Of Course I’m a Hipster
Before I begin today’s post, here is some photographic evidence of the title:
Jared as mountain man hipster:
Lar as escaped convict hipster with celebritard glasses and asymmetrical haircut:
Lar as ethno-bohemian hipster:
Lar as flannel wearing rat carrying hipster:
Hipster Hobo Camp:
We now return to our regularly scheduled post:
We have been dubbed “the subleteers” by our friend Zach, whose apartment who are currently subletting for 1/2 of December. It is an apt title considering that we’re now in our second sublet since our arrival in the city. Zach’s place is an architecturally peculiar duplex in Logan Square. The inside features a curved wall, weird built-in cubby holes all over the place and squares within squares, a loft bed with ladder, a three foot high walk in closet, a breakfast nook, and some oddly shaped windows.
Logan [] is a hipster hotbed of Chicago. It is interesting to ride the train and watch the demographics change from neighborhood to neighborhood. The Logan Square stop feels like a hipster mass exodus. It’s sorta scary. My new game is to pick out all the people in my train car who are about to get off at Logan [] and I’m usually pretty much dead on in my predictions.
It seems to me, though, that the term hipster has evolved and is no longer applicable solely to art school kids who make their own clothes and play in bands. Frankly, it’s not that cool or exclusive to be a hipster anymore. Hipster is now almost ubiquitously applied to people who are young and don’t go to church.
Of course I’m a hipster. How could I possibly avoid that label at this point considering how pervasive and all-encompassing it has become? Among other things, it has a lot to do with mainstream culture appropriating the styles of hipsterdom and spitting them back out in consumer outlets like Urban Outfitters. It’s become nothing more than a look that is readily obtained. Here’s a fun website
It’s so done, and I don’t really care to befriend the youth of Chicago who are still trying to ride out the hipster wave. For a while, it gave some nerdy white boys who never had a shot in high school a chance at popularity and getting laid. That’s hipsterdom’s saving grace. In reality, they’re just a bunch of insecure nerds who got lucky by being nerdy at the right time. They got the chance to have fun and do drugs while celebrating their nerdiness rather than suppressing or hiding it. That’s awesome! Frankly, I’m ecstatic to see the proliferation of non-meatheads.
However, given that kind of luck and good timing, the most comical aspect of hipsterdom is the pretension. It’s as though they don’t want to admit that they happen to be metro and nerdy at an opportune moment in history. But seriously, good for them. I can’t blame them for continuing to try to ride that wave for as long as possible.
It’s not that cool to be cool anymore. I’m rejecting it in favor of being []. Which is why Jared and I are deliberately choosing to live in the decidedly unhip area of Rogers Park. I hope to spend most of my winter in “hermitude,” which isn’t a word, but I decided that it should be….I mean come on. If they let “hermitry” and “hermitship” in there, they should definitely let “hermitude” slide. Fuck it. Space is the place! We’re going to SPACE!!!
-L
you know, i think the evolution of the hipster was screwed from the start if you consider that the hipster came from the socially inept geeks of the 70′s/80′s. the growth would suggest that the 70′s/80′s geeks went to internet super stardom of the 90′s went to lost wages of the 00′s and PBR depression and trades of lamborghini to messenger fixie.
if that is indeed true, then the generation was lost from the start. my case in point:
1987′s revenge of the nerds 2. at the very end, ogre joins the lambda house.
Lar, I worked on bikes all summer at home in Michigan. The first batch was at a “Fresh Air” kids camp tht has 39 bikes and then at a bike giveaway where fix up donated bikes which we give out once a month. We get some real challenges and you want to take Huffy and Murray out of your vocabulary. We managed to give out 202 bikes this summer so I can relate to your bike mechanic experience – except I make even less than you do!
yep…donated bikes always seem to be roadmasters, nexts, huffys and murrays. good work, tom!
Oh man. Hipsters are so cool. Too bad I never was one. I am happy to see that I am not the only person in love with Al Gore’s bastard media child.
Well speaking of hipster, hermitude is in the urban dictionary.
Interesting to see how the second undefined society became defined. I guess the only way to go is liberalism.
I love that there’s a website for a whole slew of labels! You can collect them all.
i know! it’s my new fave. i so want to suggest some more for him to do…i want him to do one for crusties and one for fixed gear hipsters…oh man i can’t wait.
Only men can be hermits, lauren.
only hermits can be crabs, mickey.
Unless they are craaaaab-people.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tV5wmDhzgY8
your face page is beautiful!
jared made it. hi charley!
what is a face page exactly?
A face page is a cover page is a title page is an intro page is a doorway is a useless troll toll!
A face page is a cover page is a title page is an intro page is a doorway is a useless troll toll!
the omniscient internet has spoken.