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Hipstercrite Life

Hipstercrite Life, Writing

How Not to be a Starving Artist

When I was a little girl, I wanted to be an artist. Whether it was filmmaking, writing, acting or dressing up as deceased Borscht Belt entertainers, I had the bug and I knew I needed to pursue a career in the arts.

When you’re a wee one, you have no idea that a career in the arts means years, or sometimes a lifetime, of struggle, heartbreak, comparing yourself to your friends who took more conventional paths, stealing and drinking tiny bottles of alcohol from airplanes or being curled up in a ball on the couch immobile from the demoralizing fact that Bret Easton Ellis wrote Less Than Zero at 21, Orson Welles directed Citizen Kane at 25 and Tina Fey began writing for Saturday Night Live at 27. You have no freaking clue that these times of uncertainty will be punctuated with last ditch efforts to become a “real human being” by working as a paralegal at a law firm or an accountant at a law firm or an office manager at a law firm, and you’re not even sure how you got a job at a law firm because (more…)

December 8, 2014 by
Austin, Hipstercrite Life

I’m a Challenger for Snap Kitchen’s 21 Days for Good Challenge

Friends, I was asked to partake in a really exciting challenge.

Snap Kitchen, an Austin-based health food eatery, selected me as one of the 21 Texas challengers for their 21 Days for Good Challenge.

From November 1st-21st, Snap Kitchen will be providing us healthy breakfast, lunch and dinner as we work towards our personal goals for the month. In addition, the challenger who does the best job chronicling their 21-day journey will receive $3,000 for the charity of their choice. My charity is LIVESTRONG.

Instead of picking one goal, like losing weight or getting more fit, I decided to aim for 21 goals. On each of the 21 days, I will strive to do something good, either for myself or for someone else. I’ve been filling up my calendar with volunteer opportunities such as dinner service at the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless, dog walking at the Austin Animal Center, meal delivery through Meals on Wheels and trash pickup through Keep Austin Beautiful. As for personal goals, I’ll be (more…)

November 1, 2014 by
Hipstercrite Life

Will you be my grandmother’s pen pal?

grandma love

This is my grandmother.

She is one of my favorite people.

I come from a very small family.

There are only four of us.

My mother, my father, my grandmother and I.

Dad left when I was seven, and my grandmother, who still lives across the street from my mother, helped raise me.

I grew up in the clothing store she owned for 35 years and spent my childhood thinking she was the most beautiful woman in the world.

She still is, but she’ll tell you she’s not.

“Beauty is for young people,” she says.

I try to tell her that her logic is faulted; I tell her that beauty can be any age, any woman, any soul.

But she won’t hear of it.

I never thought that the day would come when this determined, stubborn, busy-bee-of-woman would get old.

But she did.

And she hates it.

Aches and pains make it difficult for her to walk for long stretches of time.

She gets exhausted easily.

She spends many of her days inside her house, losing track of what day it is and missing (more…)

September 24, 2014 by
Hipstercrite Life

Anxiety and the Thirty-Something

Austin sky

It got to the point where I couldn’t leave the house.

A small, round bruise on my leg would send me into unshakeable despair.

“I’m going to die,” I’d repeat to myself.

My suffering boyfriend, the man who didn’t sign up for this, would hold me and remind me, like he always did, that everything was going to be ok. You are ok.

And that’s the kicker, right? You know you are ok, so why are you feeling this way?

Minor panic attacks were hitting two or three times a week, while the major ones, the “PLEASE, SOMEONE TAKE ME TO THE HOSPITAL BECAUSE I’M PROBABLY HAVING A STROKE” moments, were once or twice a month. It made me irritable, it made me flakey and it made me want to retreat from the world.

Throughout my twenties, I was confused, I was sad, I drank, I passive-aggressively texted paramours, I threw myself into my job, I changed who I was for the worst. All of these ugly feelings and character manifestations happened, but there was one (more…)

September 9, 2014 by
Hipstercrite Life, Pop Culture

10 Ways To Know If Your Fitbit Has Taken Over Your Life

Fitbit

Activity trackers have been all the rage in 2014, and arguably no device has received such wide acclaim as the Fitbit. For many, the Fitbit, which comes in the form of a clip or wristband, has become a form of obsession. Once you’ve joined the Cult of Fitbitdom, there is no turning back. You take it with you everywhere you go, and you’ve found yourself becoming the health nut you typically despise. It’s ok though; you’re not alone. Millions of people have become just as annoying as you and I.

I love my Fitbit. I named it Harry. He likes going on long walks. Sometimes he says “Bonjour, Lauren!” and I giggle. I LOVE HARRY.

If you’re wondering whether or not your Fitbit has taken control of your life, here is a quick checklist.

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1.) You are often asked the question: “Do you have to pee or something?”

2.) You know that you’ve become that asshole who walks in place at work, but you’re ok with it. You’re ok with the stares BECAUSE EVERYONE WITHOUT A FITBIT WILL DEVELOP (more…)

September 3, 2014 by
Hipstercrite Life

Is the news making you sad? You’re not alone.

Austin sunset

It’s been a tough week. For everyone.

Ah, fuck it.

It’s not just the week.

Things have been tough for a long time.

The news.

Oh, the news.

It has gotten to a point where you just don’t want to read it, see it, hear it.

But you gotta.

You have to stay informed.

You have to know what other people are going through. 

See the pain.

The white flags have been thrown up on Facebook statuses.

“The world is too much; I’m getting offline for awhile.”

The heaviness of our hearts is making us sad.

We want to close our eyes.

I watched a comic book blockbuster last weekend, and I started crying afterwards.

I felt physically pummeled by the never-ending action and violence.

The sound of gunfire blanketed my ears.

When I’d look down, images of Gaza projected on the back of my hands.

And it made me think why.

Why do we watch these films of violence? Or in other cases, rape and torture?

With so much hatred festering in the world, why do escape (more…)

August 15, 2014 by
Hipstercrite Life

Finding Companionship in Your 80s: A Love Story

grandma love

My grandmother drinking a margarita for the first time in her life

“This man started chatting me up in the parking lot,” my grandmother called to tell me this past Saturday. “Man, did he like to talk a lot. He’s 87 too.”

 I wasn’t sure where she was going with this.
“Anyway, he asked me out for dinner.”
My grandmother and I talk several times a week. Over the past year, our conversations have taken a melancholic turn. Two years ago, her partner, Lionel, a tiny, spitfire of a Jew, just like my grandmother, was admitted to a home for people with Alzheimer’s. Lionel was not my grandmother’s greatest love- in truth, I’m not sure she’s ever truly been in love- but he was a companion. She had grown dependent on his presence, and vice versa.
“I told him that I couldn’t go, but he gave me his number.”
“What?! Why did you say you couldn’t go?!”
My grandmother has a tendency to miss out on the great joys in life. She was raised to be a martyr by martyr. In fact, when her second (more…)
July 23, 2014 by
20-Something, Hipstercrite Life

Do You Have Anxiety? You’re Not Alone, Child

anxiety

 

source: The New Yorker

I often write about my anxiety on this blog.

Maybe you’re sick of reading it, or maybe you can relate. Maybe you’re a hypochondriac like me. If you are, share a soothing comment down below; it’s nice to know I’m not the only nerveball out there.

My anxiety has been ragin’ strong over the past year, and I’m not sure at what point I will finally recognize it’s an issue.

Last night, I was afraid to go to sleep because I thought I wouldn’t wake up. That probably should have tipped me off as a problem, but it didn’t.

Going to the doctor’s office last week because I had a 99.3 temperature and diarrhea and having the nurse tell me that I’ve voluntarily been to their office eight times in six months should have sent off a warning signal in my brain.

But it hasn’t.

I just continue to let my fears and anxieties consume me like a person with tape worm at a buffet. It can put me in a bad mood and sometimes it makes me not want to get out of bed.

There (more…)

May 15, 2014 by
Fashion/Design, Hipstercrite Life

For the Two Women in My Life

I grew up with a single mother.

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Across the street from us, my grandmother.

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These two women helped shape who I am.

They are not perfect women, but no woman is perfect.

As they age, their imperfections amplify.

And they are aging.

I can’t stop that.

I hear it in their voices.

I see it on their faces.

The two women, the two imperfect women who made sure that I led a life different from their own, are not ageless.

They’re imperfect and they’re aging.

These were two traits unfamiliar to me as a child.

Neither woman could own either characteristic.

Both women were my world.

And they continue to be, though the dynamic has changed.

It changed sometime when I was not looking.

These two imperfect women are not indestructible.

And I can’t stop that.

If I could, I’d take all their emotional or physical ache, their moments of loneliness, their times of frustration, their seconds of confusion and seal it in a box, sending it out to sea.

I (more…)

May 8, 2014 by
Hipstercrite Life

Why I Haven’t Written on my Blog in Awhile

me

Hi.

My blog is sad.

I barely write on her anymore.

You see, something happened.

I got a completely unexpected and wonderful writing job, and my blog has taken a back seat.

I’m sorry, blog.

I love you and I miss you.

I will try to play with you again.

The job I mentioned is at the LIVESTRONG Foundation. I am the copywriter at the HQ in Austin.

Though I am the copywriter there, it is still difficult for me to describe the amazing things the organization does.

It has changed my life.

Not only has it made me a better writer (I still get brain gas, so please don’t hold typos/grammatical errors against me), it has opened my eyes to the realities of life.

Do you know what LIVESTRONG does? I’ll be honest; I wasn’t quite sure before I started working there.

It has something to do with that cyclist guy, right?

Nah.

It has always offered and will continue to offer free, life-changing services for people facing cancer.

You see, anyone affected by cancer- (more…)

April 18, 2014 by