Weekends!

Every so often (like the duration of grad school) I forget why weekends are so grand. Not this time, though. I've had a series of fine fin de semanas and this one is no exception.

Yesterday was the twice-monthly holiday called payday, and I spent it spending my meager salary in drips and drops all over town. $70 to get my neutral safety switch replaced, $40 on beer for gallery night at Arts Collinwood, a couple hundred on framing of some art I've acquired in various ways over the last little while (including a painting by James Grand I'm really excited about, an intaglio print gift from Ducky, and a great pop-art print of Frank Jackson done up in Warhol style by local artist Jason Byers), a haircut by my super awesome hair-cutter Andrea at Fast Eddy's, various reading material at Mac's Backs, $50 on gesso, acrylic paint, and new brushes at the art supply store on Coventry, and a little bit on a pair of pieces from the Sans Oceana opening at Shoparooni and a couple new cds from Music Saves (the new Black Lips and The Pains of Being Pure At Heart albums - both of which are coming through the Beachland in coming weeks). Not to mention a few bucks here and there at about a half-dozen different cafes and gas stations for my coffee fixes.

So, long story short, my paycheck was recycled (quickly) through the local commercial districts. That's how it is supposed to be, of course, and the best part is, there were super cool and helpful folks taking my money at every turn. The gal at Utrecht saved me from making a totally boneheaded brush selection, Kevin from Music Saves filled me in on the Pure at Heart ones after unsuccessfully searching for another album (Women) that he said was so awesome I had to get it, and Steve at Shoparooni again proved his excellent eye and heart for local great art. Even the folks at places I didn't end up buying anything were super cool, like the dudes at Brigade who always remember you from the last time, even if it was a few months ago.

Anyway, people here in these great stores we all like to tell our friends about and patronize from time to time are good people. They work hard, do good work, and bring cool things into our lives in ways we either take for granted or don't even notice. For example, the efforts Kevin and Melanie make to sponsor cool Beachland shows and that Steve-arooni makes to support local artists and put cooler shit that you'd otherwise find in your home for jaw-droppingly incredible prices. So go spend some money there. Stop buying your music on itunes and purchase a cd. You can still rip it to your computer. Don't buy a wall print from Urban Outfitters - go get something incredible from someone around here at places like Shoparooni or Asterisk or Doubting Thomas. Print out your amazon wish list and order a couple things instead from Visible Voice or Mac's - the price will be about the same. It isn't hard to do, and it helps these places stay open. Otherwise we might instead be telling our friends, I totally wish that one place was still around - I used to go there all the time ...

I take a lot of crap from a few different people for being such a "buy local stuff from local vendors" person but whatever - it is what I try to do. And really, you should too. Much better to put your money in you neighbor's pocket than in some bank account overseen by some suit on the 45th floor of some office building far away from Cleveland.