Ho Ho Ho...

should be sHOp sHOp sHOp.

Tis the season for shopping for most people, but then the artist and the photographer aren't "most people".

I have a theory about shopping as opposed to buying.

Shopping is what women do. Women are the gatherers, so they wonder through shopping malls and department stores, oohing and aahing over whatever catches their eye. They are discerning about what items they will take home to the family cave. They must touch, smell, hold up, try on before a decision is made. Much of the time cost has little to do with a purchase. If it is the right color or shape, it is a "must have".

Men, on the other hand, are hunters. They have studied their prey. They know its habits and where it hangs out. Men know where they will be hunting before dawn breaks. Men walk into one store, determine in a glance which direction to move, spy the desired item on the shelf. Men don't need to try anything on, they rely on instinct not sizes. They are much less discerning than women. If it is close, it will do.

(I have a theory about television and remote controls that is similar to this hunter/gatherer; man/woman; shopping/buying stuff)

Now we come to my humans. Neither fit the typical scenario. They artist doesn't like to shop, at all, ever. And while the photographer doesn't really like to shop in the traditional sense, he does like to eBay, and spends a lot of time looking (very similar to shopping if you ask me) on eBay or the internet in general and is always delighted when he is able to snipe his prey.

Which leads me to my next shopping point. Do you realize how many different ways there are to shop/buy? You can go the traditional route at a brick and mortar store. You can shop from a catalog that came by traditional mail. You can shop on the internet in a variety of ways; Google something, go to a business website, view a business catalog on-line, eBay or a multitude of like-minded sites.

OR you can shop/buy in the comfort of your easy chair while watching television. All you need is a telephone and a credit card. Just link back into all those channels you blocked when you first set up the TV. There are all sorts of shopping channels out there just waiting for the shopper/buyer.

Not only do they offer you the "best deal ever" on things "you absolutely must have", but they often have a celebrity guest who created it right there and you might be the lucky person who calls in and gets to talk with them live on the air! Oh, and let us not forget flex or value pay, which is something akin to lay-away only you don't have to wait to get your stuff. What could be more fun than that?

Will this lead to the blurring of the shopping/buying lines? I don't think so.

A man will see three seconds of a shopping channel, his eyes will glaze over, his brain will dis-engage, and of he has the zapper, will immediately change channels in search of more interesting prey.

Love,
Buddy