Vox’s posts tagged seattle

Economic Diversity Drives Growth in Seattle

nobody@vox.com(Philip Blumberg) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 18:47:24 +0000

Economic diversity has fueled solid growth in Seattle office properties during the last year, and the effects of the housing downtown on Puget Sound businesses have been relatively moderate according to a second-quarter Seattle Office Research Report released by Marcus & Millichap. Expansion of the key high-tech and professional business services employment sectors has helped to offset losses in the construction and financial industries.

“Strong fundamentals and a positive economic outlook have driven investor demand during the last 12 months, as transactions have continued at a stable pace,” says Gregory Wendelken, regional manager of the Seattle office of Marcus & Millichap.

Following are some of the most significant aspects of the report:

Employers in the Seattle metro are forecast to add 19,000 positions in 2008, increasing payrolls by 1.1%
Developers are projected to deliver approximately 2.9 million square feet of mostly speculative office space in 2008, representing a 3.8 percent increase to existing inventory.
Vacancy is expected to end the year at 10%
Asking rents are forecast to increase 6.4 percent to $30.83 per square foot.
Effective rents will advance 6.2 percent to $27.79 per square foot.

For more real estate news and information, visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

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this is NOT to be taken as complaining

nobody@vox.com(Ruth) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 07:59:00 +0000

Today was the first time I've had a hard day at school.

They told us this morning that we can't wear flip flops to school. I know this probably seems trivial but I had thought we could, and it was what I was used to. They are practically the only type of footwear I wear. I don't really like shoes. I have ugly teacher shoes but they only work with pants. So what do I wear with capris and skirts? Heels are out of the question.

Then there is sharing a room. When I first got here I was told that I would be sharing a room with the 8th grade science teacher. There wasn't really anything I could say but, "OK, that'll be fun." We get a ginormous (my favorite word of the moment...no idea where it came from) room because we are sharing. Just right now it looks like it was hit by a tornado (and it might have been judging by the water leaking through the cieling - I thought I was done with that kind of stuff in MS). School staff transfered everything from our old rooms and so now we just have the task of sorting through the chaos.

Adjusting to sharing a room is really the hardest thing I've encountered at school. More than being patient with housing and administration and adjusting to riding a big yellow bus to school. This is going to be every day all year (the bus might be every day too but I've done it before and at least this isn't a short bus). Julian is awesome and I think we are going to have a fantastic time but right now as we figure out the details of setting up the classroom...it would just be so much easier if we could do things our own way. We are both pretty independent, but also obsessively organized and clean. If I had to share a room, and I do, then I couldn't think of a better person to share with. I only hope I don't drive him too nuts.

Our house still isn't ready. It was supposed to be cleaned on Saturday, then Monday, now Wednesday or Thursday. I'm not holding my breath. It really doesn't matter anyway because we don't have beds. Jenn and I don't want to buy them because the school has quite a few that it loans out. They give away furniture through a lottery for new teachers so we don't have to buy everything and then try to sell it in two years. The lottery was supposed to happen last week.

I guess on top of all this I'm really missing home. I don't even know if home means Mississippi or Washington. I think it's both. On of my best friends just lost her dad and it's been so hard not to be there for her. I almost came home but it didn't end up working out and that's actually okay because she is going to get to come stay with me for a month. I know it won't always be a big party but I'm looking forward to that more than I can say. I miss my MS family. Especially that last month, we were having so many good time and we had all grown so close. I love you all so much. (just thinking everyone makes me cry, I thought I would be over this stage by now) Then there is my other home with more friends and family. What an amazing summer I had! I think I spent more time with my family that I have in past summers and I can't imaging anything I'd rather do more. I did new things with old friends and was even able to reunite with some dear friends I hadn't seen since college. I love all of you too. I'm sorry that I keep moving all over the world and can't stay around for more than 2 months at a time. Every now and then I wish that I didn't have such close friend and family ties because then it wouldn't be so hard to say goodbye. But I wouldn't ever want to lose any of you. I know I've said it before but I love y'all.

I'm whining. Please forget that you read the top half of this blog.
If you have a rewind button please use it now.

There are so many good things at the school that more than make up for my little complaints. Our 8th grade team is arguably the best in the school. It's a crazy group that likes to do wacky skits and get really involved, but when it come to teaching everyone is very serious about the students learning. There is already a miss america skit being planned to introduce us to the students on Thursday. When we were making rules for the team yesterday one of them was that we have to be friends and hang out together. I love it! Of the seven of us, only two are new. While this could be difficult, they have done a great job of inviting Lindsey and I in. I absolutely cannot wait to see what fun/adventures we will have this year.

At our staff meeting this morning (the same one where Ric broke my heart with the no flip flops rule) we were also told that we were NOT expected to turn in lesson plans. At this point I had to halt in the middle of making my to-do list. I was sure that I had heard wrong. But then he said it again. "I do NOT want you to send me lesson plans." I still felt like I should clean out my ears. No way was my principal telling me this. Not in a million years. But I guess I must be really really old because that was exactly what he was saying. He did follow up with expecting to see lesson plans when he visits classrooms. I'm fine with that. He is trusting us to be adults and do our jobs. It's a good, and new, feeling to be trusted at school (as a group).

Aside from my 8th grade team I'm making a lot of good friends with other new teachers. Why, I'm not sure, but I keep finding myself surrounded by Canadians. Maybe defection is somewhere in my future. Jenn (the lady I'm going to be living with) is awesome. We are at the same hotel and so have been able to spend a good bit of time together. It's been nice to get to know each other a little before we start sharing a house. Our friend Ryan, also from Canada, has been along, and even started, many of our adventures. Mike and Wendy, the other two that were on the plane with Kammie and I, are amazing and now have a house right up the street from school. I'm envisioning many afternoons sitting on their balcony after classes. There are some other people who I have been able to spend time with and whom I enjoy a lot. I hope that we all stay close friends once we get busy with school and are involved in our own sections.

But it's bedtime now. The contacts have gone blurry. Good night. And if you are dedicated enough to have read this whole post, I love you too!

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i should probably tell my dad i'm moving. hmm...

nobody@vox.com(vicious pretty) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 00:09:58 +0000

i've found myself updating more now that i have something big looming on the horizon. it's not that i have more to say really, i just want to keep an accurate record of this transition from here on out.

jay mentioned he thought about starting up his blog again, which i encouraged for several reasons. one being the point i just addressed, having a fairly precise interpretation of the events forthcoming. it's not the first time i've moved across the country to be in a completely new environment, but now we'll both have no idea what the hell is going on. and that's strangely comforting.

the second is the reason i keep a vox blog in the first place, communicating with people i can't communicate with in person anymore. granted most of my friends are boys and it's come to my attention that boys are complete rubbish at staying in touch .. but still. this outlet is there for them, and for me, if they ever want to know what i've been doing. or where i've been.

i've been packing like a mad woman. i was off thursday and friday, did a fair amount of packing then, and got some more done this morning. i'd probably have more done now if i didn't have crappy daytime television on in the bedroom while i pack - but i can't stand the silence, i need something on in the background. and of course i keep getting distracted. i don't even know why, i hate day-time court tv.

most of my toys have been packed up, and a majority of my books. i left a shelf or two available for the month we have remaining. nothing makes me more complacent than a good book, and with the stress of moving i'm going to need a few of those on hand. or ten. or twenty.

jay bought me lunch today as a "reward" for all the busy worker bee things i've been doing lately, and because he loves me. but if he thinks that lunch and the nap he's currently taking will get him out of cleaning off the dining room table and doing the dishes, he's got another thing coming.

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RSVP 2008 Complete

nobody@vox.com(genman) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:14:24 +0000

I rode to Vancouver Canada from Seattle Washington on the RSVP bicycle ride.

Kevin did a pretty good job and we managed a steady to moderate pace the whole way. He really got up the hills surprisingly quickly on the single speed bicycle I built, so much so, he pretty much passed everyone who then in turn passed him downhill.

I got quite sore in the arms from such a slow pace; my road bike bars are a bit lower than the seat so my hands get numb unless I'm moving quickly. Add in a bunch of chip sealed roads and (still on Monday) my left arm and hand is numb. Otherwise, it wasn't too hard, really not that much harder than STP.

We did have record temperatures Friday and Saturday. I could have done without the heat. At one point we both ran out of water. I imagine anybody without two water bottles would have been in serious trouble. I probably drank three or four gallons on Friday.

Like the STP, I was witness to several accidents. I honestly don't recall seeing any accidents on rides with Cascade or Seattle Bicycle Club during the week, and never on Gary Strauss's long rides on the weekend. I suspect accidents are mostly rider-rider or rider alone accidents. Are the riders not experienced? Since they are likely caused by bad passing or people not paying attention, are riders not familiar with riding in stay-together groups?

I would like Hitomi to do this ride next year, but we'll see. We're discussing riding in Maui. The rides are shorter but hilly and I worry a bit about tourist drivers.

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Feeling hot, hot, hot

nobody@vox.com(iRead) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 05:14:56 +0000

Of course the days I have the most free time to move stuff into my new apartment Seattle decides to have its annual 3-day streak of 90+ degree weather. And it doesn't help that my apartment is part of a strip of land that's sandwiched between two lakes so the humidity's crazy high as well. But after two straight days of moving stuff I think I only have 2 trips left before I finish getting all my stuff out of my parents' house. Then I get to start unpacking and organizing anything.

I really could not have chosen a better location for my apartment though. It's almost exactly a mile from the school I'll be working at (so I could walk there if I wanted to); there's a gas station 3 blocks away; and the back end of the complex hits a park that has a path to a mall with a movie theater, 2 grocery stores, a library, a multi-ethnic food court, and more. It's also only a 15-minute drive to another major mall and a half-hour to my parents' house.

This week will be busy again as I have a meeting Wednesday afternoon, dentist on Thursday, and another all-day meeting on Friday. Then next week I think I have meetings every day except Tuesday. And then school starts on September 2nd (if a contract is negotiated by then). When did real life become so demanding? I think I'll watching the lighting and try not to think about it.

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Max Deale "Ticket Jedi" on KISW's THE MEN'S ROOM

nobody@vox.com(Sold Out. SO WHAT!) — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 17:02:06 +0000

Max Deale

Here is the interview that I did while on KISW 99.9 fm Seattle on THE MENS ROOM this past Thursday (8/14/08). It was a lot of fun being on there. Then I did my book signing at FOX SPORTS GRILL on Friday and met with a reporter from NORTHWEST SPORTS MAGAZINE on Saturday to go to the Seahawks vs. Bears game. Pictures of both the book signing and Seahawks game to follow in the next few days.

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because i like this photo

nobody@vox.com(Lindsay Erika) — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 21:29:10 +0000

And I think you will, too. But even though it's been favourited 5 times on Flickr, it's been sitting on 41 views for a week or two. Which is a lot more than my other photos get, but I still think it should get more! I had hoped FILE magazine would like this one (they liked my avatar photo, and you can see it here), but nothing yet.

At any rate it's been too long since I've posted photos, and I need an excuse to post one. This one is also evidence of my improving skills in editing. Well, it would be if I showed you the original. I think sometimes I overprocess, but I feel this one is just right. ~__^

sunset squared

love-love. Lindsay

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not enough hours in the day.

nobody@vox.com(vicious pretty) — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 13:35:46 +0000

things that've gone down this week:

- microsoft screwed us out of 2000 gamer points. way to be assholes, microsoft.

- i started packing. i probably would've gotten more done, but i ran out of packing material and time. i'm using a ton of fluff to keep my toys from getting harmed. plus, i had one those court tv shows on while packing... and those are really distracting.

- jay and i, after HOURS and HOURS, and DAYS and WEEKS of searching narrowed our apartment search down to 2 places. and when i say narrow, i mean i just can't search anymore. it's gotta be one of these. we've got confirmation of approval on one place, but the one we really want we're still waiting to hear back from. it's a group of apartments/condos that normally are only for sale, but sometimes investors rent out an apartment or two. it's a decent price, has everything we need, and is walking distance from this:

Discovery

so if you guys can go ahead and pray for us that we get this place, we'd really appreciate it.

- madden launch. i complain about this launch every year, in one blog or another. i hate this launch. i hate midnight launches in general, because i'm usually stuck working the evening of actual launch day, with morning managers being completely useless and whining, "oh, i'm SO tired from working that midnight launch last night."

- jay's going to gen-con. and ~~he'd better~~ he's going to bring me back something. i don't know what yet and neither does he, but he's pretty good at guessing what i might like.

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Had a great time at the men's room today...

nobody@vox.com(Sold Out. SO WHAT!) — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 03:59:48 +0000

No, it's not what you think. The guys from THE MENS ROOM show at KISW FM in Seattle had me on today to promote my book signing tomorrow at Fox Sports Grill. Yesterday, I finally came up with a name for my upcoming book tour. It is now officially the BOOKS FOR BEERS tour and it kicks off tomorrow. Anyone who comes to the book signing event and picks up a copy of Sold Out...SO WHAT! will get a free draft beer. If you already have a copy, just bring it in, and you'll get a free beer anyways!

It's my way of saying thanks for the amazing launch so far. I will be continuing the BOOKS FOR BEERS tour throughout the year at various locations. Tomorrow I will be on IAN FURNESS at 950 KJR, Seattle's # 1 Sports Station.

Thanks again to Scott Ferrall who had me on the show again last night. YOU'RE THE MAN!!!

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Location, location, location

nobody@vox.com(Katy) — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 04:00:21 +0000

I began this blog and set my location as "United Kingdom." We're not eating bangers and mash just yet, though, and my teeth still look pretty decent and American.

The purpose of this blog is to document our move to London and our subsequent exploits there. If all goes well (and if we ever get the official offer from our company), we'll be sleeping in the shadow of Big Ben come Nov. 1.

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Seattle gets a S.L.U.T.

nobody@vox.com(EMM) — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 19:03:34 +0000

I saw this article in The Oregonian (online) today about mass transit in Seattle and laughed my butt off...

As previously mentioned, Hubby and I lived in downtown Seattle for about 8 years - 4 of those in the geographic center of the city, very close to Westlake Center - the "end of the line" for the new "Seattle Streetcar" or "South Lake Union Trolley" aka the "S.L.U.T."

Originally, we were very excited about the coming of the Streetcar. It would give us a fast and easy ride to the local Whole Foods where we did grocery shopping for everything except produce and meat, which we bought at Pike Place Market, just four blocks from our downtown condo... (I know... total urban yuppie scum, right? Oh, well...Fish is Fish...). However, we decided to sell up just after construction started in full force. Not because of the construction, it had nothing to do with that... But part of the reason we ultimately decided not to return to Seattle was because of the absolute mess that is mass transit in Seattle. Which is why I enjoyed this article in The Oregonian. Sure, the author is biased and excited about getting his digs in at Portland's "more successful, older sibling to the north"... but he has a point. And judging from some of the other articles I've read this morning, he is right about South Lake Union's small business community and their feelings towards the S.L.U.T.

So, as I was drinking my tea this morning, I was dreaming of visiting Kapow! Coffee and buying a "Ride the S.L.U.T." baby doll t-shirt.... It would be totally worth the 3 hour drive north on I-5, just to ride the S.L.U.T. and see how she has changed my old stomping ground....

RIDE THE S.L.U.T.

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If only it wasn't illegal to open someone else's mail

nobody@vox.com(iRead) — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 04:37:50 +0000

I'm currently in the process of moving into my new apartment. I went and cleared out my new mailbox on Sunday and discovered that apparently the previous resident forgot to forward her mail. One of the pieces of mail was an envelope from Bumbershoot (the major Seattle music festival). Considering it's from Bumbershoot (and the address label has an order number on it), I'm pretty sure there are tickets in it. I so very, very much want to open it up and see what day the tickets are for. (Although, to be honest, no matter what day they're for I'd probably use them.) But I'm going to be a good citizen (and not commit a felony) and give the envelopes back to the post office to try and forward along. But oh, the fun that could have been had with the contents of that Bumbershoot envelope.

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big changes.

nobody@vox.com(vicious pretty) — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 03:05:33 +0000

i've been wanting to tell this story for about a week, but jay's a big girl and he wouldn't let me.

last monday, bogged beneath the burden of an un-fulfilling job, jay again expressed his interest to get out of this city. being the loving and dutiful wife i am (and ready to get the hell out as well), i waited until 9 am west coast time and started shopping around for a transfer.

i was in luck when i managed to get ahold of the district manager's (DM) name and e-mail address for the seattle area. i expressed interest in an assistant manager's position that had recently become available (relayed to me by a store manager in his area), and kept my blackberry primed and ready to notify me of his reply.

snowballing events here.... waiting on tenterhooks in here, too... cue thursday afternoon, while i'm at work. my cell phone rings with an unrecognized number, and i answer it expectantly. and to make a long story a little less so, i've got my assistant store manager transfer.

so, it 6 weeks, we're moving to seattle.

Seattle

and we're very excited.

and very nervous, too. nervous because while i know i've got a concrete position in seattle, i don't know yet which store i'll be working in. and since i'm trying to find an apartment relatively close to my place of business, searching for worthy candidates is proving to be slightly problematic.

nervous also, because i like being comfortable. and my job here? for the most part, i'm very comfortable. i know how things work. i know what to do and what not to do. i know all the little in's and out's it took me a year to solidify. and that will all be changing, which makes me slightly more apprehensive.

i'm also agitated with all the blame that's going to be crashing down on me from one of jay's parents. not unlike fiery latin guilt, cold asian guilt can wound like a bullet.

and i'm heartbroken that my brother is heartbroken, because he really wanted me to be near him. and i really wanted it, too.

but, in spite of all this .. i have to remember some of the things i look forward to.

i look forward to being a family, a unit, out in new territory for the first time. new territory for all of us.

i look forward to being 150 bucks away from my brother in california, which is much more doable than 320.

and knocking out one of the top 5 things i want to do in the next 5 years:

Killer whales

whale watching.

so really, an opportunity like this is nearly impossible to pass up. so i don't see the point in fighting it. if anyone wants to come visit and sleep on our couch, you're welcome to. you'll probably have to make reservations first though, by the time jay lets me post this our fall couch schedule will be all booked up.

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Stupid in Seattle

nobody@vox.com(Charms) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 22:24:46 +0000

Friday I took the day off of work to drive my Dad to Seattle. He had an appointment at the VA hospital for an Endocrine specialist. The VA hospital in Spokane does not have Endocrinologists. So they gave him the option of have the work done in Spokane by a private doctor with a possibility of being reimbursed for his out of pocket expenses. Option number two was to drive to Seattle and have them do the consult and be given $150 for traveling expenses. Since my car is more economical then his truck, I drove him. Also, not to knock doctors but the VA hospital in Seattle is a training hospital and being students they are not always as thorough as they should be or they don't have the greatest of bedside manner.

We have already had one issue where Dad had a UTI for almost a year before it was detected by lab work. He ended up with kidney stones the size of pingpong balls that had to be surgically removed. That sucked - for us.. his kids.. and for him. I know.. too much information....

So, anyways we left at 3 am, drove the 310 miles to Seattle. We drove up to the valet parking and they took my car - no thought given to the radiator fan which is on a toggle switch. We get to the suite for the primary care clinic and they call him back to do his vitals. Then we are sent to sit in the waiting room again, waiting to be called back to see the Endocrinologist. We waited.. and waited... and waited some more... an hour later - after Dad getting upset and complaining at the front desk - we are seen by a doctor, not the one we are scheduled to see because that "Fellow" is backed up.

I liked the doctor we saw though, she was very thorough. Unfortunately, we have to go back in a few weeks because they have to do some more tests. So we left the office and walk to the valet parking. I give them the tag to claim my car and wait... and wait... and wait some more... I see a valet with a battery jumper pack. It clicks - all of a sudden I remember the fan. I didn't shut it off and now my battery is dead.. dead.. dead.. DAMN!

Not only was my battery dead but it blew the fuse for my battery.. and 80 AMP fuse. So I call the man - my husband - to let him know and get some ideas. He starts going on and on about how I should remember this stuff. Argh! Like that was what I needed at the moment.. to be scalded about how stupid I already felt. Me the bloinde idiot who forgot to shut off the fan.

Fortunately for me I have friends in Seattle. My knight in shining armour... well a blue probe anyways shows up and takes me to Schucks to get a new fuse. It was great to see him again. Once the fuse was replaced the car started right up. But I still felt stupid. I hugged my friend, so that I was eternally greatful. My Dad shook his hand and thanked him. Off we went.. into the sunset... well not quite.. Seattle traffic for a bit as we started the 310 mile trek home. We arrived back at my house at 8:15 pm...

620 miles, a dead battery, blown fuse, seeing an old friend, promise of another appointment in Seattle, and feeling utterly stupid... I crawled in my bed.. tired and mentally exhausted.

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Official buzz about Marry Me Trailer

nobody@vox.com(northerngeek) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 19:02:23 +0000

Official buzz about Marry Me Trailer

http://lindsayerika.vox.com/library/p...

Marry Me, the little film we shot in the fall here in Seattle, is officially buzzing. There is still some editing, and most likely a bunch of sound re-recording to do, so a release date is still not set, but a full trailer has just been passed around. So here it is. Watch it, enjoy it, share it, get...

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OOPS - not so official buzz about Marry Me

nobody@vox.com(Lindsay Erika) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 18:47:10 +0000

***EDIT***
So apparently I misunderstood and the buzz was not so official. I am leaving this post here because I sent it to everyone, and some may still come looking. This message is for you. My director had passed around an awesome trailer and said we could share it, but it seems they want to do some more work to it and he didn't mean for us to share it with the general public. Coulda fooled me. I thought it was fantastic, and the music so perfect. But I had to delete it. But I can still share it with friends and family, so if you fit that description send me an email and I can email you the link to download it. Or if you want me to make sure you are notified once it goes up again message me or leave a comment.

Sorry to get your dander up!

***end EDIT***

Marry Me, the little film we shot in the spring here in Seattle, is officially buzzing. There is still some editing, and most likely a bunch of sound re-recording to do, so a release date is still not set, but a full trailer has just been passed around. So here it is. Watch it, enjoy it, share it, get more people to watch it and share it. Get it buzzin', will ya? Seriously. I'll be watching the number of views and I expect it to jump to the hundreds. Got it? Good.

love-love. Lindsay

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Northwest Icon Searches For Star

nobody@vox.com(lukadogwalker) — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 01:30:57 +0000

I happen to be one of the individuals who grew up in the Northwest long before there was Starbuzz and Microsofties. One the famous restaurant icons of Seattle is Ivar of Ivar's Seafood. He is no longer alive but the restaurant continues on and still uses the phrase "Keep Clam". Over the years, the restaurant has had interesting commercials where Ivar sang or leggy clams danced or other silly yet fun things happened.

As I was cruising the jobs on Craigslist today, I found this posting and thought it was quite interesting. So if any of you have what it takes, come try out. My bet is that it would be a really fun and interesting experience. Here is the ad:

Ivar's audition for singers - radio commercials (Acres of Clams - Pier 54)

Reply to: job-788743552@craigslist.org
Date: 2008-08-08, 1:55PM PDT

We'll even feed you lunch!

For this call, you must be able to play an acoustic instrument (guitar etc) and sing.

Join us outside Ivar's Acres of Clams on Pier 54 - Thursday August 14th and perform YOUR updated and unique version of one of Ivar's classic songs.

We'll video tape and record your performance, and if we use it in an upcoming Ivar's radio commercial we'll pay you 200 "clams" and make you famous.

Well, kind of famous . . .

And just for entertaining us and a flock seagulls (we're talking real seagulls), we'll give you a coupon good for FREE fish & chips at our Pier 54 Fish Bar.

Signups start at 10am, and its first come, first served so get there early. Performances will run from 11 am to 1 pm.

Click on the Ivar's logo to hear Ivar's songs, and download his sheet music:

Choose the song you like best, put your twist on it, and perform it live.

So stop clamoring around and come down to Ivar's.

It's going to be fun!

Ivar's Radio commercial auditions

Ivar's Acres of Clams Restaurant on Pier 54

Thursday, August 14th

Signups begin at 10 am

Auditions follow from 11 am to 1 pm

Visit www.clamstar.com!

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QotD: Campfire Stories

nobody@vox.com(Romiet) — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 00:54:06 +0000

I haven't ever been to camp, and it's not for lack of choice. I'm not a social butterfly, and I hated to even THINK about sharing a living space with girls I've never known before! I've had maybe 5 close friends in my life, and tons of scattered acquaintances, Im an army brat. That and I was extremely shy, 'just like my father'. There seems to be a lot I inherited from my father, and barely anything from my mother. My dad's shy but manageable, my mom outgoing and popular. My dad has some extremely deep thoughts, my mom doesn't go beyond today. My dad loves Miley Cyrus, my mom hates that kids can possibly look up to her. I love Miley. My dad's off in war right now, and my headquarters is currently in the evergreen state (which I LOVE) with my mom and step-dad. I'm shootin for Seattle (the starbucks original!) (rain!) (city lights!)(did I mention rain?!) with my handsome lover.

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Manifesto: I Don't Care About Anything

nobody@vox.com(Amy Silbergeld) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 23:19:26 +0000

“I want to create films that encourage little kids to commit gang violence.”
-Oscar Garcia, August 7, 2008, said with palpable irony during his second acid trip this month, in my studio apartment in the Mission District, San Francisco, California, USA

I – circa 2006 – am wandering around Capitol Hill (Seattle’s equivalent of New York’s Williamsburg or San Francisco’s Mission District) wearing vintage Levis shorts, an American Apparel v-neck, and faux-leather ankle boots. My boyfriend at the time is wearing Cheap Monday skinny jeans and a sweatshirt with poodles on its front. We are smoking Parliaments and drinking forties of Pabst out of brown paper bags. It is probably a Monday or Tuesday, and it’s no later than three or four in the afternoon. We’re waiting on drugs. Once we get the drugs, we’ll get high and wait on the house party in the Central District that we’d never show up for before eleven. Maybe we stop by Everyday Music, where we listen to Bat for Lashes and Ratatat at the listening stations and don’t buy anything. Maybe we walk to the Frye Art Museum so we can say we looked at art. More than likely, we do a bit of shopping at Atlas and Red Light, our favorite vintage stores. My boyfriend probably buys a worn flannel, and I waste one to two hundred dollars on a 1950s housedress, some vintage pumps, a pair of oversized sunglasses, a few scarves, and a cigarette case. We definitely end up at Bauhaus Books and Coffee, where we get free lattes because we’re friends with the baristas. At Bauhaus, we bump into ten to twelve of our friends. Their days, thus far, have been almost identical to ours. Almost no one works. Those of us who do work slack off at American Apparels, coffee shops, record stores, or arts collectives. We listen to bands that you probably haven’t heard of yet. We might deny it, but we check viceland.com every morning for the Dos and Don’ts. We start shitty noise bands and do lines until our noses bleed and drink shitty beer in backyards and dive bars and studio apartments. I think, though I’d never admit it, that we’re all that’s left of the counter culture.
   Here is how it happened. We were punks when we were younger. We listened to Black Flag and Bad Brains and tapered our own jeans and made zines and went vegan and hung out at the anarchist bookstore downtown. We got obsessed with Marxism and the Situationist International and composting. We applied to liberal arts and arts colleges and wrote our admissions essays about how passionate we were about community. We decided to major in art or non-profit leadership or film or political theory or writing. I was accepted to California College of the Arts, and I moved to San Francisco.
   By this time, Urban Outfitters was selling tapered jeans and giving enormous percentages of their profits to the Republican Party and pro-life organizations. By this time, the whole American-Apparel-vintage-whatever-boots-concept hair thing was all over Nylon Magazine fashion spreads and popular among high school students who might have been punks or Marxists or hippies if they had been born a few years earlier. By this time, the word “hipster” had become an insult or, more accurately, a compliment that one must never accept.
   “Me? A hipster? Fuck you.”
   In high school, my friend Rose and I wrote a definition of the word “hipster” and submitted it to urbandictionary.com, an online database of slang words and their definitions. Today, three years later, our definition is the highest rated definition of the word on the site, out of many. Users of the website have described our definition as “fucking bang on” and “perfect.” It reads as follows:

HIPSTER, n.
Listens to bands that you have never heard of. Has hairstyle that can only be described as "complicated." (Most likely achieved by a minimum of one week not washing it.) Probably tattooed. Maybe gay. Definitely cooler than you. Reads Black Book, Nylon, and the Styles section of the New York Times. Drinks Pabst Blue Ribbon. Often. Complains. Always denies being a hipster. Hates the word. Probably living off parents money - and spends a great deal of it to look like they don't have any. Has friends and/or self cut hair. Dyes it frequently (black, white-blonde, etc. and until scalp bleeds). Has a closet full of clothing but usually wears same three things OVER AND OVER (most likely very tight black pants, scarf, and ironic tee-shirt). Chips off nail polish artfully after $50 manicure. Sleeps with everyone and talks about it at great volume in crowded coffee shops. Addicted to coffee, cigarettes (Parliaments, Kamel Reds, Lucky Strikes, etc.), and possibly cocaine. Claims to be in a band. Rehearsals consist of choosing outfits for next show and drinking PBR. Always on the list. Majors or majored in art, writing, or queer studies. Name-drops. May go by "Penny Lane," "Eleanor Rigby," etc. when drunk. On PBR. Which is usually.

Example: I am not a fucking hipster (sweeps bangs to side dramatically and takes a swig of PBR)!*

    I will now admit something that one does not admit. This is uncouth, but it’s honest. When Rose and I wrote the above definition, we were essentially describing ourselves. We admitted to each other (after swearing never to discuss it publicly) that we knew that we were hipsters. And, even worse, that we wanted to be hipsters. There was an enormous difference between being a punk in Seattle in the early-to-mid 2000s and being a hipster in the same place during the same time period. Punks were no fun to have at parties. They – the real ones, anyway – cared too much. While everyone else just wanted to get drunk and get compliments on their outfits and insult people and hopefully fuck someone at the end of the night, the real punks wanted to talk about the war and sustainable living and taking real action. That, I think, is the primary difference between not only hipsters and punks, but between hipsters and all other past and present youth subcultures. Hipsters don’t care about anything. It is important, of course, to have some vague set of liberal beliefs. It’s fine, even preferred, to be a vegetarian or vegan. But one must, without exception, be generally apathetic. Still thinking about the innocent civilians being killed at this very moment in the Middle East? Have another PBR. Do a bump of blow. Pick up a copy of Vice Magazine at American Apparel and only read the music reviews and look at the fashion spreads. Get a new haircut. Cheat on your boyfriend and tell everyone about it. Throw a party. Take Polaroids of your friends while they’re blacked out. Talk about your band for an hour. Drop out of school. Start spray painting ironic phrases on walls instead of painting on canvas. Park your vintage road bike in front of the bar and try to forget that you spent the day pricing spandex leggings.
    Past countercultural groups had common concerns. The hippies united to protest an unjust war. The punks shared a frustration with the American government and do-it-yourself ethics. Hipsters view themselves as a new countercultural group, when in fact they regurgitate the past (it is 2006 and I am wearing a 1980s leotard and listening to 1960s-inspired psychedelic noise music). It is the summer of 2008, and I live in the Mission District in San Francisco. Hipsters wear feathers in their hair like the hippies and tapered jeans like the punks. But no one cares about anything. There is an unjust, pointless war raging in the Middle East, and no one can be bothered to protest. Who has the time? There’s a warehouse show in Potrero Hill tonight, and our days will be spent getting dressed and getting drugs. My roommate in making coffee in the Haight right now. My friends are checking their MySpaces and plucking their eyebrows and getting new tattoos.
    This intense focus on appearance begs the following question: Is the whole hipster thing really a purely aesthetic phenomenon? Are hipsters an apathetic countercultural group, or the new bohemians? Almost anyone you chat up at a warehouse party in Capitol Hill or Williamsburg or the Mission District will likely define him or herself as an artist of some kind. For some, this is surely part of the image. There are those who carry cameras or sketchbooks like they are purses from the Mission’s Idol Vintage. My friends, who, generally, look like they jumped straight off the pages of the Vice Dos, are real artists. Oscar’s film premiered at the San Francisco International Short Film Festival two nights ago. I manage a literary and visual arts magazine, go to art school, and try to write every day. Lilly’s slam poetry team made it to finals last year. We care about something. Sure, some of our art is self-indulgent. Yes, I should be protesting the war and I do have some idea of what is happening in the Middle East and, no, I do not do anything about it. I do not write political essays. Rose does not make political art. Oscar’s film is about himself, in Paris and drunk off of three gigantic beers. The soundtrack is Crystal Castles.
    Recent articles in alternative American magazines have described hipsterdom as, essentially, the death of the counterculture. Not only are our supposed expressions of individuality commodified (American Apparel tee, $24. New Ratatat album, $14.99. Gram of cocaine, $40.), but we are not expressing our individuality at all. There is a uniform, and it extends farther than what we wear. We listen to the same music; we hang out at the same coffee shops; we all read Vice. Granted, the hippies and punks had their own uniforms, but their purpose surpassed the simply aesthetic. We are united by our uniforms and labels (as adamantly as we may deny them), but for what purpose?
    I often think of the hipster phenomenon in relation to Andy Warhol’s Factory and the Warhol-influenced club kid scene in the early nineties. Warhol was famous for no reason. He created (or had others create) art that wasn’t really art, but, rather, appropriations of pop culture icons. His real job was hanging out with the good-looking, fashionable, and hip.   His real job was having his picture taken. This was art because it hadn’t been done before. It was art for the same reason that the Dadaists’ art was art. In New York, just when Warhol died, the club kids tried to capitalize on this same idea. Instead of doing anything, they would simply be. They were celebutantes, famous simply for being famous. They were the Factory gang, minus the production of any real art. Now, there is no more fabulousness. Hipsters are not flamboyant. They don’t dance. They sort of nod their heads and adjust their hair.
    Oscar, the filmmaker, is, like me, obsessed with the Situationist International, an artistic and political movement led in mid-twentieth-century France by Guy Debord. The Situationists’ Marxist ethics led to a frustration with and hated of art on a gallery wall. They wanted to be living art. Take a walk around your city with no set destination. That is art. That is the only pure art, as all other art is commodified. Maybe hipsters, with their purely aesthetic dialogue and seeming apathy are creating art in its very purest form. You don’t need to see Rose’s paintings hung on a gallery wall. It doesn’t matter if you attend a screening of Oscar’s film. You don’t have to read my chapbook. We will tell you that we don’t care about these things, that we don’t care about anything. The three of us, walking down the street, drinking in the early afternoon, smoking cigarettes, wearing vintage clothing and telling you that we don’t care: this is our creation. This is what we want you to look at. Maybe we’re making a statement. Maybe our point is that it is too hard to care. Watching the news hurts. It makes me sick to my stomach when I do go to a protest and someone is crying, and I am crying, and I know that we are making no real change. It is easy to drink a can of Pabst. It is easy to walk to the salon and dye your hair white blonde and get a concept cut. It is easy to bob your head at a warehouse show.
    Maybe we aren’t the death of the counterculture, or of culture itself. Maybe we are a new breed of Situationsts, an artist movement that is reacting to the war and to America and to capitalist society with a purposeful sort of apathy. We are the future of art, of culture, of society. And we don’t care about anything. That does, or should, make you feel uncomfortable. Which is, indeed, an accomplishment for a group of artists. Fear us, because we care so little that something will have to be done.

Articles of interest:

http://www.adbusters.org/magazine/79/hipster.html

http://streetbonersandtvcarnage.com/blog/hating-hipsters/

http://www.nothingness.org/SI/

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/warhol_a.html

http://www.michaelaligclubkids.com/klub_kids.htm

http://www.viceland.com/

http://streetbonersandtvcarnage.com/

*Written with Rose Slaton, 2006.

situationist.gif

03 Crimewave

Crystal Castles vs. Health

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Bumbershoot is coming

nobody@vox.com(VirtualSound) — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 04:19:51 +0000

Bumbershoot is at the end of the month in Seattle, anybody planning on going?

I'm experimenting with audio blogging, I plan on trying to do some simple stuff from the festival and getting it posted in near real time. Videos and photos will take a little longer.

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