word bastardization

fashionista: a designer, promoter, or follower of the latest fashions
Pronunciation: \ˌfa-shə-ˈnēs-tə\
Function: noun
Etymology: 1fashion + -ista (as in Sandinista)
Date: 1993

So we all know that the economy has recently took a turn for the worst right? (if you don't, then you suck because that means you are rich) The economy also took a few things with it when it went down the drain, like the word fashionista. Granted I'm not the sort of guy who says this word on a daily basis, but looking at the evolution or de-evolution of the word is sort of disturbing. It really shows what we value as a culture. The word fashionista as defined above by merriam-webbster means: anyone who is a fashionista is: pretty damn fabulous, knows whats in, and (in my opinion) probably would be pictured on either the satorialist or jak and jil (fashion blogs that you should check out). However since the downturn of the economy this little gem started popping up everywhere on the 'tube, radio and print: recessionista

Recessionista: a blend of the words Fashionista and recession that describes a person who strives to remain fashionable on a minimal budget. The term originated in the United States during the economic difficulties of 2008.

What does this say? As defined by wiki (yes, only the most upstanding research on any&every) A recessionista is: a bargain hunter and a person who "manages" to be fashionable on a tight budget. What does the creation of this word imply?

being fashionable = $$$

Its sad to see this, because being fashionable doesn't mean that you have to spend insane amounts of money, and if you aren't spending money it doesn't mean its not fashionable. Recessionista implies that when you look good on the cheap its not really the same as being a fashionista. Which is sort of weird because the word fashionista, by definition, really has nothing to do with money. The creation of this word sort of belittles the recessionista. It says: even though you maintain the a fashionable image its not the same because you achieved the goal in a slightly different way. Its stupid that we define the two lifestyle choices that have the SAME goal, as two entirely different things, making one seem less great. Which makes me think of gay marriage. What makes the love between two men or two women any different than the love between a man and a woman? Just because the way that I love is different, does it make it less important than the love of a straight couple? Just because I only buy clothes on sale does that make them unfashionable? A person can still look really good without spending that much money, and a loving relationship between two men is still a loving relationship. Yes its sort of different, but its the same nonetheless, so why would you belittle the other?

When they say Open Studio, they mean open BAR

Open Studio was so much fun and super lively. I went with a few classmates and ran into a few other kids from SJSU. The first place we stopped was Lunar. I'm going to be pretty honest it was sort of a meh moment, there were only two projects on display with a wall of sketches which could all be taken in within 5 minutes. However the other studios were jam packed and full of designers and students. Frog was the next studio in the line up and it was jam packed with people, a live band, free beer, and interesting design. After partially consuming a beer and talking with a few people we headed on down to the smart design, which wasn't as packed as Frog but equally as fun.


[smart design]

Their office space was amazing, the perfect mix of a real office space and creativity it also had more free beer (and a couple of kegs) and a cute little shop in their office. Their logo is a rat? or a mouse? I would really like to know the story behind that one. (I do not visually link it to Smart Design, because the rat just reminded me of Marc Jacobs Stinky Rat line). We Took some pictures and headed down to the final studio of the night: Astro. Astro was pretty intense, there was a freaking bouncer, which made sense because there was an open bar, which seems to be the underlying theme of these open houses that design & alcohol go hand in hand. (well not really, but I guess it might contribute to their level of creativity though) Astro was not as packed as the previous studios it was really chill, but it was also not that interesting seeing as we took a tour earlier in the semester. BUT they did have the last game between the lakers and the celtics, which I can assume is a HUGE deal considering the fact that there was some over zealous cheering going on.


[astro studios]

After Astro we basically headed back & I got some very satisfying in&out with one of my friends. Today was pretty good. Going to all the studios made me super excited for the future and I really really want to work in this industry one day. (hopefully sooner rather than later).

Beard

Lump Sum and Boy with a coin are some of the most amazing songs ever... iron and wine, you make some of the most hauntingly beautiful music. too bad you look like the ultimate creeper.



[photo by Kim Black]

Dustland Fairytale

So its been a week since I started blogging and to be quite honest I sort of stopped myself from writing anything for 1st week to try and not abuse the blog. I was feeling self conscious cause I didn't want to blog at some obnoxious ass rate that made it seem like people where hanging on to my every word. But I realized with a blog named "ANYTHING & EVERYTHING," does it matter? So from now on I am not going to give a shit about how much I might blog in a given week/day. SO we forge on:




This is one of my favorite songs of all time. Whenever I hear this song, I feel like I am in a movie. The first few notes set up the song with a ghostly echoing that makes me think of an epic, homeric (just learned of this word, so I was dying to use it in context, YEAH I read The Odyssey, barely...) story that takes place in an over-exposed vintage film world. As the song goes on and the story continues with more instruments joining in, its sound gets bigger and bigger until it just transforms into the sort of song that you would have playing as you speed down I5 with the top down on your vintage convertible and the sun setting behind you. (If you can't tell by now my mind is usually riddled with patches of drama, fields of romanticism, and the occasional optimistic/pessimistic wild flower that grow here and there.) And goddamn, the video does not disappoint. It has a story that takes place in the 50's with chucks, leather jackets, and girls who wanted to look like Betty Paige. It has super dramatic cinematography with a sunwashed glow. Go look it up on youtube! see for yourself! I feel like I might have over hyped it a bit but whatever I love it.

[Screencap: joemamscrazy.blogspot.com - Photo Credit: A Dustland Fairytale - The Killers Directed by: Anthony Mandler]

Dog Squats

I've re-written an intro to this first post about 5 times already. It sounds lame but there was a copious amount of pressure to have an impressive opener. And in this pressure to sound amazingly classy, I kept using an inane amount of "big words." So before I start sounding like even more of a pompous ass cracker or like Tim Gunn I would like to welcome you to my blog. For those of you who have no clue about why I am writing this thing its because I always have something to say about everything be it good or bad, which automatically means I have to start a bitchy blog. What am I going to blog about? you might ask (if you are asking you are sort of dense... but its all good, we all have our moments) I will be writing about anything and everything that strikes my interest. Assuming someone other than me reads this and has something to say feel free to say it, then I will ignore it (just kidding what would this world be without "intelligent" dialogue?) Enough jabber, lets move on to the interesting "anything": squatting dogs



This dog is just fucking awesome. period. It squats with its owner in time! I can't even do that. And I will state this now: if I had a pet that would do that, I would do squats everyday not for my own health, but to see the dog squatting on its hind legs at the same time that I do. And its sort of amazing how the dog knows that he can cheat. Its a cheating, exercising, shepherd dog... this deserves its own post. I'm not going to lie though I was not surprised at all when I saw that the owner is Japanese, they can make the most awesome random things. (No I'm not racist, and if you are offended I am slightly sorry!) I feel like I sort of short changed everyone because the part about the squatting dog is sort of short and the introduction sort of insinuates that I'll be writing short essays all the time, but its a squatting dog, how much more can I delve into the awesomeness of this?