the art of boredom
Month
A GMS Manifesto if you will. Click through for the entire piece, it’s worth the five minutes.
A conversation with my friend PG at mostexerent.tumblr.com led us to discussing what he refers to as Grown Men Style. This is my take on it…
From our earliest experiences we dress in costumes, preparing for the world we hope to tackle. From the cowboy at 5 to the skater at 15, we don the costume…
Let’s face it – English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren’t invented in England or French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren’t sweet, are meat. We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.
And why is it that writers write but fingers don’t fing, grocers don’t groce and hammers don’t ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn’t the plural of booth beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices? Doesn’t it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?
If teachers taught, why didn’t preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell? How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?
You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which an alarm goes off by going on. English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race (which, of course, isn’t a race at all). That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.
For all its nuances, intricacies, and inefficiencies, this is precisely why I love Engrish.
There’s no doubt tumblr has been overwrought with excitement since the release of Ovadia & Sons’ SS12 lookbook this week, and for good reason.
It’s one of the most solid collections I’ve seen so far, but I think the true unsung heroes are in their neckwear. A small but impressive line of shantung silk ties (absent from their lookbook) that looks to rival Drakes round out the new collection.
Snapped these from (capsule). Straight up texture overload.
Not to disparage any of the great blogs out there that I follow, but at times I feel like certain bloggers just post so much shit. Take a step back. Remove yourself from the internet. Go outside.
Then like any good thing gone overboard, it became too much to handle. I wanted more views. I wanted more people from more regions to view. I wanted to win. I had to sleep, but I wouldn't until I had tumbled a picture, a story, something. Before I had even arrived at an event, a dinner, a date, I had to figure out when I was leaving, so I could go home and check my analytics. I realized I was losing sleep over this, literally. There were friends’ conversations I was completely missing out on because I was checking my analytics from my phone. I had sold my soul to the blogging devil, to the point where I got so busy capturing experiences that I was no longer enjoying them. Something had to give.
So I skipped a day. The dot moved down on the line chart, the number went a little negative. But I got a solid eight hours of sleep that night and was a better person for it. I came to realize blogging was just a sad way to beg for attention. Sure, people say their blogs are their personal journals, but when friends get bored of listening, and your notebook isn't commenting back, there is your blog.
Google Analytics and I had a moment. A long, trying, demanding moment. I still think about it all the time. I still visit often. I’m just not a slave any more, and it feels good. So long Google Analytics. Hello life.
EVERYONE EVERYWHERE BASICALLY WANTS THE SAME THING
“Vastly different as the world’s cultures are, if you speak to Italian millionaires, homeless Brazilians, Dutch fishermen and Filipino computer programmers, in their own languages, you start to see that we are all incredibly alike where it matters.
Everyone just wants validation, love, security, enjoyment and hopes for a better future. The way they verbalise this and work towards it is where things branch off, but we all have the same basic desires. You can relate to everyone in the world if you look past the superficial things that separate you.”
Yes these are real. No I’m not talking about drugs.
Naked & Famous’ self proclaimed world’s heaviest jeans are a full 32oz. of selvedge glory. The leather patch itself is 15 ounces. They’re also probably the world’s most uncomfortable jeans but who cares when you’re talking superlatives right? They stand on their own:
No trickery involved. Speaking of, remember scratch n sniff? Whodathunk to turn that concept into a pair of jeans? They showcased a pair that was raspberry scented when scratched. It’s gimmicky but it’s also pretty fucking cool.
I can already see the socially awkward denimheads getting psyched over these conversation starters.
(capsule), in a word, was overwhelming. In a good way of course. Aside from my volunteer work at the show, meeting some people in the menswear/blog universe, I was able to snap some pics with my raggedy point&shoot. First up: Miansai by Michael Saiger.
Now I’m not really on board with trendhumping the shit out of this bracelet craze, I’ve seen kids[dudes] stacking bracelets halfway to their elbows.. on both wrists. You look foolish. Cop one or two quality pieces and let them work for you.
Nevertheless, some of these rope joints from Miansai look pretty damn cool. One caveat is the shiny, almost chromed out finishing on the metal pieces. Personally, I think an understated matte finish would be better.
We have so many rules now, so many games we have to play, that it’s easy to just get exhausted before we even begin. At 24, I thought I would be driving around in some boy’s car and going to the movies and showing up at his front doorstep when I wanted to hang. The internet would be there but it wouldn’t be such an invasive third party. Unfortunately, that’s not what ended up happening with my generation. Now, it often feels like I’m dating the internet more than an actual boy. It doesn’t help that I’m a blogger either obviously. It’s my job to be up the internet’s ass 24/7.
So here’s how people date in 2011. You meet someone on the internet or maybe in real life. It doesn’t really matter because a big chunk of your correspondence is going to take place online anyway. Either before your first date or after, you’re going to experience the internet equivalent of a handjob, which is G-chatting. G-chatting with your crush will be fast and furious. You’ll message each other at work and send videos back and forth. “OMG, have you heard this song yet? You gotta!” Emoticons will be used and virtual boners will occur. All of this tension will lead up to an IRL date, in which all of those virtual erections will result into an actual boner.
Or maybe not. Maybe the lead up has taken too long and seeing each other in real life now feels strange and unnatural. The very thing that built the flirtation up is also the one to tear it down. This is why if I really like someone, I try to minimize our internet contact and texting because I don’t want us to get stuck in a flirty online K-hole. I make the transition quickly to let the other person know that I want this to feel real, that I want to be with them and touch them and build actual memories or whatever. Otherwise, it will just get lost.
And boy, do relationships get lost when they exist online. You spend three weeks texting and G-chatting and video chatting constantly with someone and then it just stops. The person falls off of the earth or maybe you do because things have just become too belabored. You wonder what the point of all this correspondence is and decide to sign offline for good.
”—How To Date Someone In 2011 (via thatkindofwoman)