DMC meets NYC

I didn't know if I was out of Jersey, I gazed out of my Chinatown bus looking for any sign of official New York. The guy next to me helped me out by pointing to the Statue of Liberty in the distance. Oh, I guess I am in NYC.

How did I go about 21 years as a young American without ever visiting NYC? Distracted, I was. Shaen was an excellent hostess and has great command of the territory. She led me all over lower Manhattan and out to her Hasidic Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn. I liked the chilled nights we spent wandering and admiring the brownstones and fire escapes. Now I know where all the hype stems from, NYC has it all. I have a greater appreciation for its influence on American and global culture, and I wish more cities could have its energy. Yes, lets work, live, and play all in the same place. I imagine there would be a lot more interesting towns and cities in the US if that were the case.

There are more hipsters than rats in NYC, unfortunately. Before this comes off as a wide brush stroke of hating against hipsters, lets provide a solid definition of hipster and the issues that arise from their grouping in large numbers.

By hipster, I mean an individual that grabs on to the general counterculture scene that takes much of its influence from NYC art and culture, and becomes a drone of sorts. Urban Outfitters and Pitchfork provide them the tools to adopt the mainstream of the non-mainstream and the inability to think for themselves. Going to NYC, I expected to see new and different people from the people in Ann Arbor and DC who wished they were in NYC. Yes, I saw some clever fashion combinations and hairstyles, but they were drowned out by what everyone has become so use to, thank you American Apparel! NYC may be one of the major epicenters of new ideas of culture, and everyone flocks to it because of it. In their migrations, they bring back generic reflections of what the city projected, creating whole populations of walking, breathing echoes of itself.

Besides this lack of visible originality among my peers, I am increasingly concerned over our generation's dependence on irony. But that is for another time.

I do not have issue with all things associated with hipster. I have accepted skinny jeans and...well, I am sure someone could call me out on more things. I would rather hang out at the Black Cat than 99% of clubs and bars in DC. There is a lot of commonality. Its counterculture relates to my lifelong sentiments of not identifying with mass media and so forth. It is easy to understand.
We went to a girls party at the Knitting Factory, and while many of the girls were very cute, they also looked, talked, and acted the same. How American it is to be caught up in individualism, with hipsters being no different. In attempts to question, reject, and go against mainstream society, their culture settles with accepted norms and trends that ultimately go against their original purpose. I would say, "how ironic," but its happened many times before with previous counterculture movements. Hipsters have a heightened awareness of their individuality and are defensive to be labeled or associated with the word. It would be a defeat. The conflict of human desire to be unique and to be part of a larger association, throwing punches in NYC and all over this land.

I agree with Jane Claire, it is much better to go and create "your own scene" than show up to something that is already happening and try to squeeze yourself in. Make a scene, where ever one goes.