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Hipstercrite Life

20-Something, Hipstercrite Life

This is the Post Where I Bitch About Money

Money.

Didn’t come from it, never had it, don’t currently have it.

If  money was something I cared about more, then I probably wouldn’t be poor. Though I’ve worked non-stop since I was legally able, I care more about enjoying life than working towards being wealthy. The little taste I got of the 24/7 work lifestyle in Los Angeles was enough to push me into a constant state of living paycheck to paycheck.

I don’t like being poor. It’s not fun to not have extra money to buy things like a new book or clean underwear every once in awhile, but it’s the choice I made. I keep thinking that one day, maybe, I’ll strike rich. Maybe I’ll write a book and sell it. Maybe our movie will make it big. However, the older I get, I wonder if I’ll wake up one day at 45 and think, “Shit, I’m still dirt ass poor.”

Of course, I’m only 28, so maybe I shouldn’t be rich. The only people who are 28 and rich came from money or work in stocks.

I’m also an “artist” in a sense, so I’m supposed to be (more…)

January 6, 2012 by
20-Something, Hipstercrite Life

Welcoming the End of the Quarter Life Crisis

2012 marks the last year of my twenties.

Previously, saying that made me collapse into a fit of inconsolable defeat. Once, on the phone with my father about my car being paid off when I’m 30, I fell to the floor during the middle of the conversation. All it took was me saying, “Well, when I’m 30…” and my brain processed that as someone taking a bat to the back of my knees. My father heard heaving gasps on the other line and waited for my two minute bawl fest to conclude before daring to continue the topic at hand.

I never thought I’d make it past 29. Not because I have a craving for horse tranquilizers or a death wish obsession with Kurt Cobain, but because it seemed nearly impossible to imagine a life past that. My brain simply would shut down when thinking about my 30s. Or maybe, much like the Mayans, my internal calendar simply stops on 2012. Being an only child of divorce, I never planned out my future to include things like marriage and children, so a life after 30 seemed (more…)

January 3, 2012 by
Hipstercrite Life

Big Sky, Big Country

As a freelancer, taking a vacation when you’re supposed to is kind of terrifying, but I gave in to the fact that there wouldn’t be much work to do over the holidays and tried to enjoy my time off. I managed to succeed! Though I was unable to go home to visit my family, I spent the holidays with my boyfriend and his wonderful family. I have a trip planned home at the end of January ($200 round-trip ticket to Upstate New York on Southwest!), so I’ll definitely get some family time in soon and Grandma can stop using here Jewish guilt powers to make me feel bad about it.

Though Texas is a big ass state, one of the beauties of it is its proximity to other cool areas. Along with my boyfriend’s cousin and her boyfriend, we snuck over to Santa Fe for a few days last week. Driving through the American Southwest is one of the most cathartic trips one can experience. I’ve driven alone and with friends or family through the Southwest countless times now and I always love it. Living in cities for (more…)

January 2, 2012 by
Austin, Hipstercrite Life

I Wasn’t Born in Texas, But I Got Here at an Average Speed

Oh man, did it feel good to stay away from the computer this weekend!
I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday and that most of you are still on break and not at work reading this post.
Wanted to share with you last Friday’s CultureMap post. It meant a lot to me. It’s about the the generous and familial culture in Texas and how inspiring and comforting it is.
I hope I don’t offend any of my fellow Upstate New Yorkers here. I think you’ll get what I mean…

I Wasn’t Born in Texas, But I Got Here at an Average Speed

I’m a Yankee. Born and raised in the armpit of the Rust Belt. In the land of fallen big box giants, frost-bitten morale and Wonder Bread tans.

I have not lived in the North in over seven years, but one can never really change where they’re from, right? Where you were born is in your blood. Always.
The fact that I’m a Yankee is not something I advertise, but it’s difficult to hide when you develop instant heartburn just looking at Polvo’s salsa. The sweat on your (more…)

December 26, 2011 by
Film, Hipstercrite Life

Being Friends With An Acquitted Murderer (and B-List Actor) Is Not Easy

Some of you guys might be familiar with this story for I’ve broached the topic of me being friends with an acquitted murderer/b-list actor before. If you’re not familiar with it, check out my story over at CultureMap. Murder, sex and purple pearl snap shirts. Such a wonderful children’s story for the Holidays.

Being Friends With An Acquitted Murderer (and B-List Actor) Is Not Easy

12.16.11 | 12:05 pm

I was once friends with an acquitted murderer-slash-B-list actor.

He was a sad man, but I guess that shouldn’t be surprising. The sort of man who spent Thanksgiving alone, eating a grocery store rotisserie chicken in the woods of Ojai, California.

The sort of man who owned nothing but a couch, a bed, a guitar and the photos of his long forgotten career taped to his wall.

The sort of man who has no friends.

The sort of man who lived like the characters he portrayed.

The sort of man where you couldn’t tell if he was acting in real life or not.

I met the (more…)

December 16, 2011 by
Film, Hipstercrite Life

I Used to be a Hollywood Assistant

Over at CultureMap, I wrote a story about my days in LA. Some of you who have hung in there with me might already know this story. Occasionally I get nostalgic and cry like a little bitch about ol’ Hollywood. Either way, I’m happy I left it…

True Hollywood Story: The Life and Death of a Tinsletown Assistant

12.10.11 | 01:00 pm

I used to work in Hollywood — as a personal assistant.

Sometimes it seems like a dream, my time there. A forgotten dream only triggered by a minor chord or someone else’s love letter to Los Angeles. By songs or films that I relate to but that are not my story. Sometimes I drift off in a cloud of romanticized musings of things I did not experience.

It’s much easier to recall your time in Hollywood like one would a movie, giving your story a narrative when in reality, while you were experiencing it, there was no voice guiding the way.

I meet a lot of young people in Austin who want to move to or are about to move to LA. My initial reaction (more…)

December 10, 2011 by
Hipstercrite Life

Young Entrepreneurs Not to Watch

You know those lists that pop up every so often on Forbes or CNN? The “25 Under 25 to Watch” or “30 Entrepreneurs Under 30”.

Don’t those lists make you want to barf?

Cut all your hair off and crawl under a rock?

Crawl under a rock and barf and die?

It certainly makes me feel that way.

The funny thing is, I never wanted to be an entrepreneur. Shit, I don’t even know how to spell it. I had zero aspirations as a kid of being a start-up mogul or app designer. In fact, when I was a kid, nobody even knew what the f that was. However, as an adult all that has changed. When I read about 23 year olds who are wealthier than shit because they made a website where other people can upload images that users make fun of or because they made a bunch of t-shirts that say words like “cheese” in Helvetica and sell them for $75 online it makes me wonder what the hell I’m doing wrong.

Does it boil down to talent, hard work, luck, or being priveleged? I guess some fall in one or all categories.

a.) (more…)

December 6, 2011 by
Hipstercrite Life

The Stigma of Depression and Anxiety Medicine

I was working on a post about young entrepreneurs and how they make me feel like crawling under a rock and dying, but instead I’m going to write about anxiety.

My mother just called me to tell me that my grandmother is in the ER with high blood pressure. 235 over 98, I believe.

Obviously this got me worried, but the doctors said her blood work, oxygen levels and EKG results are all good. However, they’re going to keep her overnight.

My mother and I immediately assumed that stress is causing my grandmother’s high blood pressure, but the doctor said it wouldn’t make it rise that high. Regardless, I know that her stress and the ways she doesn’t deal with it is at least playing a minor factor in her high blood pressure. A few days ago she did not feel well and she told me it was because of stress.

Grandma has a lot to be stressed about, but don’t we all these days? In my grandmother’s situation she has a partner who has Alzheimer’s. It is something my grandmother has not come (more…)

December 5, 2011 by
Austin, Hipstercrite Life

Eastside 4 Life

On my column over at Culture Map today…

Life on the East Side: Becoming a Realist and Learning to Love Where You Live

12.02.11 | 04:45 pm

The other night my boyfriend and I heard a loud boom outside of our house. Within minutes the crash was followed by sirens, one after another. Cops and fire trucks sped by and then stopped at the corner; we peeked out the window but couldn’t tell what was going on.

Concerned, we bundled up and headed outside to investigate. We stood on the corner staring into a sea of red and blue lights, trying to see what the commotion was. Finally, we asked a nearby cop, who informed us that a car had flipped over. We walked back into the house, wondering how the heck someone could flip their car in a 30 mile per hour neighborhood zone.

Fifteen minutes went by and we still heard the cops outside, working away; my curiosity got the best of me, so I went back out to inquire further. (We were told that the driver was ok and driven to the (more…)

December 3, 2011 by
Hipstercrite Life, Pop Culture

A Post Entirely Made of Cheese

I have a job where I interview and photograph restaurants. Sometimes I get free food out of the process.

It might be the best job I’ve ever had.

Recently, this job enabled me to photograph God’s glorious gift to Mankind- the grilled cheese sandwich.

I photographed grilled cheese sandwich after grilled cheese sandwich.

IT WAS AWESOME!

Here are some outtakes from that photoshoot.

Enjoy!

Here are the sandwiches before they’re pressed

They squiggle butter onto the sandwiches

Then it comes out looking like this!

AND THIS!

And this…which kind of looks gross because it has tuna fish on it, but it’s delicious

This is a photo of a dollhouse grilled cheese sandwich. It came to my attention via @Tillamook Cheese’s twitter feed. I am a big fan of Tillamook Cheese and they’re super fun to talk to on Twitter. I highly recommend following them.

Speaking of Tillamook Cheese- this photo was taken when I toured their factory in Tillamook, Oregon two years ago

I (more…)

December 1, 2011 by