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Music, Pop Culture

Callin’ Oates- The 24/7 Emergency Hall & Oates Hotline

Are you in the need for some emergency Hall &  Oates croonin’? Do you need the sweet sweet tones of Daryl Hall to soothe your troubles away? Want the audio equivalent of some Oates mustache tickling your nose? Well fear no further!

Callin’ Oates- the 24/7 Emergency Hall & Oates hotline is at your service.

Dial 719-26-OATES and you’ll be given the healing gift of listening to #1″One on One”, #2 “Rich Girl”, #3 “Maneater” or #4 “Private Eyes”.

It’s free and legit. An experiment by Twilio.

I’m taking a bath with my rotary phone to “Private Eyes” right now.

(via  MSNBC)

December 21, 2011 by
Writing

Newt Gingrich’s Attack on Poor Children: A Poor Family’s Perspective

Over the past two weeks I’ve noticed a lot of social media anger and teasing directed towards Rick Perry’s recent “Strong” commercial wherein he gripes about gays being able to serve openly in the military but children not being allowed to pray publicly in school.  Around the same time another Republican made an equally prejudice and cruel comment regarding “really poor children, in really poor neighborhoods [who] have no habits of working and have nobody around them who works”, the “stupidity” of child labor laws, and the idea that poor children should become janitors in their schools. I’m surprised that Newt Gingrich’s speech hasn’t created as strong of an outrage considering how completely insensitive and ridiculous the speech was. When I first heard quotes from his speech on NPR, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Was it a joke? How could somebody be so thoughtless and downright mean?

I took particular offense to Gingrich’s speech because I came from what one could call a (more…)

December 15, 2011 by
Fashion/Design, Pop Culture

For the Love of the Lady Mustache

Yesterday I wrote about beauty in the media and how we compare and contrast. I made a little footnote on Facebook that I still dig Zooey Deschanel’s peach fuzz ‘stache. It appeared that you did too. A lot. You freaky mo-fo’s.

Because of your fetish for the lady fuzz, I decided to write a post in honor of the female mustache. The womanly whiskers. The lip caterpillar. The Man Tickler. The Wo. The Frida. The Lady Grimley.

If you Google “Lady Mustache” or “Female Mustache” you don’t find a lot of  appropriate photos (however, in that search you will find a picture of me as Freddie Mercury considered a facial hair “fail”), but you do find glossy magazine articles advising you on how to get rid of the pesky lip creature. Shave it, bleach it, wax it, rat trap it, stick your face in a boiling hot pot of water and scrape it off your face with a pumice rock. Everyone hatin’ on the lady ‘stache, but why?

Oh, because they’re fucking terrifying? Sure, I won’t argue with you there.

But (more…)

December 14, 2011 by
Fashion/Design, Pop Culture

Beauty in the Media and Why We Constantly Compare and Contrast

The other day, I came across a Buzzfeed article titled ‘10 Scary Celebrity Close-Ups‘. In it, we are gifted extreme close-ups of celebs such as Katy Perry, Zooey Deschanel and Jennifer Aniston. I’ll be honest, the article brought some joy to my life after discovering a giant pimple forming in the middle of my forehead. Whoa! Look at Zooey Deschanel’s peach fuzz ‘stache! I found myself saying. Hot damn! Katy Perry looks like a wax figure! I giggled with delight. I secretly hated myself for thinking such things, but it felt oh so good to see these revealing photos.

But why? Why did it feel so damn good?

Even as someone who worked behind the camera and saw firsthand that celebs are human beings too, it’s still difficult not to compare and contrast when seeing photos of polished and perfect celebrities. Their skin always flawless, their thighs cellulite-free, their stomachs flat and toned and their hair always perfect. And even though we have nice reminders that is indeed not always (more…)

December 13, 2011 by
Fashion/Design, Pop Culture

Has Banksy Sold Out?

The other day I was hanging out at Austin’s uber-indie book store Book People and stumbled across a row of Banksy greeting cards.

My initial thought was, “Oh my God…guerrilla artist, now Hallmark?” but then I thought, “Eh, people need to make a living.”

Selling a line of greeting cards of your famous work does seem kind of counter-intuitive to the guerrilla art culture, but who am I to judge? If you Google “Banksy greeting cards“, a link to Banksy’s shop comes up but the link is dead. The search blurb says, “Banksy neither produces or profits from the sale of greeting cards, mugs or photo canvases of his work. He is not represented by any of the commercial galleries…”

I don’t know. What do you guys think? Kind of difficult to trust a guy who made Exit Through the Gift Shop. 

What do you guys think of Banksy? Sell-out, artist, or marketing genius?

 

December 12, 2011 by
Writing

Are Bloggers Journalists?

Mashable featured an article today about Oregon blogger Crystal Cox who negatively blogged about The Obsidian Finance Group who in turn sued her for defamation. The blogger, who represented herself in court, lost the case. According to Oregon media laws she is not considered a journalist and therefor not protected. A large deciding factor in this case was that she refused to name an inside source who gave her information, therefore not able to prove her blog was truth. Her punishment for defamation? 2.5 million dollars.

Mashable utilized the story to frame the question- are bloggers journalists?

This is an age old debate that comes up time and time again. It’s a question I rarely think about because I do not consider myself a journalist, but as I delve deeper into the world of freelance writing, I feel this might become more pertinent to me.

My blog has never been a news source. It’s a personal opinion site. Are facts intermingled in there? Yes. Do I try very hard to do my (more…)

December 8, 2011 by
Fashion/Design

Winter Fashion Staples: How To Look Stylish and Not Like Ralphie From A Christmas Story

It’s that time of year. That time where we Texans contemplate if we miss summer or not. 108 degrees or 40 degrees- which would you take?

Yes, Winter is finally here and I am completely not prepared.

I grew up in a town that has 8 month Winters and because of that and moved far, far away, as quickly as I could.  Because of this, I pretend that Winter no longer exists.

Every Winter I think I can get away without a heavy jacket and gloves and every Winter I suffer. Greatly. Or rather the people around me do. They have to listen to my teeth chattering and my exaggerated pleas for survival.

But, this year I’m going to be smart. This week is the first butt-ass cold week of the year and I’m already getting my Winter checklist ready. A checklist that doesn’t involve sweatpants. You know, the one where you can still look stylish and not like a bundled up Ralphie from A Christmas Story.

Check it below.

What are your winter staples?

Sheer Circle Scarf– This is quite possibly the (more…)

December 7, 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