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Austin, Film, Pop Culture

Awesome Lady Hero of the Day: Adrienne Shelly

adrienne shelly

Ever since I was a little girl I was fascinated with the art and fantasy of film. This fascination led me to film school and then to Los Angeles where I held an assistant role at the production company of an Oscar Award-winning actor.

My upbringing and surroundings in Los Angeles barely introduced me to the world of independent cinema. Sure, I saw movies that weren’t produced by large studios, but they were still the films that had known actors in them or were bought for millions of dollars at Sundance. I had no concept of the 99% of other independent films on the film festival or local scenes (film school most definitely doesn’t tell you about this world either). My childhood art house theater was 30 miles away from my home and when I dragged my high school friends to see American Beauty (not an independent film and produced by Dreamworks), I thought I truly knew what independent film was.

It wasn’t until I moved to Austin and began meeting a large number of the country’s best (more…)

January 24, 2013 by
Austin

Hipstercrite’s 100% Natural Good-Time Family Blog Solution (i.e. My Blogging 101 Class!)

blogging 101

Gxfhkasdwrwq, dfhkadfh!
Wait, a minute. Let me take a sip of my coffee.
Ahh…that’s better.
Howdy, gang!
So, I’m putting on a blogging class! Yay!
I came up with the blogging class idea last year and with the outpouring of interest and support I decided to make that dream a reality!

This blogging class is for:
–Peeps who want to start a blog but don’t know where to start.
–Peeps who already have a blog, but want to make it more awesome than it already is.

In the class we will discuss:

–So Which Blogging Platform Really is Best?: We’ll go over the pros and cons of WordPress, Blogger, Typepad, Squarespace, Tumblr etc. and decide which one is best for you.

–To Niche or Not to Niche: What the hell should I make my blog about? What sort of blog do people like to read? Should I just post a bunch of selfies and hope that fashion designers will pay for advertising on my blog?

–Is Content Really King?: You can have a sleek-looking blog, but if you have poo-poo for content, (more…)

January 22, 2013 by
20-Something, Hipstercrite Life, Pop Culture

Tell Me Your Secrets and I’ll Tell You Mine

conan o'brien secrets

Once in a while I tell secrets on my blog.

What the hell am I talking about? I have no secrets. I throw up every thought, feeling and experience like a kid on a roller coaster after gorging him or herself at The Golden Corral.  You’re subjected to the constant diarrhea of my mental flow.

However, one time I did have a specific secrets post where I shared details about sunbathing nude on the rooftop of my former celebrity boss’ office and being called “carpetmuncher” as a child.

It’s been a few years since that post, so I’ve decided to add to the list:

-One time Jeremy Irons hit on me. At least I think he did. I’m assuming he thought I was someone else though. I was standing alone in the corner of a Toronto Film Festival party and he walked up, stuck out his hand and said, “Hiii, I’m Jerrrrrrremey” in his flirty English accent. Confused, I stuck out my hand quickly and said, “Hi, I’m Lauren” and then we stood there side-by-side in silence until I nervously walked away.

-I (more…)

January 18, 2013 by
20-Something, Hipstercrite Life

Do You Suffer From Hypochondria?

flu epidemic of 2013

I’ve been suffering from a disease for quite some time now.  Denial has kept me from acknowledging in, but after much research and soul-searching I’ve finally come to terms with this infliction.

I suffer from hypochondria.

It’s an exhausting ailment that takes a great deal out of me. A large portion of my mental energy is exerted while imagining diseases I could be dying from. There has been the “side cancer” I thought I was battling for the past two months (kidney infection), the blood clot in my arm (pulled muscle), the brain tumor (sinus headaches) and a plethora of other aches and pains that I assume must be life-threatening. If I didn’t have shitty-ass insurance, I’d probably be at the doctor every time my appetite is low (must be scurvy!) or am sleepy (thyroid cancer!). All the little stories I’ve heard and accumulated through the years- the friend of a friend of a friend who didn’t know he had diabetes and almost went into a coma, the film business acquaintance who didn’t (more…)

January 17, 2013 by
Austin, Travel

Exploring the Americana of Small Town Texas (pics)

Geoff and I took a lovely trip to Gonzales, Texas this weekend (60 miles due south from Austin on Highway 183); he was acting in a movie and I was happily reconnecting with nature after becoming a complete workaholic recluse.

Acting is something that Geoff has gotten into recently (he acted in two movies last year) and disconnecting with reality and working on the couch is my current hobby. Needless to say, the short trip was advantageous for both of us (though I had a mini-meltdown when I realized that the SOLE coffee shop in Gonzales closed down over two years ago).

Gonzales, like similar old towns dotted over the state of Texas, is small and quaint. A sign proclaiming, “Pocketknives are IN! Pick up yours today!” greeted us as we drove in. Like rings on a tree, you can see the decades of wear on the semi-deserted downtown. On the smallest ring, you see the strong, granite buildings from the 1800s  with beautiful tin tile ceilings and floor to rooftop windows. The next ring you can (more…)

January 14, 2013 by
20-Something, Hipstercrite Life

Why I’m Incapable of Touching Other Women

I’ve never been a girly girl.

This is a topic I’ve written about before and one I often battle with. When I see a gaggle of gals giggling and gallivanting with one another (I’ve been practicing my alliteration skills lately), I feel like a sad puppy staring out onto the sidewalk from inside the pet store window while simultaneously throwing up poopy newspaper that I ate from the bottom of the cage.

Having large herds of girlfriends and playing with each other’s hair and going on shopping trips together is something I’d like to do, but physically can’t make myself act on.

Maybe it’s because I’m an only child and am still perplexed at 29  as to how to play well with others or maybe it’s because as a child most adults thought I’d be a future lesbian due to my lack of wanting to dress as Cinderella or Madonna and instead reveled in pretending I was Rod Serling or Groucho Marx. Who the hell wants to be a blonde chick with no decipherable talents? I’d rather be a middle-aged Jewish (more…)

January 9, 2013 by
Film, Pop Culture, Writing

Have You Seen Holy Hell?: The First Film to Premiere on the iPad is Making Waves in Interactive Media

So, y’all have heard about the first ever iPad movie, Holy Hell, shot in good ol’ Austin, TX, right?

If you haven’t been following this cutting-edge series, the final chapter of the film will be released today and you should check it out so you can become one of the cool kids that can  say, “Yeah… I just watched the first ever movie made for the iPad,  SO WHAT?”

In celebration of the final chapter’s debut, the filmmakers are offering the entire film FOR FREE this Friday, January 11th and Saturday, January 12th.

The film has been getting a lot of buzz in the film and tech industries, with its own flashy SXSW Interactive panel to add to its long list of cool factors.

The feature stars Edwin Neal (TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE), Kenneth Wayne Bradley (DRIVE ANGRY), Barbara Chisholm (FAST FOOD NATION) and Ellie McBride (TREE OF LIFE), and was directed by director Rafael Antonio Ruiz, who is currently voyaging the festival circuit with his acclaimed short A Quiet Girl’s Guide to Violence (more…)

January 8, 2013 by
20-Something, Fashion/Design, Hipstercrite Life, Pop Culture

You Can’t Take a Picture of This; It’s Already Gone

Last Friday, I posted the picture of my grandparents seen below on my Hipstercrite Facebook page. The photo and the story behind it proved to be popular, so I decided to sift through old photographs of my family and post them here.

For reference, the photos include my grandfather and grandmother on my mother’s side, my father, my mother and I. My grandparents divorced in the 1960s and my grandfather died shortly thereafter. My parents divorced in the 1990s and I am their only child. I’m close to all of them and looking at these photos brings me both great joy and sadness that so much time has passed.

We’re all stuck in the past, so oblivious as to what’s to come…

 

 Grandma and Grandpa on their honeymoon, Lake Placid 1945

Grandma, age 19, 1945

 Grandpa during WWII, 1942?

 Grandpa’s work photo, shortly before he died, mid-1960s

Grandma in Mexico, early 1970s

Mom in Mexico, early 1970s

Grandma and Mom in Mexico, early 1970s

 Mom in New Orleans, mid-1970s

Dad, (more…)

January 7, 2013 by
20-Something, Austin, Hipstercrite Life

Are You a Moochetarian?: The Act of Not Eating Meat Unless it is Given to You

The holidays are a challenging time for dietary restrictions. If you don’t eat meat, fish, gluten, dairy or fatty foods, it’s often difficult to avoid eating what you can’t or don’t what to eat. Whether it’s your tightly-budgeted, all-pizza holiday office party or your grandmother calling “veggematarians” “stupid idiots” while cooking a ham hock for the family Christmas dinner, sometimes you just don’t have a choice in what you eat this time of year.

Having stayed in Austin (a town full of health-conscious and animal welfare-conscious hippies open thinkers)  for the holidays and attending several Christmas dinners and parties, the question, “Do you eat meat?” came up frequently. For years now, I’ve felt that the long-winded and convoluted answer I gave people sounded like a crock of horseshit, but I discovered last month that many people have similar diets. I also discovered from my friend Jerm what the name for our kind is:

Moochetarian [moo-cha-tair-ee-un]–a person who does not (more…)

January 3, 2013 by
20-Something, Austin, Film, Hipstercrite Life, Pop Culture, Writing

Delusions of Grandeur 2013: What Are Your Big Dreams for the New Year?

2012, my last year of slinging it through my twenties, was a year of many firsts: completed my first movie, advanced my freelance writing career, started the second year of an adult relationship with someone I love and fart in front of,  got a pet cat!…which died two weeks later, met David Duchovny…in his boxer shorts! and had my adopted grandfather move into a home for folks with Alzheimer’s which threw off the emotional balance of my family.

Overall it was a pretty wonderful year, one I will look back on when I’m an old, wrinkly woman and think, “2012 was the best year of my life”  while silently weeping into a pillow.

I recently came across a list I wrote at 12 years of age of predictions for my adult self. The list included: “Make a movie!”, “meet David Duchovny!”, “write a book!” and “meet Elton John!”. It still boggles my mind that two of those have come true considering at 12 years of age I had mighty delusions of grandeur, but maybe I’ve always had that “dream big!” (more…)

December 31, 2012 by