I had always been the smartest kid in the class, making good grades, considered a ‘funny’ person, and always generally likable. High school went well, and of course I went to a good college. I decided on a major that was pretty functional (more so than a person who focuses on studying something creative), knowing that it would help me to get a job after college. So much debt…hehe, but of course everything will always be okay.
I feel like I have always considered myself to be ’sort of special’, not just because of supportive parents, but also because of my psychological fortitude. I feel like I ‘understand’ the way the world/people work as a system, and I always feel like I am able to make good decisions. I don’t think that I have ever really had a ‘legitimate challenge’ in my life, but I feel like I have simulated enough ‘real challenges’ to pretty much ‘get through any thing.’
This is a post about how to find urself/lose urself [via ur career].
In search of the first stepping stone of my career
I got out of college, and finding a job was pretty difficult. I had gone to a good university, but I was too busy being social and thinking about life to dedicate myself to my studies and get an internship or do something to make it seem like I was ‘highly interested’ in a particular field. I had just assumed that because “I am me”, I will be instantly likable, and if given a fair chance, I can adapt to any situation, eventually excelling at all fields with minimal effort.
Finding a job was difficult. I went to ten to twenty interviews. I always felt like the person interviewing me was ‘a fucking faggot’ who didn’t really ‘get’ what life was all about. But I understood that entering into this mainstream workforce would make my life better. Even though I have an alternative perspective on the world, it always seemed like a lost cause to try to be alt forever. Eventually, some sort of biological clock would make me want a nice wife, a beautiful set of kids, and a house that I could call my own. But as I sat across the table being interviewed by some one who had this life, I felt like throwing up. I looked back at my youth spent ‘not caring about anything but still achieving what I perceived to mean success’ and felt sort of ‘crippled.’
I was probably a wreck in my first interviews. I sort of just put my resume on the table that listed a bunch of skills that college had ‘taught me’ but I wasn’t really able to retain any sort of knowledge about them, and definitely didn’t have any idea about how to apply these skills to make myself valuable to an employer. Basically, I was ‘just some little fuckface with a college degree’ who ‘felt entitled to a job’ that he probably ‘didn’t deserve.’ I feel like people without degrees have a big advantage because they just get to talk about how they were able to ‘rise above’ and they ‘genuinely care’ about whatever they are doing, because they’ve had to work ‘extra hard’ to educate themselves.
It was hard for me to understand why employers couldn’t just be bros, and hire me, and just sort of let me chill on the internet all day. It’s not like I wanted to have that job forever… I just needed a few years of work experience before I moved on to something bigger and better. But maybe that’s why they didn’t hire me. Maybe they could tell that I didn’t want to work in ’some shitty office building’ for the rest of my life, making small talk with ‘a bunch of fuckhead’ coworkers. Maybe they could tell that I knew that I was ‘better than them’ in every possible way. Maybe they knew I would fail at assimilating into their reality because my sense of reality had nothing to do with theirs.
By my last few interviews, I became better at ’seeming normal’ and ‘making it seem like I cared’, even though I cared less than ever after being unemployed for 6 months. I was just resigned, and I tried to change my mindset. Like some sort of bro who has to go to war in Iraq, and tells himself to ’sack it up’ and a bunch of other ‘lies’ about how he is helping himself/others. The guy who hired me was some sort of Christian-ish bro. I think he saw me as some sort of charity case that he could ‘fix’ and ‘mentor.’ He was dumb enough to hire me even though I was probably under-qualified and probably wouldn’t fit in with their ‘organizational culture.’
I started my job.
The first several months at my job were pretty ‘retarded.’ I was the youngest person in my office, and every one else had kids, ‘real lives’, mortgage payments, and ‘real shit/problems like that.’ Only some people had ‘gone to college’ so some people ‘resented me’ even though they were probably better at their jobs than I was. Just tried to stay quiet, learning how to ’survive’ in this new life of mine. Trying to understand ‘the common man’, and try to teach myself how to become ‘just another faggot in the wall.’ Swallow my ‘pride’ and trying to forget the ‘perspectives on life’ that had become
Every day I drove to my job, and it felt ‘not very real.’ I felt sort of like it was some sort of extended summer program for ‘gifted and talented kids’, except I was theoretically supposed to grow within this organization, adding more value as I garnered more skills. I sort of just pretended that I was ’still training’ and ‘asked questions’ sometimes to make myself seem interested.
However, I think that there was something ‘awkward’ about me with these ‘real people.’ A group of men and women could be having a conversation about a local sports team that was doing well/doing poorly. I am a well-informed young person who consumes tons of content on the internet, as opposed to getting my information from antiquated sources like newspapers and local news. I feel like I have developed more thorough opinions on virtually every topic that could be ‘water cooler conversation.’ It seemed as though my contributions to conversations on sports, politics, local and international issues didn’t seem to ‘mean anything.’ Every one was just sort of silent, nodded their head, and moved on with the conversation.
I added no value to an organization as an employee, and it was difficult for other employees to establish a ‘real relationship’ with me as ‘a human’ because we didn’t have similar backgrounds. I was amazed to find out that people don’t have parents who ‘love you too much’ and ’support you’ way too much. I felt like I wish my parents had done something to make me ‘less self-aware.’
It is weird to think about the psychological advantage that members of Generation Y probably have over their parents’. I feel like this relationship makes it difficult for you to ‘take your boss seriously’ and definitely to ‘relate to your boss’ on a level that keeps the relationship healthy. It’s not really like Office Space where a boss is an ‘anal’ bro who ‘micromanages.’ It’s just hard to really honor concepts of ‘deadlines’ and ’stress’ and ‘pressure from executives.’ Just sort of wish you could tell every one to ‘chill out’ because everything will ‘work itself out.’ But I think people are insecure, and afraid of losing their job or something.
I think my biggest insecurities were ‘looking like I didn’t know how to do something’, so I would just sort of pretend to know how, and instead of actually ‘learning how’, I would put in extra effort to ‘pretend’ to save my image. Eventually, this probably ‘caught up with me.’ I felt less special than ever, and felt like maybe I couldn’t do anything. I was glad that I had a salary that enabled me to buy shit and distract me from ‘thinking about it too much.’ Bought a new macbook and a copy of Ableton, hopefully to make an EP that would save me from my mainstream prison.
In 6 months, u will know whether or not u can make it
Eventually, I feel like they were ‘weeding me out.’ I had stopped going to lunch with any body else, not just because I couldn’t stand the ‘fucking disgusting’ places regular people eat out at on a regular basis, but just because I felt like ‘a prisoner.’ Theoretically, I had tried to fit in. I had developed a character that SHOULD HAVE fit in, but I guess I wasn’t ‘human’ enough to do it. No one liked me, and that might have ‘hurt more than I realized’ even though I had no respect for any one that I worked with. I feel like that made me feel human. I wish I could have just gotten really vulnerable with them or something, but I feel like ‘getting vulnerable’ requires some sort of mental competence/consciousness that most ‘mainstream old people’ aren’t capable of achieving.
It was as if there is this other form of ‘authenticity’ that I didn’t even know about that has nothing to do with the arts. Since I had acted like ‘a spoiled little ass hole’ for a month or two, I had sort of lost connections with my boss/my coworkers/every one, and I sort of felt like they were ‘out to get me.’ I started getting to work late, and leaving early, and probably ‘looking like a piece of shit.’ It was sort of funnie, but I think the ‘bad attitudes’ that were able to get me through non-real-life were creeping back into my head. Maybe they are right, yall. Maybe ppl ‘don’t change.’
When my boss looked at me, he was always just ’sort of disappointed.’ I wondered if he looked at my internet browsing records, and saw that I ‘just chilled’ for like 6 to 7.5 hours per day. I wondered if they were ‘going to try to fire me’ or something. I have not fit in with their culture, and I have done very little to improve myself as an employee. I don’t think I ever will, but I don’t think there is anything wrong with that. I feel as if they should just ‘continue to pay me’ as long as I sort of ‘pretend’ that I am interested in ‘growing.’ Just don’t really believe in ‘personal growth’ and especially ‘vocational growth.’ I feel like I will become less competent as I age, and I should be expected to do less.
I always thought that I would work ’somewhere cool’ like a record label, MTV, or at worst, a Fortune 500 company. It is just really demoralizing to work at a business park on a suburban side of town. Looking out the window at a bunch of Honda Accords and SUVs that are driven by people who have large families. I knew I wouldn’t move away to the city because I would ‘get famous’ but I still thought I had a change to have a meaningful city life if I just ’sold out’ and got a ‘mainstream job.’
Feel like I am sort of just ‘floating.’ I feel too lazy to ‘make my life better’, but I still feel like I will some how ‘get rich’ or at least ‘find happiness by making a career change.’
Is there Something wrong with me?
I sort of wish my parents were ‘richer’ and ‘less supportive in a way that makes you feel like you can do anything’ so that I could have just sort of coasted, then let them use their connections to get me a job that I couldn’t lose. I sort of wish I was just going to ‘inherit a shit load of money’ so I would just have to find a way to stay alive for 20-30 more years.
I feel like there is ’something wrong with me.’ I feel like my ‘alt’ perspectives might have crippled me forever. I don’t think I can be successful as an alternative artist and I am not ‘bold’ enough to even ‘take a chance’ and ‘try to make it’ as an artist/electro musician / popular LA DJ / lifestyle brand creator / writing for a meaningful magazine like Pitchfork / fashion designer. But I also know that I will probably ‘fucking kill myself’ if I turn into my coworkers. I feel like my ‘global perspectives’ and the required 2-year core courses at my university made me ‘know too much’ about life, and possibly enabled me to think that ‘nothing matters.’
I feel trapped. I feel like I just wish I really knew a lot about computers, and could have just designed CollegeHumor/vimeo/twitter, or something. I feel like I don’t have any real skills that could make anything or any organization more valuable than it already is. I feel like 80% of American college graduates should just ‘be outsourced to India’ or something. I sort of just wish I could have a job where I am ‘paid to have opinions on things that seem important’, and make me feel like I am ‘behind the scenes’ in important decisions regarding meaningful brands.
I am worried about the future. I only see myself getting less valuable, and finding new ways to learn less. I don’t think I will have any money when I retire.
I feel worried. I feel like there is a ‘real world’ that I have always told myself that I will be able to transcend, but it might have just been a gimmick. My window of opportunity is closing. I have found a way to ‘be strong’, but I think this just sort of ‘made everything worse.’
I feel like I will ’shoot myself’ in the parking lot of a Best Buy if my life continues to deteriorate. I might ‘vlog’ it so that it can be considered ‘art’, and I can say that I did something that ‘helped me to go viral on the internet.’
I just want to live a meaningful life without feeling like ‘every one else.’
I deserve more than I have.
I am entitled to a fulfilling career.
I am entitled to a fulfilling life, even if I ‘don’t take things seriously.’
I wish people could just ‘chill’ and give every1 like $55K/year, and we could all just sort of ‘be happy’ and ‘buy some cool shit.’
I feel like I shouldn’t have to work.
I feel scared.
Feel like I’ve been lied to/might have been lying to myself based upon lies other people told me.
I think I am ‘too smart’ to achieve mainstream success and feel ‘happie’/’special’ about it. I think I need ‘Christianity’ or something. I think I need to ‘have a kid’ to help me ‘re-evaluate’ what I value in life/tell me that there is a reason to ‘better myself’ at a career/job in hopes of ‘making more money.’
Feel like living in the woods, then sending an email to my entire office telling every1 that they are ‘fucking faggots’ or something like that. Not sure if I want to give up my salary and company blackberry, though. Conflicted.
Scared/worried. ‘I guess this is growing up.’ -Blink 182
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IAmCarles.com
115 Comments
i wanted to read all that but i couldn’t
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//////////Reply by Mightytaiger
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 2:59 am
@c,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qEkQW5kBg0&feature=PlayList&p=1D7C49EDE622AFDA&index=25
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//////////Reply by yellowPaiges
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 8:04 am
@Mightytaiger, so funny you say that I read like half and skipped to your comment
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//////////Reply by c
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 5:59 pm
@Mightytaiger, not appreciated
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//////////Reply by Danny Ramirez
//////////Posted May 25th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
@c, tl;dr
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this is more like a book than a blog post.
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//////////Reply by steph golightly
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 6:48 pm
@ncreep, i think maybe tao lin should develop it into a straight to paperback novel that would be sold in college/airport book stores
i’d buy it
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//////////Reply by ncreep
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 7:33 pm
@steph golightly,
yes, i´d buy that too and read it at the toilet on the special occasions like Halloween or Alice´s Glass birthday.
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think i’m going to get a job at a support group 4 panda bear’s bro matt. seems like he’s going through ‘tough times’ (via Brother Sport)
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carles for president!!
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I thought you were kicked out of college
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//////////Reply by kid
//////////Posted May 20th, 2009 at 11:43 pm
@anon,
carles has many identities. i think this is the real one
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//////////Reply by steph golightly
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 6:53 pm
@kid, agreed. in his village voice interview carles said he had a job that he hates because it doesn’t allow him to express himself and that his life is pathetic/mainstream etc etc etc. that said, i think carles is a lot like that bokonon bro [via kitties cradle] in that the myth is just important then the man//man becomes the myth
“ALL THESE LIES ARE TRUE Y’ALL”
-KURT VONNEGUT
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Carles,
have you considered graduate school?
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//////////Reply by anony
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 2:46 am
@fortune, oh yeah…THAT’S an improvement.
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This story kinda scared me but it just made me love HRO more. You’re speaking the truth Carles. I’m 5 months into my first job and it’s weird as shit like you say. I feel like I’m ‘overeducated’ but I work in the field of public health so that makes it feel more worthwhile. Weekends/not working are still the best things ever though. Kinda sad when that’s your life but how else can I buy my shit, cat food etc. And I agree that most people go to the shittiest restaurants they can find. Why y’all?
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h8 u 4 getting s0 much right here. thought i was more special, but i guess i’m just another type yall.
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2 mainstream of a grim outlook on a ‘career’
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//////////Reply by anony
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 2:51 am
@Chris, It’s more about your personality traits than the value you bring to the company. If you are good at your job eventually some pathological will resent you for it and proceed to “take you down”. My only recommendation is to know employment law for your state and KNOW IT WELL. You can quit for “unreasonable working conditions” and collect unemployment in some cases. I’ve never attempted this but it’s something to keep in mind.
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Jesus dude…*Chill OUT* IF you do have a job consider yourself lucky. I just graduated and don’t have one. I think Obama will save the day and make up some dream job for us dream children.
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//////////Reply by Her?
//////////Posted May 20th, 2009 at 11:55 pm
@Rick, keep dreaming
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//////////Reply by anon
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 8:26 am
@Her?, dream on
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think i might ‘print this out’ and leave it in the ‘lunchroom’ at work
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//////////Reply by stiff
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 12:54 pm
@bro, i was just in the process of doing the same thing. plus im highlighting portions. haha
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2 close 2 home
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//////////Reply by shedding a tear
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 1:45 am
@laffy,
s0 tru, s0 tru
<3 u crls
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w0rd. workplace despair.
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When I feel stressed in the workplace, I kill myself.
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//////////Reply by anony
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 2:57 am
@carles, adderall/wellbutrun, SSRI’s. When that doesn’t work there is always oxycontin. Then there is tell your boss to go fuck themself’s…. or I guess if your creative then try to find a way to railroad them. It’s not hard to forge documents or just make their life outside of work difficult. Again…never attempted but I’ve thought about it quite a lot. I’d like to think of myself as a better person but these days I’m thinking that some fuckers just need to be put in their place.
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//////////Reply by anony
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 2:59 am
@carles, oh yeah and it’s only illegal if you get caught…I wouldn’t recommend that.
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Story of my life
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this blog just got
real
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//////////Reply by May
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 12:56 am
@anon, you mean vulnerable
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Spot On
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It’s worth it to read this site to catch you dropping hilarious bombs like this. Anyone who finds this is “depressing” or thinks this “hits too close to home” needs to get real interests and real passions.
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//////////Reply by anon
//////////Posted May 20th, 2009 at 10:16 pm
@quadruple x, okay : (
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//////////Reply by adelaide
//////////Posted May 20th, 2009 at 11:42 pm
@anon,
:(
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//////////Reply by jldkjf
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 12:00 am
@quadruple x, there’s often not a choice. work is all-consuming like this, and the 8-9 hours (often 10, to make up for the clear lack of passion you have for the job, even working for “meaningful brands”) just take over.
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//////////Reply by anony
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 3:02 am
@quadruple x, That’s a nice thought and all but people still need money….unless I can move in with you and bum some cash to support my ultra authentic alt lifestyle.
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//////////Reply by chowder
//////////Posted May 25th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
@quadruple x, the struggle is that because of the hyper-knowledge the internet has given Carles’s generation, they can no longer feel that their “passion” is authentic, because they already know so much about the stereotype that that “passion” represents. Everything is known, nothing is new, there is no mystery left to life, nothing to expect around the corner. ie. the crux of HRO.
We are left with the American way of life; “Buy shit, get drunk, and forget about it.” When life becomes an intellectual exercise, real living becomes a foreign concept.
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crls, this is so truth. i h8 my life even more now.
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Why don’t you make THIS a job and be professional at doing it full-time or something!
Can you give me advice? I want hindsight now before I make a stupid decision.
For ‘this fall’, I literally have a 50/50 decision between studying fashion in the famous place at London, or spending 7 years becoming an architect. What do I do?
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//////////Reply by adelaide
//////////Posted May 20th, 2009 at 11:43 pm
@Annie,
whatever uses more macbooks
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//////////Reply by cp
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 12:43 am
@Annie, any 7 years of architecture training you can get done in one fall is probably worth a shot.
i know. not helping. sorry.
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//////////Reply by ASHER
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 1:00 am
@Annie,
Trust me on this…go to London and study fashion. Obvs you are a smart and capable person. But something you will miss out is a true life experience. London will give you a thrill you may be wanting to experience (assuming you live in the burbs and wish there are more alt lifestyle around you).
I missed out and i regret it. And this is coming from a person who took the easy road and did everything by the book. I missed out on my 20s and now i feel like im too old to have it back. I have my MBA and guess what…im broke, have a huge debt, and more so i’m unemployed from my big govt job.
So go to London and do what you enjoy and while you are there make sure you learn about manufacturing and the whole business process behind it. This will help you career wise.
Good luck!!
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//////////Reply by ASHER
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 1:09 am
@dank,
he had a good point there as well.
“spend 7 years becoming an architect… u get to listen to a fuckton of music alllll the time and smoke a shit load of pot… and theres cool trendy people in school with you while you learn CAD and design 3d shit… and you can totally browse the internet all day and fill up terabytes of music by the time u graduate… <3 guitarchitecture”
Lots of arty fun people in school and CAD is pretty neat and plus its the best of both worlds you can make art through design.
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//////////Reply by anony
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 3:05 am
@Annie, You haven’t noticed the ads on the site?
Do what you WANT to do. Do what you think will make you most happy.
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//////////Reply by steph golightly
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 7:01 pm
@Annie, fashion ftw+follow christian syrianbros footsteps [via hopping the pond]++ read your blog “wish i lived in london so many interesting necklaces”
done
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damn
just got here
20 comments
am i ‘losing it’
will i ever get 1st comment again
do i need to die
wish i was in a video game
so i could try to jump across a crevice and fall
seems like it would be ‘cool’ to die like that
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//////////Reply by lurnsssss
//////////Posted May 20th, 2009 at 10:43 pm
@tao, yeah ok but what would you do with your two extra lives?
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//////////Reply by Kenny G
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 12:58 am
@tao,
it’s OK. jobs are no longer ‘relevant’ to comment on.
at least, not so much as video games.
in this economy…
something… jobs…wall street.. marijuana farmers… staple foods… bike.. to…
. work.. something… green handjobs
rlly want to ‘respawn’ in an awkward position.
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this makes me laff/scared as fuk.
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‘Another uninnocent elegant fall into the unmagnificent lives of adults ‘ – The Nationalts
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Are you serious? Frankly, I’m baffled. Well…anyways, if you ever hear back about that $55k a year, holler. I could really use some extra “chill” time and some more “cool shit”.
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feel like crls read my mind, unemployed 4 6 months, just sittin at home getting stoned, watching ‘relevant shows’ and ‘procrastinating’. Don’t know what 2 do with my ‘life’, feelin depressed yall
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//////////Reply by anony
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 3:07 am
@sadnessbro, I’m past that. I’m even past the sinking into debt part.
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//////////Reply by Daft Punk
//////////Posted May 24th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
@sadnessbro, read more HRO?
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wow…
I’m currently in college, studying international business and i think i just got a glimpse into my future…
just a major i thought is ‘functional’ and not actually something i want to do.
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//////////Reply by EA
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 11:15 am
@Vincent, I studied international business. Now I have a job I hate. I think most jobs you wind up hating. Your major doesn’t decide what job you get. A college education is really just a base to build on. Aim high, you won’t regret it.
@ Carles, this shit just got real (via Bad Boyz II)
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WAR!!!!!
DO IT
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spend 7 years becoming an architect… u get to listen to a fuckton of music alllll the time and smoke a shit load of pot… and theres cool trendy people in school with you while you learn CAD and design 3d shit… and you can totally browse the internet all day and fill up terabytes of music by the time u graduate… <3 guitarchitecture
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High school went well, and of course I went to a good college. [x]
never had a ‘legitimate challenge’ in life [x]
Finding a job was difficult. I went to ten to twenty interviews. [x]
I was probably a wreck in my first interviews. [x]
By my last few interviews, I became better at ’seeming normal’ and ‘making it seem like I cared’, even though I cared less than ever after being unemployed for 6 months. [x] (10 months actually while my parents supported me)
every one else had kids, ‘real lives’, mortgage payments, and ‘real shit/problems like that.’ Only some people had ‘gone to college’ [x]
it felt ‘not very real.’ [x]
my biggest insecurities were ‘looking like I didn’t know how to do something’ [x]
been working for a month and a half and i thought i was reading my own personal story… you so get me hipsterrunoff.
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//////////Reply by adelaide
//////////Posted May 20th, 2009 at 11:45 pm
@rob,
<3
an interweb friend the is most precious friend
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//////////Reply by natalee hologram
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 11:21 am
@adelaide, so true. h8 u sooo much life friends.
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//////////Reply by anony
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 4:53 pm
@natalee hologram, This is truer that I’d like to admit. The drunken “friends” that you have good conversations with at shows and party’s are good to but fleeting.
crazy post. working in a corporate internship/office setting this summer for the first time to make money so my band can buy a van.
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//////////Reply by adelaide
//////////Posted May 20th, 2009 at 11:46 pm
@d,
the end justifies the means, yall
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//////////Reply by hey anony anony
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 11:08 am
@adelaide, niccolobro
damn
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//////////Reply by d
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 4:50 pm
@hey anony anony, yea..hopefully more people will blog about my band and i wont have to do this shit.
//////////Reply by adelaide
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 7:48 pm
@hey anony anony,
can’t your middle class parents fund your lifestyle?
it’s your right.
I usually think hipsterrunoff is hilarious. Unless I’m totally misinterpreting it and it’s not as ironic as I think it is. This post, however, seems pretty damn unironic.
But have you even thought that your only problem is feeling entitled and superior to everyone else? That maybe you’ve constructed a narcissistic fantasyland where you should get everything you want? Welcome to life without your parents’ money.
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//////////Reply by bro
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 2:44 am
@danny, less ironic, more iconic
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//////////Reply by anony
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 3:22 am
@danny, Yes, that’s an issue but don’t forget that it’s NOT narcissistic to actually be the smartest person in a room so you can’t rule out this possibility. Is it better to delude yourself into thinking that everyone is “about as smart” as you? They probably aren’t and your GOOD ideas won’t make any since. You have to embrace certain absurdities and limitations as it is within most organizations. In many cases your boss is horrible at your job and perhaps even worse at there’s.
Fortunately there are many great (but more bad) authors addressing such issues but there’s little incentive to change most organizations; they’re just too big. Smaller businesses are closers to the right track but success does not necessarily equal intelligence.
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//////////Reply by danny
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 12:20 pm
@anony, actually, while I know that this is the easiest possible thing to lie about, my formally-tested IQ is 142. I don’t blame you if you think it’s some exaggerated internet hipster BS, but it’s true. Anyway, I’m smarter in the traditional sense than most people, true, but I’ve realized that I know dick. No, seriously, I know dick. There are so many people who know more about other things than me. I know a very narrow slice of things there are to know. I know what a stress tensor is. I know what “deneument” means. It’s easy to get carried away and start feeling good about yourself, but everything you learn in college or from your own reading is just a drop in the bucket when it comes to everything there is to know. Life experience is what really teaches you things that are important to living, like having a job or relating to other people. I’ve found that when I start feeling that I know everything about something, it usually means I know very little. So I think we (me included) should all have more of a sense of humility.
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//////////Reply by annie
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 1:41 pm
“True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing.”
also “I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance.”
socrates bro continues to be relevant. amazing.
//////////Reply by anony
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 4:25 pm
@danny, Intelligence isn’t necessarily what you know but allows you to extrapolate based on available knowledge. It doesn’t replace the need for good facts and data but all things being considered better conclusions can be generated. Your much better able to weed out cognitive bias and detect ideas that are just ass backwards and this will drive you insane.
This isn’t about feeling superior to others or being arrogant. The fact of the mater is that it creates real deficits in work and working relationships and your work appears subpar and very well may be since you DON’T end up doing the best work when it’s all based on smoke and mirrors. The cognitive dissonance is just too great. You can end doing your job twice. Once the correct way and once the way your boss wants to see it done.
I once had a bad micro manager boss who tore into me because they didn’t like the way I had instructed an inferior to act. I basically said that if you do this the way idiot boy wants it done then it’s going take far longer than necessarily. Work smarter not harder right? Wrong. The only answers I get are “well this is just the way we do it.” If someone ever tells you this and they can’t justify it then your speaking with an imbecile. They don’t even WANT to justify it because they don’t even know themselves; just a mindless drone. We wouldn’t want to think in order to add efficiencies now would we? Never mind the fact that it’s none of your business what my people do; they answer to ME and I’ll answer to you since you have absolutely no clue of the working dynamics at this level which you are trying to “manage”.
//////////Reply by everything
//////////Posted May 23rd, 2009 at 12:00 pm
@danny, denouement. its got an o in it babez
//////////Reply by danny
//////////Posted May 23rd, 2009 at 4:07 pm
@everything, damn you google spell check! you have failed me.
http://www.google.com/search?q=deneument&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=com.ubuntu:en-US:unofficial&client=firefox-a
//////////Reply by danny
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 8:23 pm
@anony, okay, there’s no “reply” link on your last post, but I’ll do it here. A manager may be less intellectual than you, and may not understand theoretically what he’s doing or hasn’t been extensively trained to verbalize what he’s learned, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t know what he’s doing.
Have you ever tried to teach a smart kid something, only to find that he thinks he already knows more about it than you do? That’s what it’s like, I feel.
But in your situation, it sounds like you just had a power dispute. He felt challenged by you, probably because you didn’t want to follow his instructions, so he stubbornly stuck to his guns because he didn’t want to give in, even if he realized his position was illogical.
Reply
//////////Reply by steph golightly
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 7:05 pm
@danny,
L O V E
when we dont’ know if carles ‘means it’ or not
L O V E
when comments are actually intelligent and not just assholishness
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//////////Reply by adelaide
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 7:51 pm
@steph golightly,
s0000 true.
LOVE will save us all, yall
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//////////Reply by danny
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 8:24 pm
@steph golightly, Thanks for your response, but SCREW YOU UR WRONG I H8 U OMG.
Reply
//////////Reply by A F
//////////Posted July 28th, 2009 at 4:52 am
@danny,
yall r fggts
best post of 2k9. u r capturing the human spirit in this piece, and making it ur depressed, anxiety stricken bitch.
Reply
//////////Reply by gestALT
//////////Posted May 20th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
@gestALT, i think CRLS should stop buying cool shit, save up a coupla grand, and go backpacking somewhere. u need a change man.FUCK HRO
Reply
//////////Reply by CSG
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 6:13 pm
@gestALT, FUCK YOU!
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Christ this is more or less my exact thoughts on the subject as well. No irony whatsoever. Prettttty miserable. Then I read some Bukowski and realized that all I want to do in life is get drunk and fight.
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//////////Reply by cold legs
//////////Posted May 20th, 2009 at 8:34 pm
@neuroticsterrunnoff, yep. hey. i “get u”.
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//////////Reply by anon
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 8:36 am
@neuroticsterrunnoff, do you think it would be safe to say that you are 95% confident that this blog interval captures your true p, or exact thoughts on the subject?
Reply
//////////Reply by hey anony anony
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 9:43 am
@anon, <3 u
think u should calcul8 the power of future HRO posts
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fucking boring
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have you ever been told you’re the songbird of our generation?
sort of like a less fratdouche tuckermax that likes electro and sarcasm instead of everclear and boasting
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//////////Reply by A
//////////Posted May 20th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
@le breaux, +1
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//////////Reply by anony
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 3:23 am
@le breaux, carles isn’t the only one on the interwebs.
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Start studyin Mandarin, white boy. You gonna need it.
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This is so tru. One day you will realize you have just wasted your life infront of a televesion/computer screen, eating “cheetohs“ and drinking a tube of Pepsi. Then you realize the episode of Everybody Loves Raymond is a re-run, but you don’t care. The alternative is sitting in the dark.
North American society is SCARY.
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//////////Reply by anony
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 3:24 am
@tugbro, indeed
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//////////Reply by danny
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 8:25 pm
@tugbro, we are North American scum.
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Oh someone already beat me to it, but everyone, and I meant everyone should read Bukowski, Celine and Fante.
These guys understand.
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//////////Reply by bourgeoisie boi
//////////Posted May 20th, 2009 at 9:22 pm
@tugbro, thanks for the literary name drops bro
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//////////Reply by anony
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 3:24 am
@tugbro, Nassim Taleb
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//////////Reply by natalee hologram
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 11:30 am
@anony, Mitch Albom
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//////////Reply by tao tao
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 4:54 pm
@natalee hologram, Tao Lin AMIRITE?
out of college for 11 months. employed at restaurant. yes thats what i went to college for. TO BE A SERVER.
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//////////Reply by biff
//////////Posted May 20th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
@anna,
wow, that must mean we graduated around the same time. class of ‘08! s0 much in common. wanna date? przz
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//////////Reply by anony
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 3:26 am
@biff, Must be a bachelors of dinnerware transportation.
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//////////Reply by little boobs remix
//////////Posted May 24th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
@biff, class of 08= so mnstrm. class of 07 on the other hand is alt.
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Carles,
we must know exactly all the same people.
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//////////Reply by anony
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 3:27 am
@tony, zeitgeist isn’t just a smashing pumpkins album.
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//////////Reply by adelaide
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 7:54 pm
@anony,
but it is a smashing pumpkins album, right?
yea, thats what i thought.
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Wow this reminds me of when I was a little shit that thought he was superior.
Check some psychology books on narcissism and possible mummy/abandonment issues.
Seriously, go travel, give yourself a goal. Find something that you want to do and give yourself some meaning to life.
You are not the voice of your generation, you’re just a miserable little tool.
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//////////Reply by dr. phil
//////////Posted May 20th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
@dddd,
and you honestly believe you’re beyond narcissistic tendencies now, right? lulz
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//////////Reply by adelaide
//////////Posted May 20th, 2009 at 11:48 pm
@dddd,
you sound just like my father
:(
h8 u baby boomers
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//////////Reply by anony
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 3:29 am
@dddd, Fuck you. Narcissists in the business world are nearly the ENTIRE problem. It’s power with no intelligence.
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//////////Reply by Britdip
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 10:56 am
@dddd, “mummy issues?” Good heavens! Dear me! Simply smashing!
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what do i do now?
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//////////Reply by anonymous
//////////Posted May 20th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
@anonymous, what do i do now?
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//////////Reply by anony
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 3:30 am
@anonymous, you don’t.
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//////////Reply by hey anony anony
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 12:24 pm
@anony, tried nothing and you’re all out of ideas [<3 ned flanders' beatnik parents]
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//////////Reply by adelaide
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 7:55 pm
@hey anony anony,
simpsons quote= all new low/high
//////////Reply by anony
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 4:38 pm
@anonymous, It’s more of an existentialist answer; it just IS. Yes you could write a long diatribe and spread the logic out the furthest possible conclusion but this would take too long.
The pragmatic answer is get a job for the paycheck and not a career. Focus on what’s truly important which isn’t latest shinny object sealed in shrink wrap. It probably won’t make you any happier but we’ll still spend money on a bunch of crap anyway just to pass the time or ironically to “buy” us time. It’s practically unavoidable but it helps merely to recognize the fact.
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//////////Reply by anony
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 4:41 pm
@anony, I guess you could also try and change the world but I think this just makes you bitter and phycologically unhealthy….but you know if works out then you get the gold star. The inertia of current paradigms is just far to great.
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funny and sad. love this: “I feel like my ‘global perspectives’ and the required 2-year core courses at my university made me ‘know too much’ about life, and possibly enabled me to think that ‘nothing matters.’” haha.
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//////////Reply by steph golightly
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 7:10 pm
@annie, that was my favorite bit too
h8 u ‘poli sci 101′
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This is a weird post for me, because I felt very much like this for my first few years out of college. Then I got hired to help design Vimeo : /
I felt so dark that I even thought I might join the Army, because “fuck it.”
All I can say is keep your head up, be yourself, and your ship will come in.
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//////////Reply by oooooooooooo
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 12:13 am
@dalas, IAC is a slowly sinking ship
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//////////Reply by dalas
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 2:05 am
@oooooooooooo, Ok, thank you!
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//////////Reply by anony
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 3:31 am
@dalas, that ships going down faster than your mom on my cock.
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//////////Reply by dalas
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 3:26 pm
@anony, That’s pretty fast!
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i wish this were posted 6 months earlier, so i could have avoide living it, eff you carles! nobody told me!
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Damn yall
Spot on.
Cant find a job after being out of college for like nine months, so I’m moving to a hippie commune/organic farm in upstate New York yall
Are communes the future?
Work makes me sad
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//////////Reply by Redland
//////////Posted May 20th, 2009 at 10:04 pm
@A.M., yes. let’s become communalts.
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//////////Reply by danny
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 8:28 pm
@Redland, that does roll off the tongue.
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I feel the same way.
Why do people want to be defined by their nine to five?
I feel like people’s jobs our their lives!
It’s sad.
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my first comment ever on HRO:
I’m in high school and i feel like this.
love you for this post, carles.
let’s all of us find an alt solution together. [via travel to china]
Reply
//////////Reply by anna
//////////Posted May 20th, 2009 at 10:39 pm
@vicky, [via you tuggin me off]
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when you find out. let me know
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ive worked in coffee shops for five years since college, its alright. u dont have to work with douches, u can take off and come back whenever u want, and u can accomplish meaningful shit in yr spare time… all u have to do is learn to abandon any hang-ups u have around society’s definition of ’success’ [via psychedelic drugs?]
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//////////Reply by adelaide
//////////Posted May 20th, 2009 at 11:50 pm
@barista,
[via not hating self/life/wife/kids/world]
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//////////Reply by kid
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 12:02 am
@barista,
you give me hope.
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//////////Reply by danny
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 8:29 pm
@barista, I want to do it, and I don’t mind starving now, but I’m afraid 30-year-old-Danny will become greedy and materialistic like all our ex-hippy parents.
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//////////Reply by barista
//////////Posted May 22nd, 2009 at 2:27 pm
@danny, its true we all probs will, but if u turn 30 and u decide u want to go bobos in paradise, theres nothing to stop u… that is, if we all haven’t undergone a widespread transformation of consciousness [via 2012]. ps. i work now at a good shop in a big city, and i make more $s than most of my friends with shitty office jobs.
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woah spot on
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I am a generation older than you. You need to focus on one word in your post. Entitled. You aren’t entitled to sh1t, and being smart doesn’t make you worth anything to anybody. You need to work hard. You need to love something and do whatever you can to make it happen. You need to stop whining. Nobody cares that you are self-aware or that you filled your head with ideas you can’t seem to find a use for. Except maybe your parents.
The world is full of people struggling just to survive. If you don’t understand the depth of that, stop reading blogs all day and go take a trip. And don’t just go shopping for skinny pants on that trip.
Go find your own path. You can’t hate on office drones for finding their own happiness between the lines. Because the reality is (coming from somebody who has never really had a normal job, and who has managed to support themself by one form or another of whoring out their creativity and thinking) all that is really important are the little things. The other shit you think is so credible, important and worthwhile is just empty. Go be a hit BLOG house artist. You’ll see how quickly that demystifies and how full of shit people are.
Find somebody and something to love beyond yourself.
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//////////Reply by kid
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 12:10 am
@old person,
yes. I am still young, but i am starting to see the truth in this already. Eventually everyone who knew you will die and it won’t matter how successful you were. All that matters is that you have people who you care about around you while your alive.
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//////////Reply by Rick
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 1:08 am
@kid, THE MOST TRUTH
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//////////Reply by anony
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 3:34 am
@old person, You make an amazingly persuasive argument. This is no doubt why you are so successful.
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//////////Reply by danny
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 8:35 pm
@old person, I’m 23 and couldn’t agree more with you. It’s depressing that so many kids feel this way–they’re in for some serious disappointment. Once they accept that they’re not the special little shining stars their mothers told them they are, then they’ll be much better off.
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//////////Reply by d
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 11:30 pm
@danny, ok tyler durden.
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//////////Reply by lol
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 8:50 pm
@old person,
u sound like a bitter old dude who’s parents prob didn’t love them [via being 'strict' and kicking them out of the house at 18 (stuff you rationalized later on in life as being 'for your own good')], was kinda ugly so had 2 settle for boring girls via learning to behave mainstream in order to cope because you’re also a lil tardeds and wouldn’t be able to do anything unique if you tried [via just not grasping anything] and also a lil full of himself because part of your coping mechanism is feeling like yr a kno-it-all douche who is beyond certain things that others are. your condition is fairly obv through your inability to understand anything on this site. enjoy your divorce/mid-life crisey/’george gray’ reflection on yr life. yr days of ‘tellin it like it is bro’ won’t last long. I AM SO ANGRY WITCHU RITE NOW CANT U TELL.
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//////////Reply by bussy t
//////////Posted May 24th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
@lol, tell him bro
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//////////Reply by phoebe
//////////Posted May 24th, 2009 at 4:17 am
@old person, This is the MOST amazing post. I posted earlier, but this post really gets the message across. I completely agree with you. You can’t just bum around and think that your special. If you love art, work hard at it. There is no one more boring than the guy who smokes weed all day watching college humor pretending that they are artistic. If you were artistic, you’d find a way to use our culture and ‘mainstream’ environment to fulfill yourself instead of bitching on the computer about your mommy and daddy.
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may need to ‘off myself’ now.
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old person is not me, oldguy. ‘old person’ seems like a bit of a dickhead. i think we are both old, but prolly not much else in common. dont think he ‘gets’ this blog.
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//////////Reply by adelaide
//////////Posted May 20th, 2009 at 11:51 pm
@oldguy,
he probably wears ralph lauren polos
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//////////Reply by alternalt
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 1:24 am
@oldguy, u seem like a cool older prsn who does ‘get it’
lyk perhaps u listen to a mix tape ur son made u of anco/arcade fire instead of the stones
lyk perhaps u tug off to amappy catalogues insted of victoria’s secret
lyk perhaps you cum on your 14 y.o. neighbour grl/boy instead of ur wifey
feel like maby ur rly genuine/we cd hav a genuine conversation
wow
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5 years and counting
its pretty cool that i have no more dreams or aspirations in life other than to get tugjobs and ride bikes :(
Reply
//////////Reply by eskimopie2012
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 8:36 am
@octopus magic,
mine are to give tugjobs and ride bikes.
happy hour?
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//////////Reply by octopus magic
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 6:00 pm
@eskimopie2012, yesssssssssssssssssss
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Spot on
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Hey dude i think your just going through a phase in your life where alot of us will soon reach. Dont worry dude this is your breaking point buckle down and get to work find something you like and build upon it stay focused, forget partying get your future right first.
oh yeah im studying computer network engineering not because i like it but its something thats solid and it will fund my real passion which is art and clothing design. this job that you have may be that tool to fund your real passion just find it and i guarantee you’ll be happier and feel more securer.
-RobbyBombJacket
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//////////Reply by turk
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 9:42 pm
@Robby, that plan sucks. What will happen is: you’ll hate your 9 to 5 job, which incidentally is where you’ll spend all your waking hours – and you will never succeed at your passion of art and clothing design because you’ll never fully devote yourself to it.
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//////////Reply by Robby
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 11:24 pm
@turk, I Actually an accept that because your right thats why im focusing more on art and fashion and now its paying off dont really need a cubicle job now thanks man!
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wow u are such a shitty graphic designer u used black stroke 2 n where is the visual hierarchy
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i think it’s alright to feel inhuman, y’all [via animal collective]
think maybe we should all just spend more time ‘walking around’ and ‘looking at trees’
think maybe i’ll move to france and join a gay commune that’ll accept me for me [via not doing shit, smoking weed, and also fucking bitches]
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//////////Reply by danny
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 8:37 pm
@habeebajeeb, we we give ourselves a fright when we become less than human.
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thre’s no way those pieces of paper threatening to engulf that desk woman are A4.
f’n massive. paper got to learn to fight FAIR
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More of this, less mp3 posts
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im down for bein a commune-alt… lets take over the venus project and make that shit work… or move to detroit and buy those 100 dollar foreclosed houses stripped of copper wiring… or live 10 deep squatter style in an abandoned inner city industrial building… id go bearded-forest-alt if i cud only afford a solar panel to charge my laptop…
…throw our bodies in the gears of the apparatus, this machine dont give a shit and neither do i, but ill be gotdamd if i turn into one of my fucking faggot coworkers asking if i saw the game last nite…
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//////////Reply by anony
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 3:38 am
@pan-dimensional bro, oh to be a machine, oh to be wanted, to be useful
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TL, DNR. will save for a boring day at my boring job.
just kidding, i wish i had a job :( fail.
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Yall just feel like peen peen tug tug bro scare quote unquote alt-breasts alt-poon fuck fggts Anco/AmAppy gonna buy me some AZNs three 4 a dolla yeah I know Im pretty special can I haz some more alt-tugs now please pretty please with blow on top scare quote unquote PS <3 U Interwebs 4ever!??!!!
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//////////Reply by anon
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 8:41 am
@Carles Jr., your comment sucked a lot, but your name is cool.
i had their burgers once, they were pretty alright.
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I’m not sure whether this is truth, parody, or somewhere in between. But it’s a brilliant piece of writing. Thank you for sharing.
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i think this post is making fun of both sides: embracing the work/home/sleep existence and letting its meaninglessness seep into your skin too deep.
either way, i’ve been there, but now i just wish i had a job ..
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too weird to live, too rare to die :(((
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//////////Reply by Duke
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 5:01 am
@justanotherpussy, is that the true definition of alt?
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Just had to write a comment to say thanks for all the great blogs. I love how accurately you pinpoint different peoples lives, and actually say something real and meaningful about life/society/humans.
This blog in particular! Hahaha, its fantastic! How the I-person in the blog thinks its all about “fitting in”, “get this or that”, “developing a character”, but but the thing is… he doesnt do his job! He surfs 6 -7,5 hours a day, hahahahahahaha!
carls, do you write lyrics (like for songs?) i would like to read them. or sing them.
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u r a pussy, seriously.
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Wow this post really brought up my self esteem via dropped out of college a year before graduating. I was actually worried about the future/job security/ unborn children/future lousy husband that adds on an extra burden that is like having an extra child/401K. You OLD people who actually finished college and have LOTS of debt are still unsatisfied with your lives! SO sad yall! Makes me want to go back packing through Europe/do some drugs/have a dirty fling with a Spaniard/take lots of meaningful pics for my blog of my in a cooler place than the states…while I am still YOUTHFUL and free spirited…never looking back from this day forward yall. You have given me the true gift of life via REALLY living, I will be a cubicle refugee now! THANK YOU!
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get a FUCKING life carles. you might try coming out of the closet as well, you sound like a fucking homo on sirius/xm…think you are so smart you stinky asshole
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//////////Reply by yellowPaiges
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 10:16 am
@anon, bahahahaha!!!!
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//////////Reply by adelaide
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 7:59 pm
@anon,
don’t.
he’s sensitive
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that is exactly how i feel about my job–6 months in i reached the point where if i didn’t have some sort of exit plan, i was going to murder and eat my dog.
i’m about to go back to school to be a high school english teacher. Those who can’t teach. And i found out I definitely can’t. I’d rather talk shit with high school kids and get 3 months a year to do whatever i want. Bye Bob and Allen and Bob S. Hope your kids’ hockey teams do great this year! I’m ghostbuster, brah
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//////////Reply by kid
//////////Posted May 22nd, 2009 at 4:28 pm
@eskimopie2012, you remind me of my favorite english teachers. I never learned anything, i suck at writing papers, but I have this idea in my head that I love literature (which may or may not be true).
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I’ll have your kid, Carles.
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I am 5 months into my first job right now and I feel exactly the same. Couldn’t fit in, they are too mainstream.
Seems like everyone feels like that afterall.
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//////////Reply by yellowPaiges
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 10:25 am
@lexin, You probably feel that way b/c you are sOO close minded and BORING. All my office mates accept me for how “different” I am..and even go to what they think is happy hour at hipster bars, really the drinks are just naturally cheap..they also encourage my lifestyle by sending me doodles they made in the paint program of what they think my boyfriend looks like (even though I don’t even have one) …they usually make him flamboyant looking… wearing scarves and black framed glasses, they can see deep down into my soul and hope that I really do find this dream man someday! They spend ALL that WORK time making ME doodles to hang in MY cube!!! They are TRUE CoWorkerBros!
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s000 b000ring
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wow dudes. its called drinking. thats how u take care of all a dis shit ^
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This article was barely readable. Was the author being sarcastic? I could maybe see its appeal if it were meant to be ironic/sarcastic. And I ‘really’ don’t understand ‘all’ their use of ‘apostrophes’. ‘Why’?
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scared 2 read this post
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hmm you are now alt.bag
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//////////Reply by steph golightly
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 7:29 pm
@anon, tru dat
did anyone else here the pixies playing in the background? [via fight clubbin]
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Man, im 4 years in to my real world job and although i have sold out in some ways (lame work clothes, early bedtimes) i keep it for reals (getting high on breaks, mad internet surfing). They key is to just play the part, its better than waking up at noon and wearing your ironic metal band t-shirt to a “cool” job with fellow dude bros that pays 9 per hour but gives you street cred. You can hang with those dude bros on the weekend whenever your favirite new electro dj is ripping up his mac top with some mad ctrl + alt+delet moves yo!
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//////////Reply by jamesbro
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 1:45 pm
@colin barth,
exactly!
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//////////Reply by steph golightly
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 7:30 pm
@colin barth, I WORK FOR STREET CRED
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//////////Reply by colin barth
//////////Posted May 22nd, 2009 at 10:00 am
@steph golightly, thats cool, I am often envious of you folks. Now make me a sandwich.
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you copied this from the new wessy andy movie plot.
in the end the alt-bro ‘finds his true self’ and makes out with soko in the rain.
starring j swarsandwichman.
rated pg-13 (for the tween dolla bills, yall).
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so basically that just described my entire life.
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Wrote this one at work, huh bro?
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Cause nothin’s new forever – all they suckers undercover; It’s like only Stevie Wonder sees the same things
–the hot chips
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5NIQQX_7vY
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You are a fuckwad. Get a grip. Get a life. Get over yourself. Make a decision instead of agonizing over not making one… a) find a new job, b) go in a new direction, c) make an effort at your job. Why do you think you’re better than everyone else? … they’re content, you’re not… seems like you’re the one failing the game. I hope that no potential bosses read this, the rest of us WANT jobs and WILL make an effort, don’t hate on our generation just because some people suck.
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//////////Reply by willy
//////////Posted May 23rd, 2009 at 4:02 pm
@guest, you suck
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you might be ‘in’ the bosses cathedral, but you don’t have to pray.
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//////////Reply by adelaide
//////////Posted May 21st, 2009 at 8:00 pm
@mr unkovich,
deep.
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This is why you move to the city after you get your undergrad, get a masters while putting yourself into debt, and when you can’t get a good job just work as a custodian. It’s more authentic yo.
But seriously, do as many fuckin internships as you can y’all.
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i just finished high school yall, im afraid of that being my future. should i just not go to college and work at an alt bookshop in berlin? i feel so confused
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Wow. Like many earlier commentators I’m not sure if this is supposed to be funny or not but it clearly resonates with a lot of people. As an undergrad who had a boring, painful cubicle experience last summer, I can understand (in a limited way) where you’re coming from. I like school and will try for grad school probably just because I fear depression and apathy via employment in a cubicle. Guess I don’t want to join the ’salaried masses.’
A lot of folks are clearly enraged at your sense of entitlement, but it’s worth pointing out that you seem aware of it. In terms of solutions, some have suggested that you ‘get a new perspective,’ yet the belief that anyone can ‘get a new perspective’ like it is a material object rests on what seems to me a false presupposition: I’m not so sure people can ‘will’ themselves to adopt a new perspective on anything. Not sure perspectives are something you can discard or adopt like an am-appy lamé headband. Even intellectually ‘knowing’ that the vast majority of the ppl on the Earth address more ’serious’ life-or-death crises on a day-to-day basis never helped me when I was depressed. That said, you CAN try to experience new stuff in an effort to find an interest or provide a ’shock 2 ur system.’ I suggest you do so.
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Its all about sellin drugs, pushin dope, pedalin smack, gettin paid, earnin cash, $ nice car, murdered out, chrome rims, start rap carrier, rap about selling drugs, sell albums, get more $, rap about gettin $…
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Calres,
Are you concerend that HRO can’t support you forever? Worried about the inevitable transistion to a real job? Worried that evebtually your realy identity will be unvailed and your parents will find out you do this post and will read about alt-tities etc.?
So much of your identity must be wrapped up in this website/community. I feel for you bro. Get vulnz with me bro. Tell me about the pressures that are gettin you down. Message me privately and let me be your shoulder to cry on.
U ‘n’ me foreva bro.
Ur #1 fan,
Stan
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Prototypical ‘quarter-life crisis,’ Carles. U R just another wikipedia entry.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quarter_life_crisis
still <3 u n feel the same way.
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So I can’t understand if you are MAKING FUN OF THE HIPSTER LIFESTYLE in this post, or if it’s YOUR story. I thought it was a joke, but everyone takes it so seriously.
perhaps it could be both?
Please email me the truth!
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//////////Reply by livz
//////////Posted May 24th, 2009 at 3:36 am
@isittrue?, its everything
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There are several things that annoy me about this entry. Firstly, funny is spelt with a y, not an ie. You use quotation marks way too much, to the point where they lose all meaning and your intonation doesn’t make sense. You talk about finding something, ‘important’ to work behind, but then suggest that certain Brands fit into this category. Why do you think branding is important? Branding is just another way to satisfy and dupe the ‘mainstream’ people you hate so much, selling them things they don’t need to make their money seem necessary.
I really feel a bit sorry for you because it seems that you’ve always been surrounded by people who encourage you to think you are above everyone, and in this way they’ve prevented you from seeing everyone as an equal.
I can understand your phobia of the mundane, because I fear it to some degree, but I feel that you need to get some perspective on the struggles of humanity and understand that you may feel better about yourself if you make your work about something that makes life better for others. That doesn’t mean you can’t be an ‘artist’, but it does mean you need to think about why and not just try to be ‘creative’ for the sake of being cool and ‘alternative’. In many ways people who have your mentality end up wasting their lifes, drowning in their own ‘coolness’. There is nothing wrong with working and having someone to love and engaging with others.
This comment is meant to be constructive, not rude and I hope it is helpful in some way.
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//////////Reply by Chowder
//////////Posted May 25th, 2009 at 6:12 pm
@phoebe, misspellings and quotes are intentional on HRO. You have missed every iota of sarcasm.
Carles, I know where you’re coming from. Phoebe hasn’t reached that level yet, which is fine (that’s where mainstreamers come from, and why republicans don’t understand democrats). I think you will find HRO is gradually becoming a hub of philosophy for our generation. Consider the quantity of “alts” out there now compared to the 50s. The problem is that while we know what we are rebelling against, we don’t know what we are searching for. The 50s were about safety, damage control, contraction. Now, after forgetting what life is about and what real suffering is, we are seeking out danger, experience, answers. You have noted how mainstream “alt” has become. This is a good thing. It means there are more of us than ever looking for another way: something beyond suburbia, cubicles, and family game night. The internet helps us carry out this search at breakneck speed. It’s true that whatever we are seeking can’t be found, but we have to reach the end of our rope to realize that. And once you see that there is nothing there, you see real truth, which is joyous.
You’re on the path now. I don’t think it will be long. Keep looking.
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//////////Reply by phoebe
//////////Posted May 26th, 2009 at 7:10 am
@Chowder, I’m so glad that this is meant to be sarcastic, cus if not it’s just damn depressing and vacuous. I would think of myself as someone who does not have a traditional, safety-netting , 1950s outlook on what life should be, so really, I wouldn’t agree that I, ‘have not reached that level yet. I started a career in medicine and am now persuing one in music, which is my dream, so clearly I’m not afraid of stepping outside of the mainstream. I have also never lived in suburbia, nor attended a family game night (whatever that is). Fortunately, I have more interesting things to emerse myself in.
The only think I really object to, or dispair of in this blog, is that things like, ‘branding’ and buying ‘cool shit’ are held up as a holy grail of individuality and rebellion against the establishment. Branding makes us all the same and makes you believe you’re buying into a certain lifestyle, when really, you’re just feeding capitalism, which is anything BUT ‘alt’.
I hate the word ‘alt’. It’s always used by people who have no real passion for anything other than skunk and therefore think that makes them amazing in some way.
Sorry if this is a little to the point, but I dislike false and un-informed accusations being hurled my way.
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//////////Reply by dongs
//////////Posted November 7th, 2009 at 11:42 pm
@phoebe
it’s funnie cause you don’t understand this website
//////////Reply by god
//////////Posted November 8th, 2009 at 2:10 am
@phoebe,
way to shadowbox, douchefag
where’s ur message of ‘hope’? come on, throw a dog a bone.
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This is the story of my life. even down to getting ableton. i listen to too much music and surf the internet all day. fucks with ur head.
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This is truly a return to form. Excellent.
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phoebe is right, the only way you’ll feel valued in life is if you give somehow. it doesn’t have to be on a grand scale; as long as you’ve made a difference in someone’s life you’ll feel worthwhile as a human being. go do education in the arts, teach kids music, work for a charity, not some anonymous business in the middle of nowhere. the jobs might not pay as well, and you’ll have to work hard but you sure as hell won’t want to kill yourself.
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//////////Reply by vdieselfor20
//////////Posted July 3rd, 2009 at 1:17 am
@lalaland, YA KNO! UVE GOT THE RIGHT IDEA! JUST GIVE A LITTLE YA KNO?
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you are a fucking idiot
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lol
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so glad ive got “three more years” of college and “my entire life ahead of me.” get pretty dec grades at a pretty dec school. don’t do anything “extracurricular”. sort of feel like life will “work itself out” and the economy will be good in 3 years.
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im an old 50+ boomer & i can say ppl that fixate on how younguns nowadays have entitlement issues are fulla shit.
they may be right but everyone born in usa after wwII has entitlement issues.
it’s just a matter of degree. they got no reason to feel so uppity.
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they had things like you kids back in the hippies days, they all sold their soul, committed suicide or developed mental illness from chronic hard drug use. Your baby boomer parents fucked you up royally. Where the fuck are we going to go from here.
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what the fuck is with constantly quoting shit, like we dont get that you’re constantly being ‘ironic’ or “sarcastic”. have you thought of ever producing something, even intangible insight towards something that would be useful to people besides other fucktard blaise groupies always trying to seem like they’re not shitting their pants and drugged out losers?
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after reading your epic blog i feel like thinking too much is the sad truth to everything.
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Is this real or a joke about what recent graduate hipsters write/think like?
I’m honestly sickened. I luckily did learn a few skills, now I watch hipsters ride fixed gear bikes to work at local coffee shops out of my window because they didnt step up to the plate in College and learn something, A marketable skill of somekind (which pisses me off because you know that it’s the parents are footing the college bill). That is unless daddy got you a gig and you learned on the job, much to your dismay (daddy made you get a job?! oh poo!) Just because you have a degree is not going to help you when a huge percentage of high school graduates are now attending college.
Its more competitive now.
Grow up, everyone feels “special” in our twenties, hopefully we all feel special our entire lives. But having a trendy job a place like ‘pitchfork’ shouldnt be the only thing that gives your life validity. Or are you only trying to get that gig because you need to impress hipster friends?
blah
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Woooooo0oah I feel the same way bro, like you typed the word from my brain. Have you looked into the Peace Corps or whatever? Or managing an alt store? You would obviously have to work your way up but you can do that while you have your mainstream job
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How did we get this way? Lack of challenges? Nice parents? Good taste?
This was like reading about my life… details and all. I guess it’s the same for many of us…
None of us are that special, even though we think we are.
Carles… your writing is hilarious, even when it makes me kinda sad inside.
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Whiny boy who has life handed to him wants to call everyone faggots. Can’t give up the blackberry, though, continues to be a douche.
I think this might be the worst site on the internet, I hope noone is taking it seriously.
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“I sort of just wish I could have a job where I am ‘paid to have opinions on things that seem important’, and make me feel like I am ‘behind the scenes’ in important decisions regarding meaningful brands.”
Its called a stock broker!
You should look into becoming an alt real estate agent like that emo retard on Bravo’s “Million Dollar Listing.”
I really want to buy a $3000 dollar t-shirt from Tao Lin so I can kick him in the nuts and make him feel that much more special.
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We are such a bunch of fags. so glad i’m ‘gen y’.
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fuck, i feel like i just read my future
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thanx fortune teller
can we all jus go live in a shitty house with lifetime supply of vodka n weed n sit around sharing ideas all day pwease.
some1 buy a house.
alts unite
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there is no way that this is not tao lin writing this
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