1 - A poem
2 - A request
3 - A discussion
The Poem
So, since you listen to Wait..Wait... Don't Tell Me, you are probably already aware of this, but apparently Dimitri Martin is a fan of palindromes. So much so, he wrote a 244-word palindromic poem. And frankly it's pretty incredible and I knew you would appreciate it:
"Dammit I'm Mad"
Dammit I’m mad.
Evil is a deed as I live.
God, am I reviled? I rise, my bed on a sun, I melt.
To be not one man emanating is sad. I piss.
Alas, it is so late. Who stops to help?
Man, it is hot. I’m in it. I tell.
I am not a devil. I level “Mad Dog”.
Ah, say burning is, as a deified gulp,
In my halo of a mired rum tin.
I erase many men. Oh, to be man, a sin.
Is evil in a clam? In a trap?
No. It is open. On it I was stuck.
Rats peed on hope. Elsewhere dips a web.
Be still if I fill its ebb.
Ew, a spider… eh?
We sleep. Oh no!
Deep, stark cuts saw it in one position.
Part animal, can I live? Sin is a name.
Both, one… my names are in it.
Murder? I’m a fool.
A hymn I plug, deified as a sign in ruby ash,
A Goddam level I lived at.
On mail let it in. I’m it.
Oh, sit in ample hot spots. Oh wet!
A loss it is alas (sip). I’d assign it a name.
Name not one bottle minus an ode by me:
“Sir, I deliver. I’m a dog”
Evil is a deed as I live.
Dammit I’m mad.
The Request
So, the weather in the high rockies is finally starting to warm up. Consequently, I am starting to break out the warm weather clothes and I am finding that I am lacking. Most everything I have has holes, stains, or some other dysfunction. Now, seeing how you so delicately told me that I am "stuck in the ninties" I thought I should hold off on buying new summer clothes until I can safely travel through time to the present. So, I would like to ask you to please tell me what warm weather clothes I can and should wear in this bold new future of ours.
The Discussion
I've had this discussion with a couple people and I would like to get your thoughts on it:
Hipsters - Love them? Hate them? Ambivelence? Indifference?
Ok first part of the discussion will be about hipsters. I am a wanna-be hipster so I kind of love them. But, I think the word 'hipster' is general and can mean lots of things. It's funny though, a friend of mine who went to and now works at, this liberal arts college said something funny, she said, "we're all so into being different that we all kind of look the same." Which I think is a very true statement. But back to hipsters. To me, hipsters, or the hipster I want to be, is someone who is above (or below, however you want to say it) the mainstream media. They don't follow those trends whether they be about music or movies or pop culture, they look somewhere else. Wasn't it Thurston Moore who said, "People see rock and roll as, as youth culture, and when youth culture becomes monopolized by big business, what are the youth to do? Do you, do you have any idea?
ReplyDeleteI think we should destroy the bogus capitalist process that is destroying youth culture." To me that's a hipster. But I could be off. Thoughts?
That is also the introduction to an awesome Radio Dept song... FYI
ReplyDeleteMy friend led me to this: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Hipster
ReplyDeleteit clears up what a hipster might be...
Note: This is me after having written the lengthy epistle you find below. As you can see, it’s a doozy, so maybe you should get a cup of tea and sit in a comfortable chair. Oh though I don’t think much of hipsters (as you’ll soon find out), I do still think very highly of you. Without further ado, here’s my “comment:”
ReplyDeleteI have to admit to being a bit more cynical about the hipster movement than you are. I view the whole thing with a combination of interest, annoyance, and mild amusement. And yes, that sounds very condescending, but I can’t help but feel a little like, “Oh, those hipsters. They’ll get over themselves some day.” And yet, I have to admit to feeling a certain conflicted affinity for them.
Here’s the thing; I feel like your description of hipsters (which was embellished in the Urban Dictionary to the point of making me throw up a little in my mouth) is exactly what hipsters want people to think of them and what they think of themselves. Don’t get me wrong, most all of the things listed in there are good things, and are things I value and seek after in my own life . However, I don’t think that particular laundry list of interests is really what defines hipsterism. There are a lot of non-hipsters out there that can relate to that list. A lot of people living outside of the mainstream. Rather, I think you got closer to a definition when you said “I’m a wannabe hipster.” I think being a hipster has much more to do with wanting to be something than actually being it. Hipsterism isn’t defined by its open mindedness or unconventional fashion or the fact that they’re “vintage;” those are all just byproducts of what truly unites them: their never ending, and all consuming, desire to be on the cutting edge of “cool.” They’re all wannabes. They’re all trying so hard to not only fit their own definition of cool, but more importantly to make for damn sure that we all know how cool they are.
That’s why I just have to laugh at them, and also why I find them so fascinating. Hipsterism is the world’s first social movement that has no cause outside of itself. There is no political agenda, there’s no civil or social oppression they are fighting. It’s basically just one big pissing contest. “Winning” for hipsters doesn’t involve the passing of legislation, the freeing of political prisoners, or the starting or ending of a war; it involves discovering a band before anyone else, making sure everyone knows you don’t own a TV, or being the first to wear a bow tie with sweat pants. It actually reminds me a lot of that quote (and I’m paraphrasing here) “pride has no joy in the possession of something, but in possessing more of it than others.” I feel like hipsters are the lifestyle equivalent of that sentiment, it’s not about simply filling your life with things that bring you joy or happiness, it’s about filling your life with whatever happens to be in at the moment, and if you’re really lucky, finding something before it becomes cool. The intrinsic value of things and ideas is completely lost to the expediency of keeping up with trends. I have to tell you, nothing bugs me more than hearing someone say, “Oh I don’t like that anymore, it’s too popular.” Ugh. If you think something is good, does it become any less good because a lot of other people agree with you?
So, yeah, I think hipsters take themselves a little too seriously. But like I said, I do still feel a very real affinity for them. I think it’s because I share so much of my aesthetic and artistic sensibilities with them. And so many things that I love have come out of that culture of hyper I-need-to-be-different-ness (see Sufjan Stevens). So, while I’m put off by the spirit of competition and one-upmanship, I can’t help but feel like, in a way I’m linked to the movement, or at least, have benefited from it. So, I guess that means that, though I’m glad I’m not one of them, I don’t necessarily want them to go away. At least not right now. Maybe once they’ve moved on to country hip hop, unicycles, and renaissance fashions…
so when you said, "let's have a discussion about hipsters" you really meant, let me spout off my hostile opinion about the group.
ReplyDeleteoh and the urban dictionary bit was a complete joke, i hope you got that.
ReplyDeleteSo, I went back and reread my comment and yeah, i deserved that. Really though, it was just that since I've already spent some time thinking and talking about this, I've already formed some opinions and I was just getting them out there to be discussed. I'm happy to be wrong about this. Like I said, I kinda like hipsters and I would be happy to find out that the experiences taht have helped form my opinion of them are outliers and not the norm.
ReplyDeleteEither way, I really do want this to be a discussion. If I came off hostile, I'm sorry. I need to learn how to temper my writing (though my professors loved it when I would write an impassioned defense of the ideals of multi-modal transportation modeling). You're smart and I respect your opinion, so if I'm worng, help me see why.
Oh, and I didn't realize the urban dictionary thing was a joke. I'm glad because whoever wrote that had really drunk the koolaid.
so, i have a few rebuttals that come to mind when reading your post, but i just don't know how much time i'm interested in putting into it. i love discussing things, but not super-interested in trying to convince you otherwise (or argue). not to be harsh, but i really couldn't careless whether or not you like hipsters. though i am interested in why you have such a hatred for them (did you get burned, jealous?). maybe i'll post a rebuttal, but i've just gotten to the point where i've realized that time is precious and there are more important things to focus on rather than being right. if i am happy with who i am then that's all that matters.
ReplyDeleteMea Culpa. So, I've just returned from a weekend camping trip up in Acadia (northern Maine). Of note, it's beautiful, you would love it. But, that's not the point, the point is that on my way up to Maine I offered to drive friends of friends who were coming from New York. Ironically, they turned out to be hipsters. When I say hipsters, I don't mean the hipsters I thought I wanted to be, I mean the hipsters you wrote about in your post. Cynical, annoying, self-righteous, judgmental, rude. Pretty much all they could talk about was music, but not in any way that was inspiring or positive. Anyway, I guess I've never really interacted with hipsters of that level before; the ones I have met have always been cool, but riding 4 hours with these New Yorkers made me want to become the most mainstream person ever - just to avoid being compared to them.
ReplyDeleteI guess what needs to be created is word for moderate hipsters. You know there's metro-sexuals for guys who dress well but are not gay. So, there should be a word for people with style who like indie music, books and films but are not so extreme that they cannot have normal conversations with other people.
Anyway, mea culpa. You were right.
And, that's hard for me to say.
Overall, I am just kind of glad it happened (even though the ride up was kind of annoying).
oh wow, that must have been rough. Sorry you had to live through that. When I think of the term "hipster," those are the kind of people that come to mind. But I know what you mean about the blurred definition of the term. It probably would be helpful to define a term for those people that you described above: what I consider as people who are just trying to be open to good things wherever they may find them (both in and out of the mainstream). That's the kind of person I try to be (I'm still working on the style part), and the kind of person I consider you to be. The funny thing about those kind of people is that I don't think they really need a label. I think people like that are generally sure enough of themselves that they don't need to define themselves as anything other than "people." But for the sake of our conversation I suggest the term "midsters" as in "midway between hipster and boring." :) There's probably a better term out there, but it's not coming to mind right now.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, for my part I'm sorry for my initial approach to this whole discussion. I don't have any "midster" friends up here so I'm starved for meaningful discussion and I think I let my excitement for such a discussion overtake my common sense (and decency) regarding the general terms and rules of civilized conversation.
Anyway, I've been working on updating my style (I even bought a skinny tie and wore it to church on sunday!) but I haven't found a good pair of fitted jeans yet. Any suggestions on where to look?