Grace Shearrer's Non-Objective End-of-Year 2011 List of Inspiring/Comical/Entertaining/Motivational/Disgusting/Tasty Events, People, and Objects

2011 is like the ugly step child to 2010. The best of lists can't rely on a decade's worth of material, it technically isn't an election year, still no Animal Collective album (and the Radiohead sucked) and the economy blows. So, here is a list of what amused me in the first year of the second decade of the 21 century.

1. Bacon Wrapped Jalepeno Poppers
A tiny football of cream chee encased in a jalapeno and gently enveloped by the tastiest part of the pig... this is what i stopped being a vegetarian for, that and so people will stop assuming I am a hippie.

2. Yuck
BEST ALBUM OF THE YEAR BITCHES!

3. The Rapture and subsequent non-Rapture
First, I was really excited for the rapture. As a nonrapturee I was planning on more space to myself when the righteous were taken. However, due to lack of rapture, I am glad I was saved from a fiery pit. Everyone wins!

4. Hacky Sac
Preferred pastime of the gods.  Demands every ounce of coordination, agility, strength, cardiovascular endurance and concentration the human body can muster.  Also, you can do it drunk. Though not helping my nonhippie cred.....

5. AA+ Credit Rating
The US was down graded from a AAA+ credit rating to the AA+ credit rating. Personally, I am proud of the US for embracing its white trash roots and defaulting on creditors. I can only hope that we all get that Trans Am up on blocks in the yard now to celebrate.

6. Anonymous
They are like cyber batman!

7. US Ambassador to Tunisa

Tunisa: FUCK YA!!!

8. Repeal of DADT/ Troop withdrawal from Iraq
This is really just a win for me. First, I love military apparel, I am hoping this inspires more trench coats, brass buttons, and olive green. Second, I can now go to recruiting stations to get a shopping buddy... right?
Withdrawal from Iraq seems pretty straight (hee hee pun) forward: invasions of other countries= bad.
 
9. Season 4 of Breaking Bad
Sublist: Best Parts of season 4 Breaking Bad
              a) Half blown up Gus
              b) Walt poisoned Brock O_______o
              c) Tip of Mike's ear falls off
              d) "I WILL KILL YOUR INFANT DAUGHTER!!!!!"

10. GOP candidates
The republican party which I assume is against cable has made the best reality TV show this year. Eight batshit insane attention whores argue publicly, air dirty laundry, and are slowly voted off by the American public. Sadly, the winner gets to rule America... what else is on?

HM. Nyan Cat

                                                               I like pop tarts and kitties
        Honey Badger

 

"Look at that sleepy fuck"

I don't expect you to care. But I do expect you to look.

Misanthropic Graphite: Isolative depression continually shoves me through the doors of creativity. Historically when my chemical balance is in flux, the only way to pop the pimple of misanthropy is to take pen to paper. These are a small collection of some my old doodles and live drawing sketches.

The best is yet to come... but these are pretty good

The year is half way over. Yes, I know crazy right? You have less than 6 months now to buy my birthday gift (just a friendly reminder). What is almost as notable, is the fact that list making can once again commence! While the end of the year list is always more definitive, I think this list sums up my last 6 months.

The dub step numbness of James Blake (though to be honest I liked the CMYK EP better... hipster as hell... I digress) moves into the still vaguely sad folk of Fleet Foxes, and Okkervil River comes in with a familiar if not more powerful sound.

I realize that Cloud Nothings are pretty high on my list for sounding like they just figured out they were playing instruments, but the playground lyrics and overall childishness really gets me. I think Cut Copy owes most of their stature on this list due to summer (really find me a more summery album... can't be done.... not this year). Starfucker is awesome for their crisp synth lines, reminiscence of 2008 MGMT (what can I say that was a really fun summer).

Lykke Li halts her former preciousness. She maintains a kind of sexiness, however upon listening maintains a vulnerability I think most ladies can relate (juxtapose "Get Some" and "Jerome"). I really wanted to make Cults number one, for the last week they have been in my book. They make 60 pop revivalism just swell (sorry Tennis, Dum Dum Girls they perfected yo sound).

The top two spots were tough.

Yuck takes shoegaze with a grungier appeal (See: Sunday) combining two of my favorite things, being maudlin and flannel.

Finally, the number one spot. If only I was 16 again, I would have a giant poster of these boys (suprise it is actually Justin Beiber!... jk jk). Smith Westerns got production value and channeled their inner Bowie. Whats more is their lyrics. They literally sing what every girl wants to hear, "I wanna tell you, you're hard to resist." Swoon....

10. James Blake

Rapture? This whole time I thought you were talking about falcons

So apparently the world is going to begin to end tomorrow... Glad I came back from hiatus just in time to make to one last post. Interestingly the world was also supposed to end like a couple years ago, but a typo or something made it so it is going to end tomorrow instead. This business of impending doom has me thinking, where did this kool aid come from and why are we all wearing matching Nikes? Oh well, I also found a swell song to dance to while hell freezes over or something...

Oh and this....

OH: Original Hipster

So in the previous hipster post it was mentioned that hipsters have a lot in common with people's parents. Well I found this photo, and if you get it, well then you are probably a hipster.
Note: This was taken at an ironic ulgy sweater party

OH

Nothing like the smell of spray paint

Laramie is starting to catch on to the whole urban art trend, and I dig it hardcore. Here are some of my fav's. Hopefully more will show up around town and I can make this a continual post.

* HIPSTERs*:Your favorit fucking subject

Fiending after tidbits of info on the soon passé subject (thank god) of hipsters, makes me feel like crack head on skid row.

But here's a little something I've come up with.

Most of the people I spend time with, (AKA friends) have the following traits.

A.) have one or more subjects which they compulsively obsess over, often obscure in nature.
B.) generally are have a liberal waning
C.) intellectual
D.) enjoy independent art, cinema, and music

E.) would never admit to being a hipster, unless ironically so

These are all features that are quintessential to the hipster persona *. All these traits also describe my 56 year old father, which likely means I am missing a key ingredient.

So what is the "Special Sauce" needed to make the Hipster-Sandwich© have that signature volatile taste?

(Dear Issac, if you happen to read this article, I am sorry I used your photo, I will take it down if you desire)

After meeting a 'real' hipster (oxymoronic, I know), I am left with a particular residue which only happen after having dealt with a jackass.

Perhaps what is meant when I say I hate hipsters, I mean I hate jerks, and who doesn't hate jerks?

*Note: not talking about "try-hards" aka. jocks and preps who jumped on the band wagon a little too late, and are perhaps, even worse then hipsters.

in response.

so i am currently dealing with a lot of backlash. facebook comments, branding iron articles, even blogs written by friends of mine. most are repeating the dogma that protesting is bad. some are even equating protesting with hate speech.


to this, i call bullshit. i understand the hippie aesthetic of live and let live. i understand that many people would rather ignore something they dislike, hope it goes away, and sit on their couch eating cheez-its. i also fully support ideas like the Homo Rainbow project, which takes her visit and gives it a positive spin. my main beef comes with these negative responses to protesting. 


i grew up in DC, and because of that, i may have a different way of dealing with things. things going on in my community. things that i think will have a negative impact on (choose one): political discourse, healthy living environment, further exploration into alternative modes of thought.


for this reason, i participated in multiple protests against the iraq war. here in wyoming, i participated in the social justice march. and that is why i am choosing to picket ann coulter's appearance.


"but she thrives on the negative attention!" so what? i'm not doing it for her. i'm doing it for our community as a campus that should foster growth and healthy communication between people of all political opinions. how does ann coulter do that? she just incites people, she doesn't form any sort of lasting impression. she is here to be inflammatory, to be a "response" speaker to ayers, and to give wyoming one more ultra-right-wing voice. do we need it?


so instead of bad-mouthing my activism, take a look at your life and decide whether you are doing anything to further your core values. if you want to speak your mind on campus, do it. be a community member, not a tiny voice in the grand void of the internet. come on thursday and say something.

Underwater I wrote drowning, "I used to be such a good good swimmer"

Tegan and Sara have a way of narrating my life. Any occasion, they have a song. Today's pick...

No Man is an Island

As tensions mount in Libya, I think it is easy to forget that action goes unnoticed. Even in as remote of a place as Laramie, people are gathering to show support for Libyan counterparts.

 

Happy St. Bro's Day!

People usually talk shit on Valentine's Day, for good reason, it is a Halmark holiday aimed at getting laid. However, I have a way bigger problem with St. Patrick's Day, or as I see it, St. Bro's Day. Honestly, I have never seen more people act like total ass hats in public than on St. Patrick's excuse me St. Bro's Day. Frat boys dig out a lame ass cliche shirt claiming they are "Lucky" "Irish for the Day" or "Needing attention because I have a tiny dick" (oh wait that last one isn't on a shirt... yet). Obviously being Irish means you get drunk at 10am, work on getting a sexual assault law suit, then talk in a shitty Irish accent. Dudes are not the only one's to blame. Lassies, St. Bro's Day is apparently on par with Halloween for slutty costumes, with slightly less fetishism (sorry, no bizarre sexy mouse outfits) but even less reason to be a ho. News flash, St. Patrick was a dude who lived in the 4th century and was the first bishop of Ireland. Mythology says he drove the snakes from Ireland (apparently snakes were a big deal in the 4th century). He then taught about the Holy Trinity using a three (not four) leaf clover. Also fun fact, a shamrock tattoo is actually a symbol of the Aryan Brotherhood, so when you get drunk and decide that will look awesome, congratulations you're a Nazi. Also, St. Patrick has never actually been canonised (meaning he as much a saint as St. Bro). So eat some sick corned beef and hash (gag), drink a green beer, and bro it up.
Cheers

Drunk+cupcake=St. Patrick's day and mysterious green stains

Soundtrack part deux (or three? who knows)

 

So here are a couple songs that I have had on repeat for the last week. They kinda remind me of spring, especially the Animal Collective.

Please to enjoy.

Music. Life.

This year has been, by all considerations, the hardest year of my life thus far. Usually, I would apologize for what I am about to write, because well, not all of it is nice. But, I have recently turned over a rock in my life path that has told me that I need to embrace the complexities of life, and in particular, of assertiveness. I am not even close to being perfect. In fact, if I learned one thing in this last part of life, it is this... I am flawed. So flawed that sometimes, well, a lot of the time, I fuck up. Or, screw up, for those PG audiences.
I lost... well, the first relationship, person, and love that I have ever really had this year. We had been together for just long enough to start to hate one another, to fight in the really bad way with one another, and to make each other completely miserable when we parted. Much like Blue Valentine, Scott and I were... love, loss, pain, hate, anger, and sadness. Looking at it from where I sit now, I don't understand, still, why it went so wrong. But, I do understand that ending that relationship was the best decision I have ever made. It was me telling the world that I wasn't going to settle... to settle for what I thought was happiness. Instead, I am finding happiness in the most bizarre of all places, myself. This is rare for me. For so much of my life, for so much of who I was, I have depended on others.. on men, on friends, on my family, to tell me what to do and who I was. No longer. I am me..... This emalgimation of every moment I have walked, talked, lived, breathed, and loved on this planet.
I haven't talked to Scott for months, largely because he started to become scary to me after we broke up... it was messy, gross, and painful. I wish that I could tell him how happy at one time he made me. I wish that I could show him how my heart has changed from our love... and how it has healed as a result of my self-love. I wish that love was like we thought it was, gentle, kind, and always faithful. Instead, love is hard, heart wrenching, life stopping,... and it has the ability to change you. From the inside out, to make you better, worse, more or less controlled.......... I understand why people become bitter, like my dad, from the pain and the anxiety and the heart crushing of a love lost. I find myself wondering about what love is really like, and if life is simply the ability to experience, not to keep it, like we seem to think we need to. Why does hanging onto it make it better, more powerful, or more real?
Love is all around us... love is within us, love can destroy us, love can make us, love can.... do anything. I want to know that love for myself... and only me. In the most selfish way, I want to make my life a reflection of the ways that I have allowed other people to be loved by me.
I lost a lover but gained a friend in myself...
 I have learned this year that life is about the moment. About this second, about smiling, singing, listening, crying, enjoying..... and that really, life is too short... too short for us to figure it out and too short for us to really understand it. But, that doesn't mean that we can't try.... and fail beautifully and amazingly at it. I am thankful for all of this, for the good, the bad, the ugly, and the scary terrible failure... because it has taught me how strong I truly am, and that I might not be a good person, but I am someone who knows that the only truth that can be held is the one we experience right now.

Interview: Fosdyk Well

Image by David Hanus

Fosdyk Well, the tale of a man who survived a ship wreck and may or may not be real, and also an experimental band with members spread out between Chicago and Indiana. I got the chance to interview song writer Scott Ferguson about ghostships, touring, and making a mini record.

SPF: Where is the name from?

SF: Have you ever heard of the Mary Celest?

SPF: Uh.... no....

SF: It is a great sea mystery, the entire crew went missing with no sign of a struggle. The ship was found but that was it. Many years later a man named Fosdyk knew a man who was dying who claimed the passengers, including himself, were attempting to have a swimming contest with there clothes on. Everyone else drowned except him, because he washed up on land in Africa. The person Fosdyk represents mystery, layers unraveling. I also like the story.

SPF: Do you guys plan on touring?

SF: I'd like to tour, but I have heard some pessimistic evaluations about being an experimental band touring in the US.

SPF: How did Fosdyk Well come about? College band?

SF: Sean (guitarist, recorder) and I were in a college band called the Angry Sea which was much different. We are accustom to making music from that. I mostly write and Sean is more technical. He plays guitar and records in songs in Chicago, pretty smooth considering.

SPF: Are there other members in the band?

SF: Yeah, its us and Doug who was in a band called Static Films which is now Fiddlers and Tongues (but he isn't in Fiddlers and Tongues). Doug is great he plays piano and woodwinds, brings mystique and plays what we don't know how to play. Evan plays drums.

SPF: So are you guys planning on putting out more music?

SF: Yeah, we have more music. We have been recording for 3 years so we are a little behind. We wanted to keep this first one short.

Fosdyk Well released their mini album "Slumber and Stark Lots" on Februrary 15, 2011. The album is just that, mini, but what it lacks in length it makes up for in chill. The vibe is borderline drone, not quite scary or hip hop influenced enough to be drag. Personal favorite track is "Gravel Pits" which incorporates minimalistic tones, and experimental vocals.

*Here is an addendum to the Fosdyk story I got emailed: "A couple of things I wanted to clarify: the mystery man's name is actually Abel Fosdyk, and he was the one who supposedly survived the disappearance, not his friend. The band that Static Films became is called Pillars and Tongues (and Evan is a current member of that band, not that it's all that pertinent)"
Some things about Skype and the Physical Sciences building muddled the translations*


Take a Listen: "Gravel Pits" Fosdyk Well
Buy it at:http://fosdykwell.bandcamp.com/ (PS: buying it saves them from financial ruin, and gives you some sweet new tunes)

I was afraid... I'd eat your brain

"I've got my head in the oven, so you know where I'll be"


I love The National. I am a firm believer that Matt Berninger's voice will melt one's clothes off (next research project? def). They released a video for my personal favorite song off High Violet, "Conversation 16" with a little help from Mad Men's John Slattery (though I recognized him from 30 Rock fame) and Flight of the Concord's Kristen Schaal. While the portrayal of a female president is less than women's history month material... I am learning to take a joke and I love the song.

The National - Conversation 16: "High Violet"

'87 enriching life

So been a prickly year for me since moving to this windy ice box of Laramie Wyoming. I fined solace in my one true love.... the Internet. I want to let you know, that even though you most likely are a fucked up person you are ok, cuz you got the opportunity to be exposed to shit like this. With much love, Susannah

burlesque.

so this saturday was the burlesque show. my newly formed band, meadow and the larks, opened for it; we'd had two weeks of preparation, and it was our first gig apart from one open mic night at coal creek.

with a captive audience of over a hundred people, we played a few folk songs, some originals, a cover of whatever you like/pursuit of happiness, and an oldie but goodie, unchained melody.

all in all, it was an awesome amount of fun. the burlesque girls did their thing (and they did it well), and the after-party at the ruffed up duck was a lot of fun. i love performing, and being in an ensemble with some lovely ladies is definitely nothing to complain about. we're planning on recording an ep soon, so i will post some tuneage as soon as possible.

doodles with lines

here's some old doodles of mine. closest i will come to an art show. Enjoy if you can. if you don't then it just means your not deep enough to understand the complexities i express.

Just Chill

Friday is a day to chill. Unfortunately for me, that remains ellusive, and possibly imposible. I compensate by listening to drone/drag/chillwave while running manically between to do. My new fav (ok right after Zola Jesus) is the unsigned (still a hipster, can't help it) How I Quit Crack. The project of Austin Texas native tina forbis.  She does some killer covers, including a pretty droney Nirvana. So if you are near a bed, or couch, think of me and relax.
hiqc- wicked game by how i quit crack

The Best Homework Assignment, Ever.

I was recently assigned a mini project for my Technical Writing class where I had to write down a "process" on how to do something. I could have picked something simple like how to make a PB&J sandwich, but I decided to do something a little more interesting. Below are the steps one has to take to become a hipster. Now, not all of the steps are listed due to a word limit for the assignment, but I think these are some of the more important aspects to the hipster lifestyle. So please, sit back, grab a PBR and enjoy.

Items needed:

·      Easy access to any thrift store (ARC, Goodwill) or any vintage store

·      Square rim glasses

·      Scarf or thin tie

·      A single-gear road bike

·      Case of Pabst Blue Ribbon

·      Demo tapes/vinyl records

·      Collection of Wes Anderson movies

·      Film camera

·      Dictionary

Step One: Throw out all of your clothes, except for any old, vintage t-shirts from the 80’s and skinny jeans you might have. You will not need any of those polo shirts and baggy jeans anymore. Any ironic t-shirts you might have lying around will be perfect as well.

Step Two: Go to your nearest ARC, Goodwill, or thrift store and buy more distressed, vintage t-shirts, skinny jeans, blazers and Keds or Sperry Top-Siders. Also purchase a variety of scarves (primarily plaid, but other styles work as well) or a thin tie, and a pair of square rim glasses. The combination of these items will give you the look of a hipster, but now you have to act like one if you want those true hipsters in your Political Science class to take you seriously. Going out without learning their language will make you look like a try-hard* and they will laugh at you and insult you with big words you won’t be able to understand.

Step Three: Quit your job unless you work at a coffee shop like the Alley Cat or Starry Night. If you want other hipsters to take you seriously, you need to work at a coffee shop, or at the very least, have no job and just hang out at one all hours of the day. You will also need to change your major to Art or Philosophy. No self-respecting hipster is a Business major.

Step Four: Go to a liquor store on your single gear road bike/”fixie”** (as long as you are of legal drinking age), or have another hipster friend buy you a case of Pabst Blue Ribbon (PBR). Once embracing the hipster way of life, you will learn you have no money for good beer, so your drink of choice will always be PBR.

Step Five: Start collecting vinyl records and demo tapes from indie and underground bands that are NOT on the radio. Nothing is more try-hard than listening to a band that people have heard of before.

Step Six: Purchase every Wes Anderson movie ever created (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Royal Tenenbaums, etc.) and learn them all by heart. You will also need to be able to point out their irony and how un-mainstream they are.

Step Seven: You will need to purchase or find one of your parent’s old film cameras (the older the better), and take pictures of random objects you see in alleys or while walking on campus. You can also take pictures of people, but make sure they are over dressed and holding random objects. You will also need to make sure the exposure is set super high so the photos turn out faded and washed out (see below example).                

                                             Photo courtesy of Alison Berreman

Step Eight: Your journey to becoming a hipster is almost complete. Your final step is to find a vintage dictionary and study it like you have never studied before. As mentioned earlier, hipsters have a broad vocabulary and like to use large words like “ubiquitous” and “penchant”. With this new vocabulary, you will also need to become more sarcastic and ironic.

Once you have mastered their language, throw on your seemingly poor looking clothes that in all actuality, cost you an arm and a leg, grab a PBR, your camera and head over to a coffee shop on your fixie.

* - A try-hard is a person who dresses like a hipster, but does not actually follow their way of life.

** - A “fixie” is a fixed gear bicycle.

Seneca Falls

To continue the celebration of women's history month, here's a little something to make you shout for your right to vote. Maybe you are a little upset like me that according to the lastest White House Report on Women, women at all education levels make only 75% compared to their male peers. Keep in mind that the report also notes that women account for more than 60% of college graduates (some incentive right?!). See more here, like how women are more likely to suffer from homicide and violent crimes (yay)!



Happy Women's History Month!

Women's history month is here! Take a deep breath, I know it is kinda a big deal. So here is a pretty sweet little fact.
The first woman to run for president was Victoria Woodhull in 1872.... despite the fact women couldn't vote till the 1920s (ahem bad ass)....She was also a newspaper editor and broker.

From Wikipedia-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Woodhull#Presidential_candidate

What A Wicked Thing To Do

hiqc by how i quit crack
Simply gorgeous. Slow, a little eerie, and melodic vocals. 

Get Low

So, I finally think I am outta my funk. Brain chemicals re-balanced for the moment (thanks for kicking back in serotonin!). That said, I have been listing to happier music, with more reverb, and that I can jump to. Please to enjoy!

shaa.. you dont know JOHN PORCELLINO

J.P. is one with kind heart. His comic's are well known among an extremely small group of people known as indi comic book fans. The good folks back in Denver's or "dogfood town" Kilgore Books are responsible for creating this lovely and well deserved documentary about John and his zen seance of existence. Here's a preview of the upcoming flick. Also here is a link to Johns website go there and buy things

Gotta love

My kind and cool pre-ex-ex made this little diddy and vid to go with. the Glitchyness is still in progress. but I love this noise he made for it. so here it is in the works.

Sim02_agk rough draft from cdexp on Vimeo.

^^åK∑ your day

yummy is this. sooo deranged only those who are ok with some dark will appreciate this. Although, I've always been ok with the artsy twisted shadow side of myself, so I cant say.

Сою́з Сове́тских +日本=Great Advertising

What happens when Dostoevsky meets J-Pop, mixed with a little post modern animation? I'll tell you what, THE COOLEST ADVERTISEMENT ever made for a fake product. My FFL (friend for life) Lonnie Allen is a great cartoonist, you should look him up, and presented me with this little gem.

A day for polish baked goods and photography

It seems that I have been having a lot of days recently where all I want to do is sleep in, grab a Gib's bagel and go find the beauty in life. With the looming date of graduation and the twenty credits of pure, unadulterated crap I am currently taking, I feel the need for some joy to come out of this human zoo called college.