Fashion/Design

Fashion: Too Damn Hot to Wear Suits

I truly hate this time of year in Austin. My sense of fashion flies out the window. Hats, scarves, cardigans- everything I love I can not wear unless I want to melt like this playground here:

source

I’m from the North so my idea of fashion involves layers. I like sleek, tailored and imaginative. Actually, I really just like wearing suits. Full-on dude’s suits. Been wearing them since I was a little girl. Probably the first time I realized I loved wearing suits was the day I dressed as Rod Serling for no reason. It felt so good to put on a jacket and tie and impersonate my writing hero. Serling always looked so cool and collected up on the TV screen and that’s how I wanted to look.

This sounds like the beginning of a Born This Way blog post, the day I realized when I was a boy trapped in a girl’s body, but alas, it’s not that interesting. I just really like suits. Love them. Love the way they look on me and other women. I don’t just fancy suits either- ties, bowties (more…)

August 16, 2011 by
20-Something

The MetroMillennial Dilemma

I just made up a word: MetroMillennial. It means a Generation Y-er who lives in a big city or has big city hopes and goals.

I’m a metromillennial. I was born in 1983 in a small town in Upstate New York. I always knew I wanted to live in New York City (which I never have). My family raised me to be curious about the world, to dream big, and to not let the confines of our small town hold me back.

Because of this, I left my small town at the first opportunity I had. I moved to LA seven years ago, then Austin three years ago, and I’ve never lived in my small town again.

I’ve felt guilty ever since.

If you are a metromillennial typically your big city trek takes you far from home (unless you’re one of those enviable breeds born in a big city and stayed). I came from an area of the country that is economically depressed and subsequently emotionally depressed. Regardless of if I wanted to live in a big city or not, if I wanted to have a semi-decent quality of life and desirable career– (more…)

August 12, 2011 by
Music, Pop Culture

Kanye Ain’t Got Shit On Otis: The Epic Lives and Deaths of Soul Singers

I wasn’t able to write a new post for today, but I wanted to revisit a post I wrote last year about the deaths of famous soul singers. I’ve been thinking a lot about Otis Redding lately after I discovered that Kayne West and Jay-Z sampled the singer on his new album, Watch the Throne. Buzz is circulating around the to-be-released-this-evening music video of the song “Otis“. Which as I’m reading right now actually as no mention of Otis Redding in the lyrics, but rather talks about cigars, champagne, private jets, and supermodels.

Yesterday, I got all up in Kanye’s junk after declaring that Otis is an untouchable and upstarts like Kanye should not mess with his shit. This statement was mostly met with agreement, but a few people defended Kanye. They suggested that sampling is an art form and should be respected. Though I’m an appreciator of all arts- and I will include sampling as an art form, albeit one that I have mixed feelings on- I still think Otis Redding is the sort of musician (more…)

August 11, 2011 by
Writing

I Need A Blog Mentor

I wish I had a blog mentor.

Someone who can tell me if I’m making the right decisions in regards to my almost-complete blog redesign. Someone who can tell me what blog resources I’m missing out on.
Someone who can tell me which of my content sucks ass and which one shines.

Blogging seems easy enough that you wouldn’t need someone to hold your hand, but I so desperately want to be coddled.

There are three types of bloggers in this world- A.) people who use their blog as a means of expression with little to no concern of traffic B.) people who blog every day and care about their traffic C.) people who end up viewing their blog as a small business- whether it be for monetary value or brand value.

I fall into category B. I never wanted to be that person that closely watched their analytics each day. It’s added a thin but nonetheless real level of anxiety to my life. My blog started out like category A for a very long time. My blog got about ten hits a day and they were all from (more…)

August 10, 2011 by
Film, Pop Culture

Where My Favorite 80’s Characters Are Nowadays

The other day I came across a post on the ever-so-clever Flavorwire imagining what our favorite 80’s teen characters are doing these days. I wish I thought of the post first, but I didn’t, so the best I can do is copy it pay homage to it.

When I was a little girl, I sat alone thinking by myself a lot because a.) I was an only child and b.) I lived on a street filled with blue-haired folk. Because of this, I fantasized a lot about my favorite movie characters. Specifically Dennis Quaid’s character in InnerSpace (not sure why considering he was about 1 millimeter tall) and Indiana Jones. Oh, and Doc Brown. I used to imagine what sort of future we’d all have together as one big happy polyamorous family. But those days are long gone. We know what happened to Indiana Jones. He got old and made a SHITTY MOVIE ABOUT ALIENS AND CRYSTALS.

This doesn’t mean I haven’t been left curious about some of my favorite 80’s characters from time to time (and neither has Hollywood since they’re probably (more…)

August 9, 2011 by
Hipstercrite Life

Last Night

Sitting across the room from him, writing, listening to the consonance of alt-country, thinking how one day I hoped for a moment like this. How I used to write about the faceless passenger who rode beside me, out into the desert at night, the top down, thinking how there was nothing more beautiful than this. These thoughts converged as your face became clearer.

Sitting here thinking whether or not I’m a good daughter, if I should live closer to home, if I should not feel guilty about the impending leap I’m about to take. That will make me more hyper-focused than I’ve ever been.

I spoke with her earlier on the phone and I could tell she was bored. She recited the entire contents of a magazine she picked up in Walmart. A magazine featuring all the places one should visit in America. She deserves to go to all of those places. She deserves to do it sooner than later. Because life is short, right? And that is what I keep telling myself about the impending leap I’m about to take.

Sitting (more…)

August 8, 2011 by
Hipstercrite Life

Jewishness

I am a Jew.
A non-practicing Jew.
One of those people that is- according to Judaic Law- Jewish, but yet has only participated in one mind-numbing Seder her entire life. The sort of person who really loves telling people she’s Jewish because she feels that it will help explain certain characteristics and because being part of the Jew Club is cool. Woody Allen? Gene Wilder? The Marx Brothers? They’re my peeps.

My grandmother grew up with her Orthodox Jewish grandmother and after a few years she was like, “f that”. So when she gave birth to my mom, she raised her Barely Christian. Then I came along and that Barely Christian turned into Notta Christian and I’ve been wandering around spiritually aimless for the past 28 years. When you’re young, this doesn’t really matter to you. You think you and everyone you love is immortal. As you start to get older and more jaded, you’re like, “Fuuuuuck, I am going to die. I better figure out where I’m going, otherwise this could get really depressing.”

I’ve (more…)

August 5, 2011 by
Film, Hipstercrite Life

Coming of Age in Hollywood

my first year in Hollywood

On my blog, I’ve only mentioned a few times that in a previous life I was a personal assistant in Hollywood.
And as I also stated in that post, I don’t talk about that time often because of the a.) WMD-sized confidentiality agreements that loom over my head and b.) because I value a person’s right to privacy. I worked for people who trusted me and I will never break that trust.

I often forget that I was a personal assistant in Hollywood. Occasionally people will ask me my story- where I came from before Austin- and I’m reminded that the Hollywood part of my life was a very big part for 5 years. 5 years in 28 years of a life is, well, I’m terrible at math, let’s see here, a little over a fifth of my life? One day it will be an eighth, then a sixteenth, and then I’ll be dead.

I’m sad that I’m slowly forgetting this important time in my life. Or rather, forgetting the emotions I felt at the time. Like the day that I was asked to work for (more…)

August 3, 2011 by
Writing

How to Survive Your Twenties

Last week I wrote a post about how self-help/how-to lists are often written by people completely unqualified to tell you how to live your life.

This week, I’m writing a self-help/how-to list about surviving your 20’s.

Hey, my blog is not called Hipstercrite for shits and giggles.

I’m not even finished with my twenties, so I’m certainly not the best person to heed advice from, but I’ve come across many articles about how to survive your 20’s and I think they’re full of crappola. Most of the articles will say something like, “Find balance” blah blah blah. Well, that’s bullshit. You’re going to be a basket case of questions and worries and imbalance for a good chunk of your 20’s. The best you can do is try not to let yourself go insane.

Looking back on my 20’s, no amount of advice or wisdom from others was going to prevent me from making the choices I did. I was going to do what the hell I wanted to do, but looking back, I certainly learned a lot from my mistakes and wished maybe I at least (more…)

August 1, 2011 by
20-Something

How to Survive Your Twenties

Last week I wrote a post about how self-help/how-to lists are often written by people completely unqualified to tell you how to live your life.

This week, I’m writing a self-help/how-to list about surviving your 20s.

Hey, my blog is not called Hipstercrite for shits and giggles.

I’m not even finished with my twenties, so I’m certainly not the best person to heed advice from, but I’ve come across many articles about how to survive your 20s and I think they’re full of crappola. Most of the articles will say something like, “Find balance” blah blah blah. Well, that’s bullshit. You’re going to be a basket case of questions and worries and imbalance for a good chunk of your 20s. The best you can do is try not to let yourself go insane.

Looking back on my 20s, no amount of advice or wisdom from others was going to prevent me from making the choices I did. I was going to do what the hell I wanted to do, but looking back, I certainly learned a lot from my mistakes and wished maybe (more…)

August 1, 2011 by