Frenzy

This whole multi-colored blog entry thing is probably going to get pretty annoying, but fuck it--it's my blog and I'll do what I like. It's not like anyone I know is reading this.

A couple of entries back I mentioned that since I arrived in the U.S. I've had this overwhelming need to buy shit. Some of its shit I don't need but really want (like cool argyle socks), and some is shit I actually do need,like clothes. You see, I look like a bum wearing the stuff I wore in Ukraine--you try hand washing all your clothes for two years in really bad brown colored water and see what it does to your Gap stretch pants.

Nevertheless, I'm starting to feel guilty about shopping. Aren't I suppose to be better than all this insane consumerism around me? Is marketing in the U.S. so mesmerizing that it can lure even the most resistant of us in? I'm usually so good at seeing through marketing and advertising campaigns. Before I left for Peace Corps I never gave into this shit. I never bought CDs (I've bought 2 in the last week) or clothes (even when I needed them like I do now). If I had a weak spot for anything it was books.

So should I feel guilty? Or do I just give in and buy all the stuff I think I need: a new digital camera, a Dell computer (for grad school, if I get in), boots, more jeans and shirts, a few more CDs, and, of course, books, books, books? Will it really make me that much happier? Do I really need all this shit?