Wipe Your Feet

I went to the UCLA Ackerman Grand Ballroom to cover LOOK AT THIS F*CKING PANEL for the Village Voice blog last night (here it is). Some things I learned:

1. I had previously figured I wouldn’t like Tao Lin. I’m not sure why this is, other than we share the same initials and that he has a Fake Dinner Party sensibility. Instead, maybe just because he gave great panel, I think I’ll probably take a stab at Richard Yates.

2. Apologetic former hipster-hater Christian Lorentzen’s essay in What Was the Hipster? goes into more depth about the evolution of the hipster than was allowed for in the panel, and is fantastic (the whole book is: panel member Christopher Glazek’s essay on Hasidim vs. hipsters is also up my alley). Mary Corey, a UCLA history professor who was also on the panel, waved it in front of me on the way out and was like, “Have you read this book? I’m so excited to read this book.” Mr. Lorentzen gave me his copy because I was too broke and uncomfortable to buy anything while at the panel. I wish I’d paid for it, because it’s worth paying for.

3. Alexi Wasser is really warm and charming. She also is either genuinely boy crazy or a master of her own brand. Fact: she now has approximately 25 new undergraduate male admirers. I could see the pupils of their eyes turn to heart shapes as she talked about her hopes for a TV show. If she were on The View, I’d Tivo it.

4. I can’t be a hipster, because at 27 I’m too old. A relief! A relief?

Thanks to Foster for inviting me to guest post, and reminding me of when Gavin McInnes pissed on his cereal and ate it. I would hate to have ever forgotten about that.