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On Understanding White Privilege

“Baby girl, I’ve been seeing this for decades. You stop thinking about. You just pray for the people left behind. You’re just seeing it now. I love you, but you were born on this side of the track, and you’re now on the track peeking over to the other side. Now you’re getting mad with us, and that’s what we need.” –Tyrone, 62, black, homeless, a victim of police brutality, my friend, after asking him how he felt about the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile

When I was a very little girl, I heard about Rodney King on the news; I was sad, I was angry, but I did not understand. As an adult, when I heard about Trayvon Martin being killed, I was sad and angry, but I did not understand. When Michael Brown was killed, I was sad and angry, but I did not understand. When Tamir Rice was killed, when Eric Garner was killed, when Freddie Gray was killed, I was sad and angry, but I did not understand. When Sandra Bland, who was killed on this very day in 2015, I was sad and I was angry, (more…)

July 13, 2016 by hipstercrite

Film, Pop Culture

On Hollywood Reboots, Female Roles & the New Ghostbusters

I’m excited for the new Ghostbusters because there are four kick-ass women in it; what I’m not excited about is that they brought back the Ghostbusters. (I plan on seeing it at the theater nonetheless.) My conflicted emotions were only amplified when I read New York Times’ June 21st interview with the four lead actresses and director.

After director Paul Feig explained that he was courted by former Sony studio head Amy Pascal to direct the film because it was a “great franchise sitting there,” Times journalist Dave Itzkoff asked Feig: “Why are some people approaching these big-budget fantasy movies — like the new “Star Wars” or your film — as battlegrounds for social ideas?

FEIG: I think it’s the death throes of the old guard. It makes a smaller minority scream louder, because they’re losing their grip on the cliff. I understand, if somebody was remaking “The Godfather,” I would be like, “Wait a minute.” But when everybody’s like, “It’s a cash grab”? Everything ever made in Hollywood (more…)

June 27, 2016 by hipstercrite

Pop Culture, Thirty-something

To All the Feminists with Complex Feelings About Hillary Clinton

You’ve seen many status updates from female friends you love and respect saying that when Hillary became the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, they wept with joy. They couldn’t wait to tell their daughters, share it with their mothers, scream it from the mountaintops, talk about it for years to come.

You’ve seen all your favorite feminists and feminist publications reveling in this historic moment, sharing memes, writing beautifully crafted opinion pieces and also weeping for joy.

But you didn’t weep.

You didn’t even get excited.

You mostly felt conflicted.

And maybe you thought, “Wow. I must be the shiiiiitiest woman on the planet. We ladies have to stick together no matter what, right? I mean, two of my idols, Gloria Steinem and Madeleine Albright, told me I’m easily persuaded by men and I’m going to hell for not supporting Hillary Clinton.Something is wrong with me!”

This past week I grappled with this thought.

And as a progressive who will vote for Hillary in the general (more…)

June 14, 2016 by hipstercrite

Hipstercrite Life

We’re Excited to Announce an Addition to the Family!

Sorry, Mom. This womb is currently barren.

WE GOT A CAT!

I’ve officially become Adult With Cat. (I’ve never had a cat before; I’ve always been a dog gal.)

But she’s not any ol’ cat.

Let me share with you the story of how FatFace and I found each other.

This is FatFace:

She’s a feral and has lived on our block for at least five years.

She was part of a feral colony my neighbor took care of, and which I’ve subsequently taken over after my neighbor moved across town.

I enjoy our cat colony, which totals between 10-12 mostly black or Russian blue cats, but let me tell you something about taking care of cat colonies: Don’t publicly share that info at parties. One time I was at a networking event and met a handful of interesting people and had to stop this sentence from coming out of my mouth: “Oh, man. I have to get going! My cat colony is going to be piiiiised if I don’t get home soon for feed time.”

(Side note: Though I now do the feeding, my former (more…)

June 6, 2016 by hipstercrite

Hipstercrite Life, Thirty-something

Today I Choose to Not Hate Everyone

Obligatory stock photo

You know how you have those days when you’re sitting in traffic, or you’re waiting in a long line at the grocery store, and you look out at the world around you and say to yourself “Wow. I fucking hate everybody”?

Additional thoughts float into your head such as:

“Look at the asshole in the gas-guzzling truck with his asshole chin. I bet his farts smell like a dead raccoon in a compost toilet. And he probably watches Power Rangers porn.”

“That lady who just cut in front of me in line has resting bitch face. As a feminist, I shouldn’t be using the word “bitch” in regards to a woman, and I’m not even exactly sure what “resting bitch face” means, but I think she has it. And I hate her for it.”

“Why is that child staring at me while screaming and picking its nose? He’s a demon.”

I had one of these days today. I dislike these kind of days because I try to be a good person, I try to (more…)

May 20, 2016 by hipstercrite

Fashion/Design

My dad used to be a model in the 80s…and it was weird

In my mother’s Easter care package, filled with chocolate, an infinity scarf and a postcard of Assistant Walter D. Skinner from the X-files, was a paper catalog from the 1980s of a now defunct department store in Upstate New York called Chappell’s. The catalog, which is weathered, features my dad, and a handful of other male models and one female child model, in a themed spread called “Dad’s World.”

I knew my father did regional modeling during my youth, but I had never seen this catalog before. What struck me about the catalog was not how boyish my father looked, but how UNBELIEVABLY PERVY the spread was.

Here is just a taste of the spread. (Please excuse the low quality of these photos; this catalog was obviously folded up and hid from society for many years.)

I was so flabbergasted by this insane photoshoot, that I called my dad to see if he could shed any light on the homoerotic-slash-hint-of-child-molestation theme you’re about to see in the photos.

Did you do a lot (more…)

April 27, 2016 by hipstercrite

Hipstercrite Life, Thirty-something

Remember when we used to write super personal blog posts?

A recent work photo, where I was asked to bring something I love and I brought my NPR tumbler

Tonight my roommate and I went down a Gawker rabbit hole, which led to an Emily Gould mouse hole, which led to a “Why don’t I write super personal blog posts anymore?” ant hole.

Refreshing myself with Emily Gould reminded me of the late-aughts heyday of personal blogging, when I and many of my peers spilled our guts through our tiny real estate on the web. But as the years went on, many of us went on to careers that took priority over our blogs due to financial reasons. We also grew out of our twenties, having accumulated spouses and children on our exit, and not finding the time, energy or the inspiration to write about the nitty-gritty of our dramatically different personal lives.

But today…today I decided to write an good, ol’-fashioned Dear Diary post.

And it was way more difficult than I thought it would be.

You see, I’m seven years older than the 25-year-old (more…)

March 24, 2016 by hipstercrite

Austin

36 Hours in Austin: What the New York Times Missed

Last week you maybe saw the New York Times’ 36 Hours in Austin, Texas.

And maybe you thought to yourself, “Eh. At least they pointed out Ramen Tatsu-Ya and Valentina’s.“

Or maybe you spat at the screen or crumpled up your newspaper and shouted into the air, “DAMN YOU, NEW YORK TIMES. DAMN YOU AND YOUR LIST.”

We have to remind ourselves that these New York Times’ 36 Hours In essays are written for visitors with disposable incomes, but it’s still hard to see Rainey Street bars and over-crowded BBQ joints listed as must-see places in our city.

As a counterpoint to the New York Times article, I’ve written my own guide for people who A.) want to experience the “real” Austin and b.) who are broke as shit.

FRIDAY

Photo from Veracruz All Natural

1.) Straight to Veracruz All Natural, 2:30 p.m.
On your plane ride from New York City, the only thing you can think of are Austin’s delicious tacos, and you’ve been texting taco emojis all day to your Austin friend, Lucy, who is (more…)

March 10, 2016 by hipstercrite

Austin, Writing

Curbed Austin is now live!

Awww hells yeah.

Curbed Austin is now live.

I’ve been a fan of the Curbed series for years, most notably Curbed Detroit under the helm of Sarah Cox. The Detroit edition of Curbed continues to perfectly capture the unprecedented rise and fall and rise of one of America’s most iconic cities.

I’m confident that Curbed Austin will be as equally intriguing as we continue to watch this city balloon into one of the leading metropolises in our country.

The site, which officially went live this morning, is (wo)manned by acclaimed Austin writer Cindy Widner (former managing editor of the Austin Chronicle and Austin-area freelancer writer for 20 years).

I asked Cindy what readers can expect from Curbed Austin:

“Austinites can expect stories about design, development, and real estate that are informative, timely, and, most of all, fun and interesting to read. Curbed is really good about covering the details about how cities develop for people who are genuinely interested in the (more…)

February 22, 2016 by hipstercrite

Austin

Early Voting in Texas Starts Today!

source: Amanda Quraishi

Early voting in Texas starts today (until Feb. 26th), and I was reminded ONCE AGAIN that the Texas Railroad Commissioner has nothing to do with actual railroads (he or she deals with oil and shit). These reminders always greatly disappoint me. I really want this job to be about trains. If it was, I would apply for it.

What I would do if I was Texas Railroad Commissioner:

I would do all of my speeches wearing a conductor hat and suspenders. If someone from the crowd became unruly, I would blow (or throw) a train whistle at them. Then I would say to everyone, “Hey, everyone! Let’s go for a train ride!” and then everyone would get on the train and there would be sandwiches waiting for them. And we’d all sit and eat sandwiches and point at America from the window.

Then I’d put passenger trains back on all rails across America, so people can actually take the train EVERYWHERE. And these trains would be super fast and on time and the staff would be super happy (more…)

February 16, 2016 by hipstercrite

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