'a carpet of flowers... the abyss beneath'

 'a carpet of flowers... the abyss beneath'

- louis philippe, comte de ségur.

thrift a life/ book pilled is reminiscing about his job before the clothing reselling (thrifting). he's visited his old place of business at a writing mill  ('4 years down the tube'). they send them all to work from home. he starts to double job, he starts thrifting on the side. eventually they fire him and the fact that it's not 'all your eggs in one basket' gives him some  'locus of control'.

the reselling is more 'tangible' and 'immediate'  versus the 'corrosive malaise' of bullshit work.

and now he's escaped the thrifting itself  into 'meta-thrifting' (advising people on how to thrift) and into more what he wants to do - you tubing/ travelling/  book reselling. he's back in san diego after six months in mexico. where next for our intrepid explorer? 

following on from matt's adventures in the world of clothing and books reselling we have a perfectly good article on 'degrowth' (make do and mend, knit your own and er. clothing reselling). but you've got to love the guardian/ observer (they have this absolutely perfect (s)elective blindness...)

'meanwhile, people are still facing severe financial struggles, with 1.8m UK households – almost 3.8 million people – reporting having suffered destitution at some point in 2022, according to the joseph rowntree foundation.'

so grauniad it's not so much people too principled for consumption but 3.8 million people too poor for it!

'a KPMG survey found that two-thirds of UK consumers planned to cut discretionary spending this year.'

but hey non-consumers! remember your under consumption is young, aspirational, hip, groovy and happening...

so how was it for matt? endless hours listing. dancing at the whims of the platforms. back and neck problems. trouble with inventory. dead stock. strange slowings down. poverty and homelessness nipping at his heels. 

 'a carpet of flowers... the abyss beneath'

horsemouth is two and a half years into his redundancy/ retirement. it doesn't feel too bad.  survival requires him to dip his savings (such as they are). he's been on holiday from it for the last six months or so. next week back to the wen to check out the financials and meet and greet. 

saturday  evening -  folk horror themed shows on radio 4extra. two walks today both up on the common. both via the fussell bench. his mum claims there is something on at 9. 

sunday - possible zoom beers with howard.