consume, and a lot of bloggers are struggling with that. I think it's rather fascinating. Since fashion has always been a part of life (even ancient peoples liked to accessorize!), I don't feel like it falls under the same category as technological gadgets or other trendy toys. Fashion has a comforting cyclical quality, and there are always classic pieces that will never go out of style, whereas technology is all about abandonment and transience--just when we catch up (with the Joneses), they've moved on to the next big thing (case in point: in the film, Mr. Jones inspires his bankrupt neighbor to buy a fancy sports car identical to his, only to get the newer model a few weeks later) and we're left wanting once again. Last week, Tavi wrote an (always) amusing post about this very problem. What do you think? Will we even stop consuming? Will Apple ever plateau? Will we ever be able to keep up with the Joneses? Do you think we've been sucked into a neverending vortex of leapfrogging newer, better versions of the same products? I feel like I've accidentally merged onto some frenetic freeway and I just have to keep driving faster and faster around sharper and sharper curves until my car explodes (which it inevitably would--it's not the newest model). You know?

brains

I was reading this article in the New York Times this morning about the way our brains have adapted (or tried to adapt) to the new technologies in our lives, and it was disheartening. I despise technology--there, I said it. I despise social networking sites, I despise all-in-one gadgets, I despise video games, and I have a very love/hate relationship with my easy access to information. I don't hate the fact that I can read the NYT online, but it turns me into a clicking machine and I don't absorb as much as I might if I were interacting with a physical newspaper over a cup of coffee in the morning. This is probably because I am usually multi-tasking: work on one screen, news on the other. I use it as a kind of brain exercise to keep my mind intellectually engaged while I perform monotonous tasks for the sake of a paycheck. And I can't help but think, This is not the life I want. This is not the world I want to live in.

It's difficult to find a balance. But more and more I'm discovering that I don't want to balance. I just don't even care anymore. I want to bend my mind around information the old-fashioned way--by reading books (with actual pages) and having discussions with real people, face-to-face (instead of through g chat or text messaging). My life was so much more full when I lived in the world, when I trained my eyes on my environment, rather than some sort of screen. I honestly believe that my parents are still happy after twenty-five years of marriage because they only have dial-up internet, a land-line phone, and (ok, now, satellite TV--but they didn't until I was in middle school!).

And, more and more, as I am subjected to the constant stream of information and inspiration and the side-effects (anxiety, envy, insufficiency) of that over-stimulation, I just want to escape the world of technology so that I can experience and appreciate the world of reality. My dream life: take a trip around the world, then settle in a remote location by the ocean (or a lake, if I must) and just live. I know I won't be able to settle down until I see as much as it is possible for me to see in the world, so this is my plan:

1. Pay off debt.

2. Save money.

3. Save more money.

4. GO!

It may take a few years, but I am going to make it happen--mark my words! Can that possibly be too much to ask? I don't need to make millions of dollars, I don't need to have piles of stuff, I don't even need to buy fancy designer shoes! All I want is to see the world and live a naturally-stimulating life, surrounded by people I love. The experiences we have and the people we share them with are all that matter in this life--I don't see how two people (who supposedly love each other) can even have a relationship when they spend all of their time tapping away at individual ipads over breakfast or texting their friends during a dinner date (if you want to talk to someone other than who you're with--do it! Stop passive-aggressively nancying around on your cell phone!). I know I don't want that. But maybe that's just me.