Losing My Perspicacity December 2, 2024

Good Morning and Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a relaxing and joyous holiday weekend. My family is still existing in the uncomfortable space of celebrating holidays without my dad (today is the second anniversary of the day he died), which is how I wound up with 20 people at my house, but we had a great time, even if seating in front of the Bears-Lions game was limited and Matt Eberflus inexplicably blew the final 32 seconds. At least he got fired for it.

I’ve been thinking and reading a lot about consumerism and capitalism lately, and while I will recommend that everyone watch the Netflix doc “Buy Now!” because the topic is so important, I also want to point out that the studio that made it, Grain Media, reportedly cut some creators out of the finished product, despite relying heavily on their work, so please do what you can to support Aja Barber’s Patreon and her book, Consumed, as well as Dr. Brett Staniland, both of whom gave their time and expertise to a film that ultimately excluded them from the final cut, the debut, and compensation for their time.

The film that really jolted me into giving up fast fashion and anything in the world I wanted from Amazon was Brandy Hellville and the Cult of Fast Fashion, which showed, in horrifying detail, where all those clothing items there are only meant to last for a year or so wind up. It’s mainly along the coast of Ghana. Trust me when I tell you that the images in the doc itself are even worse than what you’ll see below.

I’ll admit, seeing that film coincided with me realizing my entire household has too much “stuff” and that we could probably pare it down by a third and still have everything we’d ever need. That led me to an affinity for Facebook Marketplace because I don’t want to keep buying new, cheaply-made items that aren’t usable after a few years and wind up in the trash. I’m also untangling most of my reading from Kindle Unlimited and moving to apps that allow me to borrow books from my local library and still read on my iPad on the treadmill.

Considering who the money we spend has been contributing to as of late (Zuckerberg, Musk, Bezos, etc.), I am thrilled to try to put the “reduce, reuse, recycle” mantra into better practice, especially given how these billionaire supervillains are affecting our politics and our quality of life. I’m happy to report that Black Friday saw me reupping a few of my higher-end toiletry products that were on sale (those of you with curly hair know what I mean) and leaving the rest to the masses.

If you watch Brandy Hellville or Buy Now!, I’d love to hear your thoughts. I’m trying to set up a feed on Threads for those of us trying to withdraw our funds from Amazon and Jeff Bezos, so if you have any tricks or tips, please send them my way!

Today: The unbeatable San Jose State Women’s Volleyball Team, made dangerous and invincible by the inclusion of a trans woman who has been on the team for three years, loses at the Mountain West Tournament; Saudi Arabia’s sportswashing of its image is a huge success; Gregg Wallace is why women are swearing off of men; Former Cubs exec finally comes clean, and The High Note.

Let’s get into it.