"Real Life"

So I graduated, that was fun. Graduation itself was pretty anticlimactic; although I got weepy in the beginning (at the mention of parents), it sort of just ended after BA candidates were announced with the president telling us to take our chairs to the edge of the tent on the way out.

It feels good though. I'm working three days a week at Demos, applying for jobs, going on interviews, reading books I like, wandering around the city and hanging out with people I haven't seen in a while. I'm generally hopeful right now, but at the same time I fear once the summer ends, I'll fall into a slump when I see other people gearing up to go back to school. We shall see.

I'm reading No Logo by Naomi Klein, and I gotta say, it's pretty great. It feels weird going into malls, to think about how we have so few public spaces that aren't corporately owned (so in a way, corporations own our social interactions). I was walking through the Westchester (an unusually swanky mall located in White Plains) while dropping off my computer for repair, and I realized (as I do so frequently now) how many families were out, and how many little children there were. It is crazy to think that we are socialized to behave as consumers from the day we are conscious of ourselves and can express our needs and wants. I happened upon Anthropologie (why that store is called that, I will NEVER know) and drifted in while on the phone, and every time I've been in that place I'm amazed at how expensive things are; how the labor is probably so cheap, yet they can sell a pair of jeans for $210. How much profit must they be making!? It's absurd! Anthropolgie is a high-end off-shoot of Urban Outfitters I think, they're likely owned by the same parent company. Both sell a lifestyle though. Anthropologie also sells frilly, shabby-chic type of housewares; from dishes to rugs and bedding. It's a brand that's been made into a lifestyle.

Maybe it's not so ridiculous to some, but when you deconstruct it (even a little) it's pathetic.

From Klein:

"What these companies [referring to Nike, Microsoft, Tommy Hilfiger, etc.] produced primarily were not things, they said, but images of their brands. Their real work lay not in manufacturing but in marketing"

She goes on to talk about how in the beginning of the 20th century, there were so many inventions coming out that were innovative, and that were going to change the way people lived. As time worn on though, this psychological prompt in buying new products evolved into lifestyle choices (rather than necessities) in consuming products marketed to the masses.

Why are there offensive Miller Lite ads with women being objectified on the NYC subways? Why are there cheap-looking Lava Life ads selling a heteronormative dating lifestyle on the subway?
Why are we being told to buy this? Why do we measure ourselves against these images?

Why are more people not awake?

The Motel

This looks pretty good. Apparently it came out last June, but I wasn't around then. It's out on dvd now.


(pubertysucks.com)

I love the design and animation for the ads, very reminscent of Chris Ware's Jimmy Corrigan.

I think I want to make an ice cream run. Mmm sprinkles.

HumDrum. DrumLost.

I just spilled coffee all over myself-- all I needed to do was sip it not like a savage, but I couldn't handle this simple function & got it all over my face, in my hair and down my shirt. I accidentally fell asleep at 7 until 9pm. I'm supposed to hand in work tomorrow (Saturday...!?).

Uh, the plan is to stay up until 7am or until I can finish all this stupid thesis shit. I don't mean that it's for seriously stupid, I'm just sooo dragging myself at this point & subsisting solely on caffeine. I feel gross and unhealthy.

Books I will read upon my gradulations/summer reading list:

Passing It On by Yuri Kochiyama (Japanese-American freedom fighter)
The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
Darker Nations by Vijay Prashad
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
White Teeth by Zadie Smith
No Logo by Naomi Klein (any writing/documentary by her is awesome)
The Revolution Will Not Be Funded by Incite! Women of Color Against Violence

I want to go on a trip & take pictures of people. I want to buy a Mamiya or another awesome medium format camera, and be a photographer on the DL. But where to print? So expensive, naa. I want to make art again so badly. I need it.

Also getting a tattoo but need someone to design it for me; I can't seem to get the right outline of the little elephants I want.

Back to workus.