Letters to the Editor
-
*of
Is hipster even a word?
Become yourself, sweetie. That's what all os* the best people are doing.
*of
When I am done becoming myself I will know to proof my letters before posting
-
Sitting at the cool kids table
This is just a result of hipness having been hijacked by popular culture. Anyone can have the veneer of hip with the haircut and the clothes. Hipsters are the new cheerleaders and jocks. Don't let them intimidate you.Use your common sense and look carefully at the world of the truly creative and innovative, and you'll see that most of them had nerdy jobs, less than glam clothes and fairly average laundry-doing lifestyles. Most of the working productive artists (actors, musicians, etc) I know are disciplined people who put their energies into their art, not in trying to impress style monkeys. Stop looking in the mirror and at other people's wardrobes and have faith in yourself.
-
You Miss the Point
The problem is, you miss what real hipsters are. They are not the people that know what clothes to wear and what music to listen to and follow suit, they are people who like who they are and show it. That gets a lot of people emulating them, and those hangers-on may fool people like you who, for some reason, have too much pride (or whatever it is that kept you dressing "like a nerd" even though you knew what the fashionable stuff was), but in reality, that makes them much less hip than you.
Cause you know how you can tell the difference between the real deal and the posers? The REAL hipsters aren't judgemental of nerds or anyone else, becaue they're the ones not trying to impress anyone. They just are who they are. Because they're confident, they don't have to compare themselves with everyone else. That's the only place you're really failing as a hipster. Think about it, why would a hip indie rocker chic have dated you, if being you wasn't terribly cool? It was likely your edge of nerdiness that attracted her - because you didn't squarely fit in the box, you were real, gritty, authentic. All those things that indie-types love.
Besdies, if you back out of the indie tunnel and perk your ears up to the rest of the world, you'll see that "nerds" ARE cool these days. Why? Not because they love looking a little askew, but because they are who they are.
So cheer, up. You are much hiper than you think.
PS. Cary, you still have a milkman?!
-
I understand
I have been going through a similar thing.
I used to be described as quite good looking.
Age has taken over and whether or not this is a question of faded narcissism, I really don't know.
I am learning, gradually, not to care that much.
Meandering Trevor
-
same here
i was always a nerd until i began working in the (rock) music industry - that made me automatically cool. Shallow as that sounds, i really enjoyed being the cool person, after a lifetime of being made fun of.
when i stopped working in music i felt how LW feels now. Eventually other things became important in my life and needing to be cool receded -- but not all the way.
i still cannot get thrilled listening to my coworkers talk ENDLESSLY about their home repair projects and potty training fiascos, etc.
all i can say is, try to dig down deeper into what makes you unique and quirky, really embrace it, and then you really will be a cool person, and other people will see that too.
-
nerd margo
And for what it's worth, I went to highschool with Margo Timmins and from what I remember she was pretty nerdy. In a nice way. Many hipsters were (and probably always are at some level). Cary's right, just be yourself and do what you love as much as you can.
-
Drink Miller...
smoke Winstons - play pool in a dingy bar. Listen to Bright Eyes.
feel better, now?
-
Also, get a a few tats...
I'm sure you already have an Ipod...
-
Vans?!?
LW
There is a big difference between hipster and scenester. At least in my funky little town. Scenesters rub your face in their coolness and always have the select band that you don't know about. Their pumas are consciously not color coordinated with their plaid shirts and corduroys. They get on my nerves. Hipsters ought to know better. Just a thought.
-
As Halle Berry said on TV yesterday...
at 40 (yes, she is now 40) she likes who she is and, also, who she is NOT.
I agree with all the other readers who say being who you are is the cool thing...who you are inside...be YOU....be the nerd but also express your own style...your new and lovely friends might enjoy it too.
-
To thine own self be true
LW, it was good advice then, it's good advice now.
Don't worry about trying to be hip. Just pursue what you love, follow your own interests, enjoy what makes you happy & provides real growth as an individual. The genuine hipsters of our culture never worried about it, they just did their best to be themselves. It's the phonies who worked like hell to build that hip facade. And today, it's a commodity -- do you want to be a walking, talking embodinment of what someone else says you're supposed to be? Do you really need someone else to validate your individuality? Do you really need that label attached to your person?
Just be yourself. Discover who & what that self is, and live it as honestly as possible. That's the key.
-
I am a nerd
I just want to say to the letter writer, "Fuck You Very Much". Fuck you for sneering at your friends and neighbours for wearing the wrong shoes. Fuck you for sneering at your friends and neighbours for listening to the wrong music. Fuck you for sneering at your friends and neighbours for being boring and thinking about long term plans.
I condemn you to a life of wondering if your hipster pals are secretly sneering at you like you sneer at us. Because they almost certainly are. The cool people can smell fear, and you reek of it.