The Hipster Issue Pt. II: The Hipster in You.

Oh hey erbuddy.

That was dumb. Sorry. I'm in a strange place right now, physically. A place I'd never really thought I'd spend much time again, much less blog from. Gentleman and Ladies, my old room in my parents house.

Not a whole lot has changed since I moved out, including the huge mess that I left 3 years ago. But I will say, I find a lot of the stuff in here really odd, because I never really grew up when I was living at home, and a fact I once hated, I now embrace. A huge pile of old, dusty comics sit on a top shelf, behind a geode I got in the Black Hills probably 5 years ago, my closet shelves full of old Gundam Wing figurines, Transformers, and Star Wars memorabilia, in the corner by my door, a huge pile of ancient vinyl records, that I'll probably never listen to, and to cap it all off, an old, noisy electric reed organ sits at my desk, to which I can barely get to because of the books and Super Nintendo games that line the floor in front of it.

 If these were my choices of living today, not only would I be a lot cooler, I may just be called a Hipster.

Throw on your onion head, grab a PBR, and get settled in for Part II!
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I decided that since you've obviously read part I (I have no delusions about that) and have an understanding for what a Hipster "is", I want you to see what traits of mine are typically or are beginning to be seen as Hipster by the general population. Just to clarify, this will look just like my typical blog format, just with Hipsterisms in mind. I'm thoroughly enjoying this blog so far, just so everyone knows.
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Put Those Ears To Work: This is an issue very near and dear to my heart. When music all of a sudden shifts to (or I realize that it's) being seen as Hipster music, I tend to shy away from it, which makes me some sort of weird anti-hipster, or double-hipster, if you will. But this particular group, I'm being obstinate about. People, meet Neutral Milk Hotel, and my relationship with them.

In 2006, while really trying to get a grip on my musical taste, I saw The Arcade Fire perform on Saturday Night Live. They were entrancing. I found their sound undoubtedly refreshing, and their subject matter poignant and enlivening. So much to say, I fell in love them. In my thirst to find more music like this, all the places I looked told me to check out NMH. So I downloaded the album In the Aeroplane, Over the Sea. I found it sublime. The melodies in this album are eerily enchanting, and you find yourself humming them as you go about your day. The subject matter is without a doubt some of the strangest, yet at the same time innocent and heartfelt lyrics I've yet to encounter. The album is dedicated to the memory of Anne Frank, a fact which becomes apparent in the songs Holland, 1945 and Communist Daughter. Just within these two tracks you see the use of overdriven drum tracks (which the Hipster embraced in the mid 2000s, this album coming out in 1998) and painted pictures of semen stained mountains, which kind of meld together to bring out a beautiful mess of music, the kind of music that makes me want to live life and love every minute of it. Now since the turn of the decade, this music has become the bread and butter of many a hipster. But I'm not going to relinquish my love for it. I liked it BEFORE the Hipsters did. I won't let anyone forget that, gosh darn it.
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Everything in Moderation: Now you may be thinking, "Oh great, alcohol? Hipsters? Jon's going to tell us about all the crappy beer that he loves." Well, even though there are some really "nast" beers that I can appreciate, this section isn't about beer, or any alcohol for that matter. People, welcome to pipe smoking.

You may not have known yet that the Hipsters are turning to pipe smoking. In fact, I don't think THEY know yet. But guess what, they are. I decided to try pipe smoking in February of this year. After I began Hookah smoking, my friend Matt and I decided it would be fun to try, so we bought some cheap corn cobs and some flavored tobacco. The first try really didn't go so well, and I ended up sucking down an ember and burned my tongue really bad. So a week later, I picked the pipe back up, and with a corrected technique, I found that I got a good amount of smoke, and didn't burn my tongue. The taste was great, the tobacco was cheap, I felt a little buzz, and to top it all off, it's one of the safest forms of "portable" tobacco out there. Well that was four months ago, and since then, I've upgraded to a nice briar wood pipe, and have tried a multitude of tobaccos that I love. For anyone thinking about getting off tobacco or just getting away from cigarettes and cigars, a pipe is a good option. Here's on of my favorite pictures (yes, I have several) of my pipe.

Since buying one, however, I've noticed a surge in people buying pipes. Pipes are now becoming more accepted among youth, and even given as presents to groomsmen in weddings. It is becoming "hip" and "classy", to smoke pipe. In my double-hipsterness, I've decided that I have to stay above the rest of the Hipster pipe smokers out there, and increase my knowledge above the shallow. I've now tried many blends of tobacco, and am looking to purchase my second pipe, along with a pipe case and possibly a pipe rack for home display. I love pipe smoking, and I really don't want people to downplay that passion and see it as the "cool thing to do". I'm sure there were cigarette smokers out there 250 years ago who felt that the widespread of cigarettes effectively "ruined" their hobby. I'd hate for that to happen.
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Well everyone, it's time for me to put some pants on. I hope I can find a clean pair. Until next time, audios, orevuar, and auf weidersehen. (Sorry, I love Lawrence Welk. Call me an old man if you wish)