Of The Amazon Effect
Wow. I recently recieved some gift certificates to Amazon.com, and gorged myself on some new video games. In doing so I found out that I could see all of my old orders through Amazon... and I do mean ALL of them.
It's pretty surreal, actualy. Through my purchases at Amazon.com I can see trends in my hobbies, my family and my friends. My first ever purchase from Amazon.com on my name wasn't even something I bought - my Dad bought me a late Christmas gift from my Wish List - a Lord of the Rings (Millenium Edition) boxed set. (Which, fyi, I have a rare version of, since one of the books is printed upside down.) I can see an explosion of hobbies in 2000, brought on by a higher pay grade and a higher paycheck. Dungeons and Dragon books, film noir and chopsocky movies, with some heraldry and calligraphy books thrown in to taste.
In 2001 I see where I had purchased some books about farming - rabbit farming in particular - in anticipation of leaving the Coast Guard and running away with the woman I was holding a torch for to lead a solitary life. After that there's an influx of gryphon and mythology books, marking the beginning of The Gryphon Pages.
2002 saw a lot of gifts and gift certificates sent to friends and family - practically nothing for myself.
I bought a Gamecube for Pepper and I in 2003, and I can see through Amazon.com how I complimented that purchase with some games and accessories, but not before buying some books on how to improve my writing.
I made no purchases in 2004 from Amazon.com - I was too busy getting settled in Corpus Christi and trying to manage my finances of being a new husband and pet owner.
In 2005, though, I was more settled down. I was trying to get back to my gaming roots, as seen by the purchase of Jadeclaw early in the year. That was also the year the movie Serenity came out, since I can see that I bought the Serentity Role Playing Game for myself, Kynekh as well as Stormdancer. :p
2006 was another sparse purchasing year, seeing only a smattering of games and a few gifts for the wife.
Apparently in 2007 I remembered that Amazon.com was great for gift-giving because apparently I bought all of my Christmas gifts for my friends and family from there.
Last year was more consistant than others, with a personal or gift purchase occuring every so often.
I guess I was just struck with a nostalgic cord, seeing all of those old purchases. Remembering how excited I was about certain hobbies, or to give old friends a particular gift. It's nice to remember.
It's pretty surreal, actualy. Through my purchases at Amazon.com I can see trends in my hobbies, my family and my friends. My first ever purchase from Amazon.com on my name wasn't even something I bought - my Dad bought me a late Christmas gift from my Wish List - a Lord of the Rings (Millenium Edition) boxed set. (Which, fyi, I have a rare version of, since one of the books is printed upside down.) I can see an explosion of hobbies in 2000, brought on by a higher pay grade and a higher paycheck. Dungeons and Dragon books, film noir and chopsocky movies, with some heraldry and calligraphy books thrown in to taste.
In 2001 I see where I had purchased some books about farming - rabbit farming in particular - in anticipation of leaving the Coast Guard and running away with the woman I was holding a torch for to lead a solitary life. After that there's an influx of gryphon and mythology books, marking the beginning of The Gryphon Pages.
2002 saw a lot of gifts and gift certificates sent to friends and family - practically nothing for myself.
I bought a Gamecube for Pepper and I in 2003, and I can see through Amazon.com how I complimented that purchase with some games and accessories, but not before buying some books on how to improve my writing.
I made no purchases in 2004 from Amazon.com - I was too busy getting settled in Corpus Christi and trying to manage my finances of being a new husband and pet owner.
In 2005, though, I was more settled down. I was trying to get back to my gaming roots, as seen by the purchase of Jadeclaw early in the year. That was also the year the movie Serenity came out, since I can see that I bought the Serentity Role Playing Game for myself, Kynekh as well as Stormdancer. :p
2006 was another sparse purchasing year, seeing only a smattering of games and a few gifts for the wife.
Apparently in 2007 I remembered that Amazon.com was great for gift-giving because apparently I bought all of my Christmas gifts for my friends and family from there.
Last year was more consistant than others, with a personal or gift purchase occuring every so often.
I guess I was just struck with a nostalgic cord, seeing all of those old purchases. Remembering how excited I was about certain hobbies, or to give old friends a particular gift. It's nice to remember.