I promised that I would only write one blog post about the presidential candidate I’m supporting, but I’m breaking that promise. Both Geoff and I are feeling the Bern, and we made Bernie Valentines for your viewing and sharing pleasure. We hope you enjoy!
Warning: There are some sad photos in here, but this is a happy story!
My friend Carrie works at the Austin Animal Center, and her Facebook feed is often filled with photos of Austin’s stray dogs and cats. Each animal has a back story, many times a sad one. The neglect, abuse and disease can be seen on their sweet faces.
One of these beautiful creatures was Wilbur, an 8-week-old, 2.75-pound chihuahua-Jack Russell puppy that came into the center at the end of 2015. Carrie named him Wilbur, after the pig in Charlott’es Web. His skin was pink and inflamed due to mange and neglect.
As Carrie tells it, “He caught my eye one day when I was walking by. I saw this sweet, sad little puppy curled up in the corner and had to meet him. Although he was very sick, he loved being held, and we became quick friends. He would just curl up in my arms and whimper, while also licking my face. On days when I worked, I would walk by his unit and look to make sure he was still there. We had many early (more…)
I used to write a lot about personal stuff on my blog, but I kind of shied away from it over the years. Hipstercrite started as a sort of journal for me, a place for me to chronicle my adventures moving from Los Angeles to Austin and post passive-aggressive notes to former boyfriends, but it’s slowly become a depository for my commentary on society and pop culture. I still write the occasional personal piece, but my reality has become much more boring. My life is normal and happy- all the things I hoped for when I was the angsty twenty-something who started this blog. Reality also comes with sadness; life deals you some tough blows as you age, and I guess I decided that Hipstercrite was going to become a strictly fun place. With that being said, I thought I’d write a post about my year, which entailed some ups and downs- as most years do.
-Some of you may remember Lionel, my grandma’s partner of many years. Last I wrote about him, he had Alzheimer’s and was living in a care facility. (more…)
Hey, y’all.
I’ve never gotten political on my blog, but today I am.
This will most likely be the one and only time I post about a specific politician, unless this politician ends up winning the presidency. Then I might write a second post where I write IN CAPS AND EXCLAMATION POINTS AND HEARTS.
However, I’m feeling the Bern, as I believe Bernie Sanders is one of the most honest, hard-working and intelligent presidential candidates America’s had in a long time, and I want to share only just a few reasons as to why I’m voting for him.
1.) Bernie believes that black lives matter.
2.) Bernie was a civil rights activist and organizer in his youth and participated in the 1963 March on Washington.
3.) When asked about Islamphobia in America by a young Muslim woman, Bernie asked her to come down to the stage, hugged her and responded with “I will do everything I can to rid this country of the ugly stain of racism that has existed here for far too many years.”
4.) (more…)
Some of you may recall my previous adventures in edibles, where I feared my face was falling off AND my boyfriend was going to jump off our hotel room balcony. I vowed never to try edibles again. Except I did. And I lost my friggin’ mind again.
First, let me say this: Because marijuana is legalized in Colorado, it’s kind of not a big thing. People who don’t smoke or eat weed, smoke or eat weed. It’s like alcohol: easy to buy at stores, at parties, people over the age of 40 enjoy it.
And second, lemme say this: CURRENT AND FUTURE EMPLOYERS, I’M NOT A DRUG USER. COLORADO IS THE DEVIL. IT’S LIKE VEGAS, BUT MUCH PRETTIER.
Ok, so after my last episode, I was like, “Nope. No way. Never again. This is Satan’s bacon.”
But then I was snowshoeing in Breckenridge with my boyfriend and friend, and the friend was like, “Here, just eat 1/3 of this ONE gummy bear. You will be fine.”
And I thought, Sure. I’ll be fine. What the hell can happen on 1/3 of one gummy?
WELL, A LOT (more…)
I wrote a piece over on my Medium channel regarding social media and the Paris attacks.
I wanted to bring it over here as well.
In light of the tragedy in Paris, as I stared wide-eyed at the news trickling in, I wrote this on my Facebook and Twitter pages:
“When one doesn’t post on social media about tragic events, it doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t care. They might choose to reflect or mourn in private.”
Adding to the worldwide conversation felt trivial, needless. Writing the standard “My thoughts are with Paris” or “ Hold your loved ones closer tonight” felt like understatements. Changing my photo to the French flag felt meaningless. There is nothing I can offer to my social media community at this time, nor do they need to confirm how sad and frustrated I am. They feel the same way.
(I am not judging those who choose to express their grief this way; for me, it just doesn’t feel right.)
However, a concern that pops up- a concern that one shouldn’t be entertaining (more…)
Yesterday I went to Monkey Town 6, the immersive experimental-film-slash-four-course-meal experience currently running at 2416 E. 6th Street.
If you haven’t bought tickets yet, you should before it sells out. (The event runs until February 7.)
I had no idea what I was in for at Monkey Town 6, but it exceeded any expectation I had. Imagine walking into a dim warehouse, a brightly-lit video cube hovers in the distance, sound thundering within. On the cube plays a mosaic of Central Park; below it, church pews and tables line the square. You mingle with other guests, vinho verde in hand, as you take in your surroundings. Upon sitting, plates by Hillside Farmacy and Eden East chef Sonya Cote make their way to your table as a rotation of experimental films from talent throughout the world plays above. Halfway through the evening, local opera singer Liz Cass sings to a silent French art film.
Monkey Town is as New York art world as you can get. In fact, recent guests (more…)
I received a message on Instagram to check out an upcoming bar in East Austin. Since I live in East Austin, I was curious and went to the bar’s Instagram account.
And I saw this:
There are so many things wrong with this photo:
-Why does this person think that what he perceives as “run down places” in East Austin are just screaming for a new bar or restaurant? Last I checked, East Austin has an assload of them.
-Why does this person think that the owner of this well-liked and well-utilized neighborhood grocery store is not an entrepreneur? (This is the neighborhood grocery store at Comal & 3rd.) Definition of entrepreneur: A person who organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking on greater than normal financial risks in order to do so.
-Why does this person think that East Austin “needs” entrepreneurs who could put a little elbow grease into all these “run down places”? East Austin needs saving by people with money, I guess. Forget all the folks who have (more…)
Big Sexy
“See that blue cat over there?” Jacques Casimir, co-owner of Blue Cat Cafe in Austin, Texas, asks me with a hint of pride in his voice. “That’s Big Sexy.”
Big Sexy is indeed big and sexy. At eight years of age and almost 20 pounds, he carries his girth with ease and confidence. We watch as he plops himself onto a coffee table and backs his wide hips between smiling customers, akin to a tractor trailer going in reverse.
His eyes chase the younger cats, all waiting to be adopted just like Big Sexy, as they prance and dart through the brightly colored cafe. Is he laughing at their youthful ignorance, or is he mesmerized by the shiny ball three feet from the table? We may never know.
Casimir confides in me that he hopes Big Sexy will be a permanent fixture at the cafe, alongside Gollum, a sandy-colored, green-eyed fluffball with folded ears, and Balthazar, a soothing tabby who enjoys nesting on customers’ (more…)
The saga continues….
Someone really hates that billboard. // #eastaustin #guncontrol