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# Birch Bark Episode 17: Not Partaking in Black Friday
- URL: https://birchtree.me/blog/bb017/
- Published: 2014-12-02T07:32:00.000Z
- Updated: 2014-12-02T07:32:00.000Z
- Author: Matt Birchler
- Tags: #Import 2023-06-01 22:41, #Import 2025-03-29 19:29

![](http://birchtree.s3.amazonaws.com/banner.png)

It's easy to get caught up in the Black Friday hype each year. The thrill of the hunt and finding great prices on things you kinda, sorta want is addicitve, but I took this year off from the madness. I took stock of what I already had and realized that I'm perfectly content in most things. If you took part, that's totally fine, but it's important to know why we're buying things on this day.

Featured music this week is from [Germany Germany](http://grmnygrmny.bandcamp.com/?ref=birchtree.me), a solo electronic musician from Victoria, British Columbia. Yes, I know I keep featuring Canadian artists, but I swear it's just a coincidence! You can get all of his music for free from his [BandCamp page](http://grmnygrmny.bandcamp.com/?ref=birchtree.me), but throw a few bucks his way when you get an album, he deserves it.

Links discussed:

- [Steam is running "Exploration Sale"](http://store.steampowered.com/?ref=birchtree.me)
- [The National Retail Federation reports sales dropped from $57.4B to $50.9B](http://www.theday.com/national-business/20141202/no-need-to-panic-over-black-friday-sales?ref=birchtree.me)