Hipsternerd Part II

   Yeah, I'd been thinking just to leave my last post, part 1, at that, but something clicked that really sizzled with me far deeper than any vague notions for a sequel/follow-up post that I'd had while writing the first (Second?) post yesterday. And now that I look at it, well, it's kind of ambitious, but let's just go over a very very basic outline of what I'd had in mind. Let's jump into it.

   Nerds and hipsters- kind of an arbitrary mashup/pairing there, now that I think on it, but of course it becomes pretty clear why I'm doing this if you keep in mind that these are two sort of, stock characters? archetypes? countercultural movements? Well, that last one's closer, though the term "counterculture" has kind of become loaded again, and maybe it always has been that- subculture, that's the word. (subgenre?) -- these subcultures are ones that I sort of defined myself as fitting into (though not necessarily belonging to; entire volumes can be written exploring inside/outside cultural phenomena.) Sort of defined myself as fitting into, in a very silly manner of course, not at all being serious (that is at least I don't think)-- but the possibilities of my belonging have been brought up before so I suppose it's time to face that head-on.

   This isn't going to be self-indulgent, I swear-- that was all just a rehash of why I'm comparing these kind of arbitrary apples and oranges.

   It would be helpful to go over what I see as the basic assumptions/driving forces of the two factions as they stand today (though, it should be noted with extreme care, not how they've necessarily always stood):

   Hipsters: Roots taking place in the countercultural minirevolution of beatniks in the back alleys- the revolution under the surface of the water, waiting to break out into the mainstream revolution. And when that happens, moving onto something else. Gradually evolving over the years, but always doing the "cool" thing before the "cool" thing becomes cool- or at least, that's the story needing to be told in order to maintain structure and the identity of the movement itself. Such ideals can of course lead to kneejerk reactions against anything in the mainstream- and it often does lead to that, of course. Which is hipsterdom's most iconic and thus most mockable facet- that schizoid blend of vinyl records and iPad 4s (or whatever the heck the latest iPad is nowadays.) It's a basic human longing, to feel if not to be special- to be the elite, the avant garde- super post modern, and thus super hip - which isn't always an ideal that's met, of course, and thus when lacking the resources for hipness, self-deprecatingly (re: postmodernly) unhip.

   Nerds: Mercilessly persecuted throughout time, ever taking refuge in the idea that the persecutions and houndings were by an uneducated mass and that the subculture in fact rather represented the elite (whether these assumptions were correct or not is not my place to debate here- but I can point out that these assumptions aren't unfounded.) Like anything underground, there evolved an air of genuine coolness- and, now thrust into limelight, the barriers are breaking down and the entire thing's rather like a snake thrashing around without its head, as the subculture is becoming just plain old pop culture- with the injection of the "anything goes" new blood, the old blood --bound together through shared experience of persecution-- is searching for a core. Identity here is so shifting that it's near impossible to pin down any one basic tenet or screed, but if you were to run across one, you'd know it- a non-continuum continuum.

   A lot more research could probably have stood getting put into those definitions, but you understand the basic outlines how I see them. And as you can see, they're not totally incompatible.

   Now not all human behavior can be ascribed to these basic motivations of course- but a shockingly large amount can, I think.

Hipsternerd (Part I, Potentially)

   Post in follow-up to "Nerdhipster" of, well it went up exactly one week ago, but I wrote actually two years ago of course... and now no longer necessarily agree with 100%? Or maybe at all? So I thought I'd follow up on it. Maybe I was being, satirical, or something, when I wrote that... It was a long time ago... I don't know, I can't read my own thoughts...

   I think I remember thinking some of that stuff (definitely the Nutella stuff, though that may just have been kneejerk to watching it go, well, viral like that. Viral! Nutella of all things!)

   And the Doctor Who thing, it was because I hadn't seen the show in a while, and so jumping in to any given episode I had absolutely no idea what was going on. But then again. Doctor Who is always like that.

   Yep, yep, I was being, somehow, satirical.

   ...And a whole article could be posted up on the layers of (hypocrisy? culture? irony?) behind making that statement.

   And thus I withdraw. Am I still a hipster? Am I still a nerd? Depends on your definitions behind that... that's a whole other article right there... if this turns out to be only part one of a series, so be it- because I still can't stop thinking about it, and it's about time to post this up for the day...

   We'll see.

Sort of, Sorting

   I've accumulated a lot of stuff over two years. Trying to figure out how to put this... The apartment as I left it officially, moving out, well I hadn't really packed my stuff much. Going to the final Interview with the Mission President, it turns out that from that we went straight onto the luncheon that signified the official end of my best two years (though set-apart I still may have been at the time.) I had thought I would have more packing time. But, nope. I didn't actually manage to finish packing it until it was actually time to leave. And it wasn't really packing either... Mom's got photos to prove it, my stuff was still everywhere. What Mom also has is too much basic human decency to horrify you by posting them on her blog. So thank you very much.

   An upside to most of my stuff not being in some bunch of suitcases- no matter how tightly packed the suitcases would have been, there wouldn't have been room. The car as it came to pick me up was... already pretty stuffed in itself. Having my items sorted into loose clusters allowed for some pretty fine nook-and-cranny work. And Dad- boy, Dad- Dad somehow managed to cram it all into the car in a way that would make the Tetris gods themselves curl up into a little ball in the corner and pretend that what they just witnessed wasn't real. It really was quite incredible. Props to you.

   And so today, my task is to sort through that, but also to check out all the stuff I'd left from before my mission. All my drawings I did, for one (not as bad as I remember, but I'm still genuinely sorry if I subjected you to some awful stuff.)

   And lots of other things as well. I guess it's time to get onto that.

The Snowflake

   Alright... still trying to figure out how to deal with all this stuff. Usage of my time has been... difficult, to figure out. Context for all of this, in case you haven't been paying attention to what's going on here (or are looking back through these posts at some future point and wondering maybe what the hey I'm talking about around this time period) :

   So, yes- I'm just recently here off of my mission- two years, full time there- Dec 7 2012 through Nov 19th 2014.

   Posts have been going up these two years, though. Prescheduled postings. All of them, or at least most of them, composed beforehand. And, well, not actually 100% finished, didn't get a full two years in there... (That subject, well, yeah I've been familiar with it even on the mission- I'm still working out my journaling project from the mission, getting down my two years of days there. I've got still that last week to go. Which, isn't that bad... But I'm struggling to find initiative to complete it within a reasonable timeframe...)

   And here we are, a universe full of stuff out there to be writing about (loots of stuff, so much stuff) and I'm just reviewing this here, this "stuff" that maybe you are already familiar with, instead of novel stuff, two whole years' worth of stories or anything- I'm just making a rehash.

   Not that homecoming has been without its inspiration, of course- I would definitely not say that there's nothing going on in my life right now, but there's a lot of emotional really subtle and maybe even kind of private things stringing together, even somewhat elegantly...

   Strings in my own life- home, the emotions (sometimes mixed muddled and confusing) associated therewith. (Being home! returning to things! I haven't fully reintegrated yet and maybe there are even one or two things that I'm leaving in this box of get-on-that-later, perhaps indefinitely.)

   Strings as well, in the lives of (one or two of) my friends and... maybe just one, specifically, but it's... Well, it's mixed muddled confusing and kind of private. For now. But it's not that bad, looking into it. It just, is. And isn't that always enough?

   I'm sure we've all felt this weird kind of string of complexities in our lives, escalating the strange into the surreal. It happens. It happens more frequently than you realize.

   And it's never the same twice.

Only One Monitor! Aaahh!

   Can't tell you ho claustrophobic this is, working with one screen only after working two years at a workstation with two...

   I've always thought, oh, real life is so messy, what are you going to do with all this crap, you can't organize it into folders instantly and do autosearches for anything or anything- but at least real life is, well, wide I suppose. This computer here, I'm so limited to only what's within this 12 by, uh, 13 flatscreen frame...

Thespis Strip Dated Sunday, November 21, 2010

Click to embiggen.

TRANSCRIPT:
Marvin: The Stella Awards are awards handed out yearly to that year's most frivolous lawsuits.
They're named after Stella Liebeck, who once famously sued McDonald's after her coffee was too hot.
Collin: They completely miss the point that the Liebeck case was not at all frivolous.
Stella Liebeck was 79 years old.She removed the coffee cup lid to put in cream and sugar, spilling the hot liquid all over her cotton sweatpants. It soaked in and gave her third-degree burns.
Not friv'lous.
Marvin: But they have awards named after her? She should sue!
Collin: But wouldn't that defeat the purpose? If she sues for defamation of character because she doesn't go around suing frivolously, that itself would be a frivolous lawsuit, defeating the purpose of itself.
It'd be the judicial equivilent [sic] of the "this sentence is a lie" paradox.
Marvin: ...it'd still be cool. 

NOTES:
   I hate it when I misspell things, which I do in this strip, and I kind of have to point it out with the little [sic] which just makes me look bad because it draws attention to the mistake. But, I own up to my mistakes, eh? Anyway, that water was boiling. That's just dangerous, man. Also, the double meaning of the word "cool" does not escape my notice, so let's pretend it was intentional.

If You're Gonna Get Made (Don't Be Afraid of What You've Learned)

   Turing 23 today. I'll go see if there's any Dogwood trees for me to curl up under, maybe gonna listen for the angels and see a girl with pearly skin wondering aimlessly.

Because I've got just enough indie cred to make Blitzen Trapper references, but not enough to actually do that to any but that band's greatest hit. Huh.

MEMORANDUM: A Word of Old News that's New

   It's always so awkward doing a backlog post, making a post and having it go up retroactively. Believe me, I know; two years of trying to catch up on the backlogs of my mission journals have taught me that (more on that later.) The weirdest part is this, speaking of things that happened in between where your post is supposed to have taken place and when you actually wrote it. Do you use the past tense? Future tense? Burn Notice tense or X-Men tense? Weird Dan Streetmentioner things, or what?

   That's the problem I am faced with now... in the future.

   I am writing this post on November 20th, the day after I'm backscheduling it to go up, anyway. I should come up with a more unified way of handling these...

   (More on that later, too.)

   Why is this going on right now, in the future, you may ask? Well, actually though I arrived home tonight, fully honorably released from my mission services, I neither got the opportunity to get at a computer, nor really even recall the password to this thing to get on, to tell you. But here I am.

   That is right, that is my announcement. Which most of you probably already know anyway.

Nerdhister

   I think I should change my name to, "Doctor Who sold itself out," so that either my friends after repeating my name enough either come to my way of thinking, or realize what an insufferable nerdhipster I am and cease to be my friend.

   Same with Nutella. I never really liked Nutella all that much either. Blasphemy, I know. I still dig cats and am okay with bacon. We cool, internet? Alright. I did like Nutella, at first, back when it was still obscure (I don't believe in something "before it was cool," as something was either always cool or it wasn't,) but then other people started liking it...

   No, it's not that. It's just never been that good. It's overhyped. It's just impossible to take these things seriously when they're the subject of so many memes. They're just made petty and trivial and stupid. To all the living legends, I want to say, I'm sorry you got to live long enough to see the rise of meme generation.

Indoors.

   So, there was this, and I thought...

   ...Indoors. Right? Just go inside, and then your reflection will show who you are, inside.

Post THE THOUSANDTH, In Which Not Much Happens

   Not much is happening. Well, there's probably stuff happening, like, all around us, and I'm probably doing something right now, but, uh, no, we're not doing very much to celebrate such an auspicious occasion. It's not like this falls on a year mark or anything. It's my birthday this week, and Thanksgiving, but, let's save the partying for those dates.

Correspondence 3/25/12 22:45 - 22:56

   Is this generation the zenith of history? What will the future of the internet look like? How much of it will be distinctly pornographic in nature, and will there be any family-friendly corners? We discuss.

10:45pm

Eric Perazzo

Naw, to me, the internet is just communication and rule 34. No way they'll invent something other than that. Only new memes off of those.

10:45pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

Yep, we've truly hit the ceiling. Though I guess pornography and social networking are two of the biggest uses.

10:46pm

Eric Perazzo

I shudder at the prospect of social porn, which is surely what the Singularity will look like.

10:47pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

Huh. Well, there are like... adult meet up sites modeled mostly after social networking sites. Is that social porn?

10:48pm

Eric Perazzo

No, I mean, like, it's social networking, but instead of using words you speak in pornography.

Imaginably, heavily advertised.

10:48pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

Huh! I wonder how that would even work. I imagine it could, though.

10:49pm

Eric Perazzo

At least it'd be easy to spot the sex offenders.

10:50pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

Hm, well, there is a tradition on some sites of verifying that nude images you post are of you by including timestamps, writing on the body, etc. So I think we're already seeing it.

10:50pm

Eric Perazzo

The FUTURE!

10:51pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

And there are whole sites based around self posted images, largely in that style, but they aren't social networking sites. Almost there, I guess?

10:51pm

Eric Perazzo

Well, I was wondering what spam would look like in the Artefact. Now I guess I know.

You got anything on OH yet, or will that be a tomorrow thing?

10:54pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

Probably tomorrow, yeah. Also, on the subject of scifi 'verses, I've been reading up on the Eclipse Phase setting. It's from a tabletop RPG, but I think the books are creative commons and free as pdfs. Very interesting stuff that I think you'd like.

10:55pm

Eric Perazzo

Tomorrow.

10:56pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

Reasonable. Anyway, yeah. I guess I'm going to sleep now.

10:56pm

Eric Perazzo

Yeah, that was kind of worth it, I suppose. Good night.

10:56pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

I'd say so. Good night yourself.

Correspondence 3/25/12 22:37 - 22:43

   Is this the "me" generation? Or is the new shift toward social media ensuring that's not happening? The concept of "blog" embodies both of these, paradoxically. We discuss.

10:37pm

Eric Perazzo

Blog. It's like a personal thing, but designed to show off to other people.

10:37pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

What a future we live in.

10:37pm

Eric Perazzo

It connects us.

10:38pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

And some argue it isolates us. But, you know, to heck with them.

10:38pm

Eric Perazzo

I don't believe in the "me" generation, either.

10:39pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

I do to a certain extent. I think it's a double edged sword.

10:39pm

Eric Perazzo

Yeah, there's feeling of entitlement, there, too.

10:40pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

I'd say it's a good thing we're still socially adjusting to. If that makes sense.

10:40pm

Eric Perazzo

Our generation is truly at the most crucial moment in human history.

10:41pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

Oh, I think they all say that.

10:41pm

Eric Perazzo

So long as it's in the present, yeah.

But this time it's truer.

10:42pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

Maybe. Probably a little.

10:43pm

Eric Perazzo

It all comes down to whether this is it, or will there be future innovation on what the internet can bring us.

10:43pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

I'm sure there will be.

In any case, I think I'm off to bed.

Correspondence 3/25/12 22:28 - 22:35

   Blog name decided, the question is raised: what kind of posts to post? We conclude: "worthwhile" posts, posts that edify the reader by letting them catch a glimpse of your innermost self, in whatever way that may be.

10:28pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

Guess that's what I'm going with.

Hm, now I need to decide what to, and not to post, I guess.

10:31pm

Eric Perazzo

It's a tough line to balance.

10:32pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

Yeah. Is posting names of birds I find to be hilariously silly and made-up sounding a valid use of my blog or no? It's hard to say.

10:32pm

Eric Perazzo

It's edifying the reader through an extension of you, I suppose.

If that makes any sense.

10:33pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

A little bit. Okay, maybe it's better for a later entry.

10:34pm

Eric Perazzo

Ultimately, this is up to you, though. Remember.

10:35pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

Yeah, that's true. I suppose I'll go by the vague qualifier of thoughts and ideas that are "worthwhile".

Correspondence 3/25/12 22:12 - 22:28

   Still stuck on a name for Cailin's blog...

10:13pm

Eric Perazzo

I like Phylum Anthropoda.

10:13pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

Which is apparently available. Plus, exuvium isn't exclusive to hexapods.

10:14pm

Eric Perazzo

It's so great. It can take on practically any tone you want it to.

10:15pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

Yeah, I like it a lot, actually. But I'm glad I didn't take it just now, because it's "arthropoda", not "anthropoda". Oops.

10:16pm

Eric Perazzo

Joint foot. More sense.

10:16pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

Yeah. And it's also taken. Dang, man.

10:17pm

Eric Perazzo

You could go back to the man foot thing, and pretend you're...

10:17pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

Ha, yeah, I was thinking of ways to justify it too.

10:18pm

Eric Perazzo

Might as well be.

10:18pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

Or I could just go with Anthropod.

...Or not.

10:18pm

Eric Perazzo

Why, also already taken?

10:19pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

Yep.

10:19pm

Eric Perazzo

Man, these people.

10:20pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

How about "Occidental Hoodoo"?

10:20pm

Eric Perazzo

Snarkoleptic? Like, a snarky narcoleptic?

10:20pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

Ha, I like that too.

10:20pm

Eric Perazzo

There was a word that sounded really good backwards, what was it.

10:20pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

Snarkoleptic is also taken.

10:21pm

Eric Perazzo

Greek gods sound like drug brand names when you spell them backwards.

10:22pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

Susyinoid sounds like a B-movie sci fi thing.

But yeah, how did Occidental Hoodoo sound?

10:24pm

Eric Perazzo

Well, this is the west...

10:25pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

It's from a joke Joe and I would make. About using "oriental" offensively, and how occidental can't be used in the same way.

10:26pm

Eric Perazzo

Ah, man. We're getting away from bugs, though.

It's good, other than that.

10:27pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

Yeah. It's the name I use for a lot of things, though, so it doesn't have to become a theme.

10:28pm

Eric Perazzo

Ah, alright.

10:28pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

Also, it's available.

10:28pm

Eric Perazzo

Even better.

Correspondence 3/25/12 21:48 - 22:12

   Cailin decides to embark on a blog. Ideas for how to chug out daily posts out of the way, we gear up and tackle the greatest challenge of all: coming up with a good blog name. But, first, blog post tips:

9:48pm

Eric Perazzo

Write a lot of drafts, so you have something to expand if you're stuck for a daily topic.

9:49pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

That's not bad. Anything else?

9:51pm

Eric Perazzo

In case you're stuck for a daily topic? Serialization.

9:52pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

Oh, that's good too. I'm stuck on a name, though.

9:54pm

Eric Perazzo

Something ridiculously misdirecting, perhaps. Like, Chicago Glassworks, or something.

Remember, though. Once you pick it out, you're stuck with it.

9:55pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

This is true. How does Grand Rapids Brewery sound?

9:56pm

Eric Perazzo

Too hard to explain.

9:58pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

How so?

9:59pm

Eric Perazzo

You'd be stuck with it, remember, with no really good story to explain what you're brewing.

10:00pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

Well I've no idea.

10:01pm

Eric Perazzo

Though Brewing as a metaphor isn't that bad of an idea, come to think of it.

But what do the grand rapids symbolize? Your mind?

10:01pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

Er, inspiration.

10:02pm

Eric Perazzo

The Criminal Animal?

10:02pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

Not available as a URL, apparently.

Well, with a "the" it is.

10:03pm

Eric Perazzo

But it'd have such an adorable vandal raccoon as its mascot.

All spray painting that wall.

10:04pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

They're already vandals. Um, my username will be Exuviae, so maybe something entomologically themed?

10:06pm

Eric Perazzo

All I can think of are really creepy ones.

10:07pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

Subphylum Hexapoda doesn't have much of a ring to it either.

10:08pm

Eric Perazzo

How about just, Subphylum? Or Phylum Asylum? No, never mind, that's...

10:08pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

Maybe Phylum Anthropoda?

10:09pm

Eric Perazzo

Man foot?

10:09pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

..."Man foot"?

10:09pm

Eric Perazzo

Its name in Latin.

10:10pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

Oh. I was thinking something having to do with segmentation, or segments. Entomo, and all.

10:10pm

Eric Perazzo

It's good, though. I like it.

10:11pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

"Today's Segment", or something.

10:12pm

Eric Perazzo

Fitting. On many levels. But kind of corny.

10:12pm

[deadname] Anderson Taylor

Yeah, very much so.