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20-Something

Occupy Wall Street: The Youth Perspective Gives Mixed Messages

Watching the Occupy Wall Street movement unfold has been both fascinating and educational. It has created stimulating conversation and really challenged young Americans to think about how we feel about our Government, our economy, our financial institutions and how we make and manage our money.

There are two pieces of writing that have come out of Occupy Wall Street that have really made me stop for a moment. They both were reportedly written by young people (one is confirmed) and they are preaching exact opposite views. One middle-class student proudly claims they are not part of the 99%, the other is a famous musician having difficulty making ends meet. Both are thought-provoking opinions but I feel miss the point of Occupy Wall Street entirely.

The first piece was written by musician JD Samson for Huffington Post and is titled “I Love My Job, But it Made Me Poorer.” Samson explains how she came from a middle class background and was fortunate enough to achieve the American (more…)

October 13, 2011 by hipstercrite

20-Something, Hipstercrite Life

Dear Diary!

I was telling a friend the other day that my blog was stressing me out. He asked why. I told him that I didn’t have a freakin’ clue. And that’s totally not true. It’s just that I didn’t want to think about why it was stressing me out.

“Well”, he typed over Gchat, “Isn’t your writing supposed to be therapeutic?” I thought about it for a second and realized my writing has become anything but. At one point a long time ago it was a form of therapy. I was young and I was lost and I discovered that putting those two truths down into words helped. A lot. Looking back on those posts I probably sounded like a nutjob, but weren’t we all at 22?

When more than my Mom under a fake pseudonym started reading my blog, I got nervous. I was afraid that people would think it was some lame-ass teenage-esque diary of a young woman who needed a can of “SHUT THE HELL UP!” . Something I wish they actually sold in grocery stores so I could strategically leave outside college student’s dorm rooms in the (more…)

October 10, 2011 by hipstercrite

20-Something, Austin, Hipstercrite Life, Writing

Occupy WallStreet Occupy Austin

Photo from ABC News

On our last night filming in New York City we were burglarized.

Our two lead actresses and female DP had their computers, camera, and tax paperwork stolen from the apartment they were staying in. The apartment is located in a co-op in Brooklyn that has a locked main entrance and individual locked doors for the apartments. This particular apartment door was left unlocked for a few hours and within this time, someone stole the items mentioned above.

When the three individuals discovered that their belongings had been stolen, they immediately called the police. The dispatcher told them that a police officer would not be sent to the apartment and that they needed to go to the police station to file a report. The three women all headed on foot to the police station. A male crew member called 911 not knowing that the DP had called the police and they dispatched a police officer to the (more…)

October 4, 2011 by hipstercrite

20-Something

Forgive Student Loan Debt!

I don’t know about you, but I have debt.

Car loan debt, credit card debt, and school loan debt.

The car is almost paid off and I’m two years into a four year plan of paying off my credit card debt.
My school loan debt, on the other hand, has a few years to go. I’m one of the lucky ones though. I have roughly $10,000 left to pay on my school loan. The average college graduate owes $24,000. I know people who owe $40,000, $60,000, $80,000 and up and can’t find work OR or are stuck in a job they don’t like but can’t afford to leave.

One of my favorite reads is Huffington Post’s ongoing “Majoring in College Debt” series where they encourage readers to discuss how much college debt they’re in. Some of the stories are downright frightening- students owing over $200,000, making coffee shop wages, or being harassed by their lenders. One man shared his story of owing over $250,00 for medical school and the great lengths his lender went to try and f*ck him over. While he was working his (more…)

September 28, 2011 by hipstercrite

20-Something, Music

Looking to Songs for Answers

Tonight I saw Arcade Fire, a band I affixed great emotional significance to a long time ago. I recall lonely nights of drinking to, jerking off to, or crying to their first album Funeral. Of thinking that the swell in each song would carry me away to the place I was meant to be at. At 21 years of age and meandering into adulthood, their gospel held truths that I was meant to study and adhere to. When Neon Bible came out, it was the same thing. An organ meant proclamation. Of what? I’m not sure. Either way they were the gateway to the beginning of it all. Or so I thought.

So tonight, in a large field in the middle of Austin, I closed my eyes and tried to stir the nostalgia for a time I looked to songs for answers, but it just wasn’t coming. I closed my eyes more tightly and concentrated as hard as I could. I kicked the dirt over the memories of lying on my bedroom floor hitting repeat on “Rebellion (Lie)” thinking that eventually the song might make me burst into a million tiny pieces. (more…)

September 19, 2011 by hipstercrite

20-Something, Hipstercrite Life

Making the Twenty-Something Leap

There comes a point in every young person’s life where they have to make the jump.

Have to because they can’t kid themselves that they’re happy with the safe route anymore. Working jobs that mean nothing to them and waking up every morning trying to kid themselves that they care. Ignoring the hunger pains of a creative appetite gnawing away at them.

“But life is sometimes about working jobs that you don’t like!” the age-old sentiment kept cycling through my head. “But not if I have any say it!” I finally answered back one day. Last week. When I realized that now was the time.

I was born from a musician and an artist. One took the safe route her entire life and regrets it, the other jumped on the Autobahn to creative anarchy. My father tried going the safe route- which included marriage, kid, and steady employment- but ultimately he couldn’t handle the confines. Do I blame him? No. Because I’m just like him. “And that scares me,” my mother can often be found saying. But we live (more…)

August 30, 2011 by hipstercrite

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 hipstercrite

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 hipstercrite

20-Something

I Like Lists! Except When They Suck Ass.

I peruse the Internet like a mo-fo and because of this I’m only able to enjoy rudimentary things like lists.
I especially like self-help/how-to lists- the sort that give you tips on how to become a better blogger or lover or lover to your blogger (we need a lot of attention).
If there is anything that I’ve learned from self-help/how-to lists it’s that the people who write them are not really qualified to tell you how to improve your life. Most of the time their advice is simple and ideas rehashed from other articles written by people who are also not qualified to tell you how to improve your life.
I spend most of my time trying to unlearn everything I’ve read from lists I enjoy reading on the Internet daily.

I constantly fall victim to thinking that these lists will hold some magic key words that will suddenly make me fearless, entrepreneurial, balanced and wealthy. I mean, don’t we all? Don’t lie. You know you love the lists. YOU LOOOOOVE THE LISTS!!! I figure I drift through life, (more…)

July 26, 2011 by hipstercrite

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