prolific.org

Photographer Ken Rockwell has a section on his site ( Which I read for his excellent no nonsense photography reviews and articles.) called How to Afford Anything, answering the question how he is able to afford all his camera stuff.

He makes some good points. I don’t agree with a lot of what he says. I think his ‘don’t eat out’  and choosing off the dollar menu at fast food is infantile bordering on self-destructive. Good, healthy food is one of the great pleasures in life, to be enjoyed as often as possible.

Rockwell also states watching television makes you stupid and modern tv shows are all bad. I’m not going to go into that one, the same way I’m not going to touch his Mac-fetish. As for using coupons… the man says he’s got Scottish roots, but by golly, he might as well be Dutch.

No, I think money shouldn’t rot in the bank. It’s got to roll. But I liked his section on home owning. Too be able to afford his camera addiction, Rockwell lived in a ‘nasty’ condo until he moved into his wife’s house. He says ‘Don’t buy a big house’. Right on.

I get a lot of flak from members of my family who don’t understand why I live where I live, why I don’t spend money on improving my house, why I don’t move, why in nine years of owning the place I’ve only invested 3500 euro in renovating the balcony, have never done any paint jobs on it and haven’t spent a dime on furniture..

Instead, I spend everything I earn on computing, photography, travel, music, eating out and meeting friends. Things that make me happy. Me being the operative word. While my relatives for the last thirty years have put all their money in their house and garden, painting and re-painting, tiling, re-tiling, buying new chairs to fit with the new kitchen to fit with the new front room to fit with the new dining table and whatever the hell else they keep changing… I’ve gone and had and will continue to have a good time indulging my obsessions. So. fucking. there.

Thank god I’m not tight like Rockwell, though.

And damn him for bigging up the Nikon D40 so much now I, a Canonite, actually want to buy one.