Some Kind of Hate

I almost never wear pants anymore, leggings have won the battle of comfort and style over them. Although I know a great deal of people who are into fashion would disagree with me but I want to pay a tribute to them.

I've been listening to a lot of old school punk lately. By a lot, I mean exclusively The Mistfits (Glen Danzig era only). Static Age remains one of the best punk albums ever made.

Bachelor of Arts

I have a degree in Bachelor of Arts with a major in Psychology. It has been two years since I graduated and so I still don't have a job which requires me to flex my B.A. prowess. Perhaps I have more deductive reasoning skills and know more about different parts of the brain than some people but as far as practicality goes, I've only been able to use those powers for the good of enlightening conversations and win pointless debates on esoteric subjects that only a psych major would know or care.

What am I planning on doing then, you ask? Well, I think the answer to that is obviously more schooling. Yep, I'm currently in the process of applying for a masters program in Art Therapy and so far it's been quite a challenge. Not to mention I will be even deeper in debt with student loan which I have no idea whether or not I'd be able to pay off. Regardless, I'm just glad I still believe that education is the only way to a productive and fruitful life.

Selling Out

I'm sure every blogger faces or had faced or will face this conundrum: whether or not to  monetize their blog. Recently, I've been toying with the idea of adding Ad Sense on this blog but was immediately fraught with guilt.

The truth is I really don't want to be a "sell out"; and I say those words in the most straight up, clear cut and non-clieche way possible. I mean,  If you host an independent blog with contents that challenge the many facets of the mainstream culture including issues on consumerism and journalistic and artistic integrity and you plastering that blog with ads that sells shit you have never even seen or will ever give a fuck about is extremely hypocritical and is like "sell out". Also, let's face it, it wouldn't be worth while for a fringe blog like mine to be selling out because I really don't get enough traffic to be making a ton of cash. Seriously, how fucking sad is that, trading in my morals for chump change? Ultimately though, the main deterrent is the repulsive idea of exploiting my readers and shamelessly making a gain off of promoting things I most likely will never see, own or ever use.

With that being said, I have seen some of my favourite bloggers go from being an "ad-free blog" to making mad monies with banners for American Apparel, Urban Outfitters and what I can only hope is just another edgy and ironically hipster online fashion store called "Nasty Gal" (couldn't come up with a better name? Really?). However, not every one of them can be demonized as "sell-outs" because some are extremely ethical about how they promote and profit off the ads. It almost sounds like I'm waning towards putting ads on my blog but here's something I learned as a psych major and through years of observing this behaviour in others and myself. People can pretty much justify and reason through just about anything because we hate having conflicting ideals. We also find it not only comforting but also necessary to explore and even publicize our "sorting out" of these conflicts (ie. via blogging, much like how I'm sorting through my opposing views on ads on blogs). In the end, how much one feels about one way or another comes to a final choice supported by reasons they have outlined throughout the process. Therefore, going back to my original dilemma I have decided against ever adding ads to my blog for the very simple reason that I just don't want to be a "sell-out".

A Feminist's Nightmare - American Apparel

This is terrible! How can American Apparel, one of the few accessible all American-made, sweat-shop free clothing companies and a self-proclaimed environmental and progressive business pioneers be hiding behind such a heinous deed?! Just when I thought the sexual harassment  lawsuits were bad, this just brought American Apparel from my "shop-here-if-you-absolutely-have-to" list to my "BOYCOTT-DUE-TO-EXTREME-MORAL-DIFFERENCES" list. I am sad and infuriated beyond words.

The major box-kicker here is the cruel paradox that American Apparel is both socially conscious and immoral. It allures those who are struggling to find ethical fashion and disappoints big time when the owner and the company's name is consistently paired with headlines that exposes AA's unfair and sexist practices and various sexual scandals. Nothing really hurts more than finding out that a company that pride itself on its open and fair labour practices and offers great benefits, wages and career and educational advancement opportunities is actually being operated by an owner  who is a total sleaze bag. According to several reports from multiple sources, Dov Charney seems to think he's operating some sort of "hipster harlem" in hiring mainly "fresh-faced'  (young) who may or may not be approached by him for a "career advancement" (personal favours for a raise) when he's feeling "managerial" (power tripping)  and "in the mood" (horny or just plain wanting to be an asshole).

After learning about some of the truths of American Apparel, I, both as a feminist and a conscientious consumer am totally discouraged. I thought I had hit the jackpot when I found a source of fashion that not only caters to my style but also don't completely contradict my morals and values. To think I used to want to work there!

I thought I'd parallel the ironic practices of American Apparel by wearing two pieces of my favourite American Apparel items; the dolman sleeve top and the red leggings. At least I can make good use of all of my American Apparel stuff because from now on there will be no new additions to my wardrobe from American Apparel.

Twelve Days of Christmas Sweaters - Day 1:Peacock colours and a Pair of Docs

Hello! As Christmas is fast approaching, I am going full throttle with decking myself out with some of my favourite sweaters!

Since I'm a few days behind the first day of twelve days before Christmas (This sentence is like a word problem), I'm going double up a couple of outfit photos to make it in time for the 25th.

Stay tuned, stay excited and stay warm, everybody.

Granny Hipster

I wish I could make a living by selling things that I make.

It's getting really cold and I'm starting a few knitting projects. Hopefully if they're good enough they'll make it onto Etsy.

Most people complain about the cold during these months but I think it's nice. Because I get to do things like sit on my ass all day with my cats and my knitting, watching shows on Netflix.

What's Up, Doc?

You know me. I don't really write about fashion in the format of sentences and words unless it's something that really gets me excited. Today, I'm going to take a moment and appreciate the sheer awesomeness that is of Doc Marten shoes.

It's no secrete that I'm stupid crazy in love with Doc Martens seeing how they're featured in over 75% of my outfits. I've been a proud owner of my Docs for over four years and have found ways to make them look great with anything and everything. I wear them pretty much all seasons long and have even rocked them at formal affairs.

This is not a sales pitch for Doc Martens but rather an example of high quality fashion and timeless aesthetic. By owning a pair of shoes that is functional, stylish, durable and versatile, it creates so much potential for creativity, development for personal style and less waste and consumerism. Which, in a way, embodies a lot of how I see fashion and what it means to be a conscientious fashion enthusiast.

If you haven't gotten yourself a pair of these puppies, I think you really should get on it!

Little Troubled Girl

I've been wanting to write dissonant sounding riffs on the guitar and I was able to do that yesterday during band practice. However, it has proven to be extremely difficult to come up with vocal melodies without sounding sour.

Speaking of which. The little band I play in, Scrambled Debutante, has been making some headways in the promotion department. Without even really trying ourselves, we have somehow garnered more recognition over the past two weeks than we've ever imagined we could in such a short span. Some person in Italy made a Youtube video of Self-Loathing Love Song and I wasn't even aware of the fact that our music had crossed national boarders.

Another interesting titbit: I am officially a woman of the 21 century in terms of consumer technology. I've opted out my shitty Samsung slide phone and got myself an iPhone5. Having this thing is like owning a magic wand. I can literally get almost anything the internet offers with a few clicks. Just like owning a magic wand, I can do all of this with just one hand and the power is definitely slowly luring me to the dark side. I've already signed on with Instagram and started sharing pointless pictures on every single social media sites I've connected myself to via my phone, and so far it's just been such a novel and thrilling experience.

There's always an excuse for not doing things but countering that I've now found a reason or a better way to finally set up my Etsy shop. Remember those fruit necklaces I've been promising everyone? Yes, I've got my Etsy app ready and it's almost business time. Of course, I'll have to get going on that...tomorrow.

Breaking Dawn

I watched the last Twilight movie in theatres today. It was not by choice but out of altruism. The movie didn't make much sense to me because I've never seen the previous ones nor am I familiar with the story. It was, however, exactly what I had expected from a sensationalized vampire love story.

Right down to the supposed "witty" and "funny" lines in the movie, Breaking Dawn caters to the demographic of today's tween wavers by being both accessibly relatable (cheesy jokes and shallow banters) yet fantastically idealistic (half human, half vampire fetus). It is the pinnacle of mediocracy. The epitome of all badly written and directed but well produced story of "love-lasts-forever". All glossed over and fast-food like, Breaking Dawn trivializes just about everything young people need to learn about living a productive life.

The Twilight series is like Disney movies for an older audience. Except everything is replaced with extremely attractive people with nothing better to do but to fall selfishly in love at the risk of bringing absolute horror and destruction upon themselves and those around them. The extremely simplified theme of "love conquers all" is so blatant that the story itself doesn't actually add any rich context to make it in any way movie or worth watching/reading (there are Twilight novels, apparently). Furthermore, I did not find any of the characters captivating. Perhaps it was because they were all terrible actors but I could not for the life of me understand the love between Bella and Edward. Also, after five movies it seemed that Bella is still the same fucking person in the sense that after all the shit has happened and everything she's gone through, she has not developed as a character at all. She is, in the end a stock character in the story. This is ironic because she completely died as a human and came back as a vampire in Breaking Dawn.

If this is the kind of shit young people are into these days then I am seriously worried. And here I am worried that Disney was going to the demise of the future generation.

Coming of Age

The black hair is back.

I'm turning 26 next week and felt a little silly looking into the mirror with all the pinks, purples, greens and blues in my hair. I remedied that with dying it black. Superfluous yet necessary.

Instead of playing with colours in my hair I felt that it was time to experiment with different hues in dressing instead.

Yellow, grey and purple colour blocking is a lot more fun than dry and damaged haystack on my head.

Adult Lessons

I get called a "hipster" way too much. Most of time by "non-hipsters". I've been called a hipster so much that I've not only started to identify myself as one but have began to make excuses for buying ridiculous outfits.

For example, I bought these white jeans on Urban Outfitters and wore it to work the other day. I got to work and realized just how impractical and flashy white jeans are. Plus, WHO THE FUCK STILL WEARS WHITE JEANS?! 

Apparently someone who thinks she's too awesome and cool and dyes her hair two colours does. This is what I am now. I have reached a point in my mid 20's where I've actually learned to truly appreciate what it feels like to just do things. You know, really do them right. "Hey, wouldn't it be awesome if my hair was differently coloured?" "OH MAN, TOTALLY, I'M GOING TO FUCKING DO IT" or "I was always told that white pants were a big fashion faux pas." "WELL, I DON'T GIVE A FUCK BECAUSE I HAVE JEANS IN EVERY SHADE BUT WHITE."

This is the lesson learned as an adult: the things I do matter to me because they make me a more actualized individual.

Funemployment

Hello blogosphere at 5:30 A.M.! As of yesterday I handed in my two weeks notice at my place of employment. This may seem unwise considering I need it to pay the bills and support my insatiable online and thrift shopping obsessions. 

In reality, I have been mulling over this decision for a very long time, since last year to be exact. Actually, ever since I started talking everyone at work into joining an union because there had been absolute no workers/supervisor egalitarianism or job security. It has been a year since that fiasco and even though we voted and won our rights to join the union, I have never stopped fighting my boss over issues such as fair treatment of every staff, gender discrimination (it is still the unspoken rule that male staff are not allowed to be left alone with the children we provide care for, because it "looks bad" by virtue of the fact that males are seemingly "more dangerous" and "more likely to molest kids") and managerial accountability. After all, he does run a non-profit society for children for fuck sakes! Shouldn't us adults lead by example by advocating equality, freedom and the rights of everyone? You see, this is where people get lost on, the whole rights for everyone thing. Most people think unions only protect workers and make managers and supervisors jobs difficult. Yes, this can certainly be the case however, from what I understand based on the basic functions of what unions do, they actually provide as an impartial, third-party scrutinizer for worksites. This means, accountability and responsibility need to come from both the workers and the managers. My boss, on the other hand, thought unions are going to make him lose his job or give his employees too much right that we'll go and ransack his office, or somehow get away with kidnapping his family or something. Seriously though, he was fucking paranoid.

So ever the past year; after our winning of the union vote and during our "pre-unionized limbo", I've been nothing but brutally honest with my boss about just how unhappy I've been with the practices and philosophies at WCASS (workplace acronym). I have had many a shouting matches over the phone and in person with various managers about their hypocritical and ludicrous way of dealing certain cases. Though all of which have something to do with fair treatment and equal rights but they ultimately affect the lives of the kids we provide care for. Thus, putting my self-righteous ego aside, a huge part of me is tormented by the paradox and irony of all of it. I sometimes find it hard to face the kids and teach them about being fair and respectful for every person and living creature whilst putting away cheques signed by people who think it's perfectly ok to execute brilliant plans such as relocate an unwilling staff because another staff complained about her being "too pretty" which "distracted" the kids from their daily activities and fire people during the middle of a union movement.

In a way, I feel like I've failed the kids for leaving and having to lie to them why I will be leaving. Through I know that it will not be fair for me lay the real reason behind my leaving nor would it be productive in a sense that trying to explain something like this to them now would only do more harm than good. The shittiest thing about this whole thing is that I feel selfish for not sucking it up and do it for the kids. I just hope someone else would come along and set a better example for them.
Moving on to the future, my unofficial last day is next friday but really I'm suppose to stay for another week after that. At this point, I don't think it'll make a difference how long I stay because the human resources department which consists of only one person - my boss (autocracy much?) will "have time" to find someone to replace me. I am going to look at job postings on craigslist now. Wish me luck.

Slow Cook

Happy Thanksgiving all of you Turkey lovers. My long weekend was extremely productive. I played a show on Friday night along with some great local punk bands and just had an absolute ball! Now I can't wait to get back into writing more stuff so we can start touring and play shows every night. 

Saturday was awesome. I went thrift shopping and got myself a wicked leopard print jacket (pictured below). It was only $7.99 and in great condition. I wore it out to see a friend today and five minutes into my trip I started to sweat. Of course, my vanity told me to keep it on so I sweated my entire Skytrain ride all the way from the East of GVA to the West end.

I also coloured my hair half pink and half turquoise but after several washes the pink bled into the turquoise so now I have mixed colours in the right portion of my hair. So far it doesn't look bad but I'm sure after more washes and when the brassy yellow tinge start to come out, it'll start driving me bat-shit insane. 

I've been procrastinating and putting off the opening of my Etsy shop. Shit! Maybe this week I'll find some time. When I do finally get it together, I'll link it to all of you right away. Sorry about the filler post, I really just wanted to showcase my outfit without having to write anything too involving and long.

Home At Last, Jet Lag's a Bitch

China cut me off of Facebook, Blogger, Twitter and everything which allows me to connect and interface with the relevant people of my life. The policies of the country acts like a big-time cock-blocker, impinging on people's internet usage freedom. The government basically hates and kills everything that may leave room for free expression and communication. 

Overall, the trip was good. I saw my family and stuffed myself with all of my childhood favourite foods and did the most quintessentially Asian things such as Karaoke and shopping at various markets for bargain fashion.

The experience this time was rich however I'm currently running on 3 hours of sleep and am barely able to type so consider this a "to be continued" post...