Hipstercrite - Part 2

Hipstercrite Life

To the Woman at the Diner, I Saw You

I saw you walk into the diner with your husband.

Your back tired from years of living; your face pointed to the ground.

I saw you walk into the diner and I thought to myself I don’t want to get old.

I don’t want to sit across from my love and sit in silence because I cannot hear, I cannot see.

I saw the cataracts floating in your quiet eyes.

I saw your knuckles rising like mountains through the terrain of your hands.

I saw the permanent scowl you never asked for.

I daydreamed about your life, your marriage, about the emptiness you might feel right now.

I watched you from over my love’s shoulder, sitting in silence, staring at the table, lost in your own thoughts.

I also watched as you picked up your straw and blew the wrapper into your husband’s face.

And I watched as you clapped your hands and laughed until tears formed in your no longer quiet eyes.

January 14, 2017 by hipstercrite

Writing

My 2017 Resolutions by Theodore Roosevelt

(This is my first McSweeney’s rejection. Please enjoy! No, really. Please enjoy it.)

——

My dearest 2017,

Your predecessor was a challenging year for both me and my country, and I aim to put 2016 to bed like the bear I shot through the eyes on my last trek to the wildness of Wyoming.

In order to move forward on my goals for a robust and cheerful 2017, I’ve compiled a list of resolutions to heed.

These resolutions are as follows:

1. Challenge that mollycoddle Mr. Trump to a grizzly bear-wrestling competition. Whoever wins will earn the coveted title of President of Earth. (No need to worry: What I lack in height I make up for in sheer man girth.)

2. Personally protect every goddamn National Park with my militia of mercenaries known as the Teddy Bears.

3. Free climb Mt. Rushmore and draw a black ring around the eye of that pansy Thomas Jefferson.

4. Host a dinner for the current members of the Republican Party where I will smack each of their whiny derrieres with my “big stick” — especially (more…)

January 12, 2017 by hipstercrite

Austin, Pop Culture

Small businesses you should support this holiday season

I have a lot of friends and acquaintances that are crafty and creative, and I wanted to share their products with y’all so you may consider them for your holiday gift list!

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For the Win Inc.

If you dig patches, pop culture, horror films & mythological creatures, check out For the Win Inc. ($1.99-$4.99)

TX Stitch

Check out these sweet embroidery patches & patterns from Kerissa at TX Stitch. ($1.25-$6)

JenniferHeartsArt

Jennifer over at JenniferHeartsArt makes an array of pop culture and feminist jewelry and artwork. ($4-$600)

Into Dust: The Thunderbird Chronicles

For the young adults (or adults) in your life, check out this young adult novel by Amy Quick (more…)

December 16, 2016 by hipstercrite

Hipstercrite Life

The End of the Year Seems Like a Good Time to Let Go of the Rage

I try to be a nice person.

When discussing controversial topics, such as the 2016 election, I ask questions so I can hear all sides of view.

I never say “F you!” to anyone, online or IRL.

When I don’t agree with someone, I smile, I listen and I try to understand.

All this means that I have a lot of mother-fucking rage built up.

After 12 months of trying to be a wholly empathetic person, it finally caught up with me, and now I’m going to release all my rage in this blog post.

To my fellow people on the left: Stop fucking attacking each other. We have bigger fish to fry than lambasting folks on our own side. You know how the right calls us delicate snowflakes and shit like that? It’s because we’re triggered by every goddamn thing and go on the offensive like it’s our job. Fighting for human rights IS our job; being a jerky-dick is not. When a fellow leftie criticizes the Democratic party, and any leader it, it doesn’t mean they’re a Trump-loving racist (more…)

December 12, 2016 by hipstercrite

Writing

What We Learned at Standing Rock: A Guide for Allies

Two weeks ago, four of us decided to drive to Standing Rock and deliver supplies to the water protectors and protestors of the Dakota Access Pipeline. We raised $3,500 in six days and filled two cars to the brim with milk of magnesia (for pepper spray in eyes), firewood, propane, sleeping bags, face masks, construction helmets and other supplies our contacts at the camp said they needed.

During our time there, we learned a great deal, particularly on how to be the best ally we can be. If you’re thinking of heading to Standing Rock or would like to support the movement in other ways, please read:

Ask Yourself Why You’re Going to Standing Rock

If you are going to Standing Rock for reasons other than dropping off supplies or offering skills such as direct action, legal or medical aid, food preparation or construction for an extended period of time, your presence might do more harm than good. Why? Because there are limited resources (more…)

November 29, 2016 by hipstercrite

Writing

We stand with Standing Rock.

Friends, Geoff and I decided last week that we will spend our Thanksgiving holiday dropping off supplies at Standing Rock and helping in any way we can for a couple of days.

Since announcing this last week, donations of supplies and money have poured in. Seeing friends and strangers come together to help the protestors of the Dakota Access Pipeline has given me hope during a time of uncertainty.

I will probably write about the journey on the blog, but if you’re interested in following our journey, please hit me up on Twitter and Instagram. I hope to share as much as possible about the fight of the protestors.

And if you’re interest in contributing in any way, please put a comment down below.

Excellent resources to follow during this time are:
Native Opinion
Native News Online
Indian Country Today Media Network
Sacred Stone Camp on FB
Democracy Now!

Water is life, y’all!

And the future is unwritten.

(As I write this, protestors are getting shot with water cannons (more…)

November 20, 2016 by hipstercrite

Writing

Now is a Great Time to Start Making Art

I’m currently reading the fantastic book Spain in Our Hearts: Americans in the Spanish Civil War by Adam Hochschild, and I can’t help but draw parallels to the Spanish Civil War and post-2016 election America.

The Spanish Civil War, 1936–1939, was a battle between fascism (Nationalists) and progress (Republicans). On the left, communists, socialists, anarchists, revolutionaries and artists banned together to fight oppression and conservatism. Their fight was hard, and ultimately ended in defeat (and the beginning of WWII), but their efforts inspired some of the greatest works in literature and art: Pablo Picasso’s Guernica, Ernest Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls and George Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia, the latter two writers both spending time in Spain during the war — Hemingway as a journalist and Orwell as a Republican fighter.

With the results of the 2016 election, I felt the urge to do something I haven’t thought about doing in a long time: to write a private diary. This diary (more…)

November 14, 2016 by hipstercrite

Writing

To friends and strangers who voted for Trump

I’m disappointed, but I will not berate you. Just please know that the results were upsetting not just for liberals, who you may or may not like, but it’s upsetting, and terrifying, for many women, people of color, immigrants, people with disabilities and individuals in the LGBTQ community–people you may know and love. Your support for Trump says that you do not respect or concern yourself with us, whether that was your intent or not.

November 9, 2016 by hipstercrite

Writing

The Little Bookshop in the Middle of the Desert

I saw the desert for the first time 12 years ago, from the window of my Ford Taurus as I relocated my life from Central New York to Los Angeles, California.

It’s inspired and terrified me ever since that day.

I enjoy waking up in the cool mornings of New Mexico or Arizona, seeing a technicolor landscape of cacti, mountains and big sky. I enjoy the Southwest’s mix of cultures, evident in the art, food, architecture and decor. I enjoy the sparseness of it all–the lack of people, the lack of pretentiousness, the ability to travel for miles without seeing a single structure made from man.

But during those hot, blistering days when cover is a rarity and the ground looks well-done, that is when I’m terrified. When I see the sharp edges of the desert’s foliage, the slithering of its snakes, the warnings of the various hardened animals that can only survive in a climate such as that, I’m in full freak out mode. But that fear keeps me coming back for more.

And that is why I find (more…)

November 7, 2016 by hipstercrite

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