Patronized, time warp and take a hike
Dear Rachel,
I believe in supporting artists. But I don’t know how to support artists now that everything is a subscription. I can recommend my friends buy a $10 album or a $20 book or a pricy piece of art. But these $5 a month arrangements add up. I feel like “spreading the word” is now like asking everyone to sign up for more MLMs, only you can’t ever cancel because you feel guilty for crushing a dream. Is there a better way?
– Burned Out Patron
Dear Five-Dollared and Dimed,
The problem isn’t creatives asking for $5 a month. The real problem is the big streaming companies asking for $20 a month and STILL showing me ads. If I’m paying any money, I don’t want extraneous advertisements. However, if the entertainment is free, please shop with our sponsors.
– Pluggin’ away, Rachel
Dear Rachel,
I just came back to Durango for a visit after moving abroad several years ago. Good to see you’re still around! So much in town has changed, yet so much is still the same. It gave me this weird sense of never having left, like I took a long nap and now my haunts have all been renovated. Is time really just an illusion?
– Intrepid Wanderer
Dear Prodigal Durangotang,
I remember one thing from philosophy class, and that’s “You can’t step in the same river twice.” The river changes, and so do you. I lied: I remember a second corollary thing. Some smart-ass philosopher retorted with “You can’t step in the same river once.” By stepping in, you change both yourself and the river. There. Now you have something to contemplate while sipping your first Mexi Logger in a few years.
– There and back again, Rachel
Dear Rachel,
It’s mid-June and I haven’t even gone for a hike yet this summer. But there’s work five days a week, and somehow the adulting has gotten more burdensome. By the time I do … not even all the things, but enough things to survive … I’m wiped out. I know I’m a Durango minority, choosing groceries over the outdoors. But I don’t see a better way forward (or out). Any sage advice?
– Housebound
Dear Overworked,
The worst prisons are those of our own making. Actually, the worst prisons are actual prisons. Then there’s the prisons our society builds. But there is hope for you: subscriptions. Monetize your chores! Livestream cleaning the house in your boxers (potentially sexy for all genders!) and maybe even get some people off by calculating the cost-per-ounce at the grocery store. Someday, if you’re lucky, you still won’t have time to hike, but you might be able to buy one more coffee each week.
– For the algorithm, Rachel
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