My Entertainment Dollars

11-10-09 My Entertainment Dollars

So, yesterday I spoke of the record stores in L.A. that attract my entertainment dollars. I also like to spend money at book stores – but there’s really aren’t very of them left here! And we don’t really go to movies anymore – for a variety of reasons (difficult parking, the popcorn smell, not interested in many / any new movies etc).

I get emails from out of area music vendors, and sometimes they get my entertainment dollars – Wayside Music, for instance. Once in a blue moon, I order from amazon.co.uk – when it’s a book / CD title I am not likely to find stocked anywhere here. I get weekly emails from Boo Boo Records in San Luis Obispo and from Rhino Records Claremont. I am, however, much more likely to spend my entertainment dollars “in store” with these businesses – rather than “on-line”.

So, where does my entertainment dollar go? I subscribe to Strange Days Magazine from Kinokuniya book store in downtown Los Angeles. When I go to pick up my latest Strange Days issue from them, I sometimes buy Record Collectors Magazine (the Japanese magazine, not the UK magazine). I sort of gave up buying British music magazines (Mojo, Record Collector, Word etc). I used to buy them all the time, but now – there has to be an article I want to read, before I will consider buying these magazines, usually at Vroman’s book store in Pasadena.

And neither Dorothy or I have cable TV. Pay for TV? You must be joking!

We’ve seen a few live shows this year, so the Hollywood Bowl has claimed some of our entertainment dollars. Hey, it was so worth it to see Grace Jones! But live shows are expensive these days. Not uncommon for it to cost more than $100 for us to see someone play live (frequently closer to $200!)

We like to travel, so I guess I should consider my gasoline expenses as “Entertainment dollars”. Plus, when you visit an outlying community, you might spend some cash, too. I suppose I should consider eating in restaurants as spending my “Entertainment dollars”. Guess that’s where most of my extra cash goes these days. Entertaining food!

I try to save money, but…not always an easy thing to do. Thank goodness I have health insurance via my work! I do not think I will ever consider money spent on my health to be my “entertainment dollars” – though I certainly know people who do!

Try reading the Alan Watts book “Does It Matter?” and see if it changes the way you consider doing stuff, spending your money etc. It’s a rather unusual and interesting book. But…entertainment? Perhaps not.

- Ron