Photo via lookbook
I am the RurAlt. I live in a rural area. I would give anything to be trapped in suburbia, but instead, I am living in a rural area. My parents moved out here so that my 5-10 person family could have more space to grow up, and that we could become one as a family. We eat every meal together, and we drink unpasteurized milk [via straight from the cow]. My brothers + sisters + me were homeschooled for a while, but now I attend the local public high school. Faith has played a huge role in my upbringing, but I’m not sure if I ‘believe’ any more.
I started to feel ‘different’ when I was 12 years old, like there was a world outside of this small town that I was about to discover. It seems like every one who lives in this rural area has a strong sense of ‘community’, but it is mainly just a system that perpetuates itself. No 1 ever leaves this town (I will leave this town). I really just yearn for a scene where bros don’t just want to get handjobs and drive huge trucks + SUVs. I am tired of the entire town knowing who you are. I am tired of having to do rural chores such as ‘milking cows’ and ‘baling hay.’
My dad wants me to stay and work on the farm, and marry my high school sweetheart, but I can’t help but think there is a better life for me. I just wish I could go to a school where more than 2 people saw Fight Club, or where more than 5 people knew why they should appreciate Animals Collective. I want to live in a cultured environment. I am capable of more than this simple life. There’s more to life than this. I can feel it deep within me.
One day I will leave my home in rural America. I will move to the city. I would even be willing to move to suburbia if there are more people who ‘get’ me.
There’s more to life than this plot of land which my father bought for us in 1985. If my father had his way, the next 50 generations of our kin would be born + die on this land.
Do u live in a rural area?
Have u used the internet 2 expose urself 2 kewl new trends on the intranet?
Are ‘trapped in suburbia’ teens in better shape than RurAlts?
RurAlts find a lot of ‘meaning’ in the movie Son in Law . It is the Coming-of-Alt story of a RurAlt Girl who ‘moves to the city’ and discovers her inner-alt when she befriends Pauly ‘Zany Bro’ Shore.’
In the end, I think we learn that we are all human 2gether after all, and it doesn’t matter where u live/come from.
This is a post about RurAlt awareness. Did you know that only 13% of ruralts escape from their rural community? 40% of ruralts end up settling for ‘being a homosexual who works at an outlet mall.’
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41 Comments
fist?
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I can relate.
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//////////Reply by veganface
//////////Posted August 19th, 2009 at 8:22 am
@Doinwork, fkng sucks being able to relate. but I can too.
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//////////Reply by xoxo
//////////Posted August 19th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
you boys sure found a way to make the time pass up there on brokeback mountain
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The old cowfield, holding a very special meaning for ruralalts
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haha and suburban kids play farmville games on facebook. (u pretend u own a farm)
the grass is ALWAYS GREENER. I just moved to the city (NY), and overheard some teens saying how they LOVE going to long island cuz it’s so much fun.
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omg am i first
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I’m one of the 13% you talk of, and you know what? It doesn’t matter, it’s all the same. Don’t get me wrong, it is great that you have everything surrounding you in the city, but there is something that you get in the country that you just don’t get in the city….( don’t get me wrong, i’ll never move back ha)
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people live between LA/SF and New York? Now why would anyone do that?
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//////////Reply by al x
//////////Posted August 18th, 2009 at 10:04 pm
@al x, ps <3 the comic relief of that fat ginger kid…
Shorebro or fat ginger bro?
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just want 2 chill ‘down on the farm’ with the weasel [via encinobro] [via in the army bro] [via jury duty] [via bibrodome] [sub via 'anatomically correct']
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//////////Reply by xoxo
//////////Posted August 19th, 2009 at 8:45 am
wheeeeze the juice
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coach of the hawks in mighty ducks is a ruralt dad
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Seth Cohen!!??!! Also, ‘hickster’.
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why does “urban” outfitters have such ‘ruralt’ catalogue layouts? is this supposed to be really ironic and i’ve only just now figured it out? someone please explain.
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not sure what handjobs are. like tugjobs?
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//////////Reply by xoxo
//////////Posted August 19th, 2009 at 8:44 am
i think so, except you use your mouth
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//////////Reply by harald
//////////Posted August 19th, 2009 at 11:40 am
@xoxo, on the websites i frequent that’s called a ‘bj’ or sometimes a ’spitjob’. a handjob is when someone in leather ties u up and hits you with a broom handle.
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//////////Reply by xoxo
//////////Posted August 19th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
no, that’s called a “69″
//////////Reply by catharted
//////////Posted August 19th, 2009 at 8:08 pm
that must have been one crazy summer
carles ripped this post off this sweet book about bros from a farm who move to nyc to become famous or something
called the year of endless sorrows
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iowa
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i’ve spent my youth in the suburbs and in rural america and now live in an authentic urban environment. I think I would trade it for the rural aesthetic. I can get all the culture/hip clothes I need through the internet and Amazon.com.
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//////////Reply by Funky Rutabaga
//////////Posted August 19th, 2009 at 9:51 pm
@doug, No one will understand meaningfulcore bands such as AnCo out in rural America, unless there is some alt small town out there (via not John Mellencamp).
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it’s hard being a tween in rural-land (via needing ur parents 2 drive u to ur friends so u can chill on twitter/youtube 2gether)
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wow… i think i’ve found my new calling… 2 be a ruralt. sounds like a pretty ‘alt’ life.
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//////////Reply by ruralt*
//////////Posted August 20th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
@theo, no way, i live in kansas, on a horse farm, and being a ruralt sucks. the only music anyone in my town listens to is country and oddly, scenexcorexmetalxshit, and the nearest am appy is almost two hours away.
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//////////Reply by theo
//////////Posted August 21st, 2009 at 12:56 am
@ruralt*, thx for puttin it in perspective. never again will i take my suburbalt life for granted.
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a related video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0R_94gk3Oo
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grew up in a bubble. now im in seoul, south korea. livin life. like a tru kid shud. why did our ‘rents think that suburbia wuz gud? like srsly, how can u compare the offers and opportunities in a city vs. ur local suburbia?! both of my rents grew up in a big city. did they think me and my bro + sis wud like the subs? (all 3 of us or out/on our way out) where do u wanna haf ur family? do u even want o haf a family? does ’settling down’ even exist?
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Posted this on Yahoo answers http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AqadoIzGTCDXP3nbcwCF51fsy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20090819020446AA2mN93
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not buying it, organic farming + sustainability has major alt cred in 2k9…
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//////////Reply by the reader
//////////Posted August 20th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
@the fink, 2nds that. via ‘wallpaper’ magazine doing a special on ruralt fashion… skinning rabbits and chopping homegrwn carrots in tight plad+ shaggy blond hair/beard with alt gf. ruralt is in.
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ruralts are the most authentic form of alt
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so sad to read all these comments from Ruralts on yet blog carlies!. Didn’t even know they existed / they were a problem till today – and now they are all writing on yer blogs. sorta feel sad knowing that 4 out of 10 of them are “homos who work at gap outlet storez”. Sorta feel upset that they are “ruining” yer blog. Wish we could take the internets from them… maybe need a final solution for these dirty ghey farmers?
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Yes I live in bumfuck nowhere. Yes it sucks, ever went to a grocery store and have everyone stare at you becuase you were wearing tubesocks, a star wars t-shirt and american apparel shorts? well i have, and it’s akward, very very akward…….
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//////////Reply by xoxo
//////////Posted August 19th, 2009 at 8:43 am
sounds like something i would’ve worn to gym class in the 90s
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//////////Reply by kas2116
//////////Posted August 19th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
@xoxo, exactly! that’s the look i was going for.
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//////////Reply by ruralt*
//////////Posted August 20th, 2009 at 6:06 pm
@kas2116, i feel your pain, having had a similar situation( in walmart) whilst clad in am appy shorts and a tilly&thewall shirt. :(
is this from the movie caddyshack?
Is it cool to work as golfcourse maintenance?
confused about difference b/w golf courses and farms…
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//////////Reply by Funky Rutabaga
//////////Posted August 19th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
@brian, Working at a golf course is barely post-post-post ironic (via golf carts).
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//////////Reply by the reader
//////////Posted August 20th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
@Funky Rutabaga, past post post post ironic = permaironic. diggin the golfs.
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Funny. I just watched the doc called The Real Dirt on Farmer John last night. Totally ‘authentic’ bro.
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqP1SC5Tr7U
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golf course, farms, urban outfitters. it’s all the same.
i think its worse when its vice versa, when “city folk” try to move out to the country 2 get “Away from it all ” and just chillax in the grass and wheat and grow their 0wn food and shun corporate america supermarkets. let’s be in touch with nature and plant shit
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//////////Reply by DRIOWA
//////////Posted August 19th, 2009 at 11:41 am
@bANANAS, frlz…i thought we’d transcended the plebeian value that said it was ‘cool’ to provide for urself. as far as i’m concerned, to truly be a post-alt you’ve got to maintain a considerable level of dependence (particularly on ‘rents). Let the ‘city folk’ procreate and flounder in a cesspool of ignorance and dependence. Let them shop at AmAppy & U.O. because it’s srsly the worst when one of them tries to ‘get in touch with’ the natty world bANANAS.
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//////////Reply by joe the loaf
//////////Posted August 19th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
@DRIOWA, find this “uplifting,” this attitude, like I don’t need to worry abt ‘finding a job’ or something
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//////////Reply by bANANAS
//////////Posted August 19th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
@DRIOWA, you do make a good point; like for srsly real natural peeps d0nt give a double dayam abt clothes and being “in” with the styles. aftr wrking on an organic farm this summer for 6 weeks (im from suburbiA) i saw that the REEL Altz that are anti-mnstrm wear hand-me-downs, dont shop b/c they dnt give a sht abt what society thnks about thm. like real people looking to share souls and get vulnerable say fuck the stick thin look cause it is all about materials man, thats what they want us to think. there is more to lyfe than materials, i totes agree Am Appy and UO are for the “LOOK”
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//////////Reply by DRIOWA
//////////Posted August 19th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
@bANANAS, i’m totes lookin’ to get vulnerable–will you take advantage of my vlnrability?
//////////Reply by Funky Rutabaga
//////////Posted August 19th, 2009 at 9:59 pm
@bANANAS, Urban backyard farms are all the rage (via backyard chickens and heirloom tomatoes). It’s the next best thing to a ruralt farm-to-table operation.
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//////////Reply by bANANAS
//////////Posted August 20th, 2009 at 5:37 am
@Funky Rutabaga, dude, i know. i worked at an organic farm in NY this summer. what do u think i am, some LA Consuming freak?
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One day I will start an alt farm-restaurant, where I grow and raise my own food (via heirloom vegetables and house butchered and cured meats). I will create an alt farm community where alts who need to embrace their rural side can go and not be heckled for being an alt in the middle of rural America (via Animal Collective being relevant).
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//////////Reply by bANANAS
//////////Posted August 19th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
@Funky Rutabaga, ima eat at that restaurant. farm to table is so in, remember to keep the grass when you harvest the lettuce ’cause it’s all the rage right now!!
let me know when and wear u open up!!
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went off to boarding school, changed immensely, came back, all the kids i used to know are the same. i dont think they even grew
kinda like all those movies where the ‘city person’ reconnects with their ‘old life’ and falls in love and eventually stays forever, except im definitely leaving this shithole again tomorrow for good
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//////////Reply by Mari
//////////Posted August 20th, 2009 at 8:48 pm
@shitgaze[blazephaze], lol, relatable.
i live in suburbia, went rural for 1&1/2 years, turned alt (i dont fucking no how) and came back.
and everyone was the same.
oh and i’ve never met anyone at school who knows anco. fuck :(
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I used to live in PDX. Now I live in Waco, Texas. I came here 2 “see how the other side lives.”
When I first got to town I realized that I could order AmAppy online. I saw ppl who dressed “cool” and thought I wasn’t going 2 b alone. I was wrong b/c they were all sheltered RurAlts.
It’s just like u talk about. Except instead of AnCo they listen to the Old 97s. Some of them have abandoned their religion. Some of them are Chripsters. But they all hate Barack.
I hang out with them when they invite me and drink margaritas while they “jam” to their own versions of Ryan Adams and talk about how bad socialism is. This is why I am still alone, even though I am surrounded by alts. :,-(
Thank you for understanding my scene, even if it is a dysfunctional one. You have made me see that I am not alone or stuck. In 2 years I will graduate and go to live in a blue state but will still choose a rural area, so that I can pursue an eco-friendly lifestyle [via Missy & pickles].
—————-
I am posting this again b/c it’s not showing up and I need 2 reach out.
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first why do people put first when they are first? second at hick high no more than 1 person know why they should appreciate Animals Collective.
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I’m also 1 of those ‘Ruralts’. Prbly i’m the only alt kid in whole austria. Thats why i spend so0 much time in the internet, the only place where u can find ‘alt bros’ + ‘indie grrls’ who like the ’same shit’ as u.
it sucks living here.
it sucks that no1 knows what ‘alternative music’ is.
Austrian ppl think they r ‘cool’ ‘cos they listen 2 ‘mainstream motherf**kers’ like ‘Lady Gaga’ or ‘Miley Cyrus’ [via รถ3]
Cant wait till i finished high school.
Going 2 move to the US and ‘become a DJ/work @ a record store/start a ‘blog worth bloggin about’ [via Carles]
Live sucks.
No, actually austria sucks.
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//////////Reply by xoxo
//////////Posted August 19th, 2009 at 4:45 pm
i don’t know, i kind of liked Throwing Copper
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//////////Reply by xoxo
//////////Posted August 19th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
i don’t know, i kind of liked Lightning Crashes
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//////////Reply by xoxo
//////////Posted August 19th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
ughhhh h8 this fucking computer. day = ruined
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I’m stuck in wisconsin, like, right between suburbia and rural. I have a couple of options of cities, and I’m going to move, but I have to get through court shit too. They are harsh on the drinking charges here because that’s wisconsin culture (getting drunk) and they are trying to change it.
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carles- i ordered my shirt last monday and it still hasn’t arrived. do you have the tracking number?
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Not a farmer, or a midwesterner, but I think I love you. Carles you are fucking hilarious.
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trapt in rural minnesota. ppl wear jackets to signify which snowmobile brand they rep. think ‘arctic cat’ might be more authentic then ‘polaris’. need 2 get ‘the hell’ out of here.
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H8 livin in ’suburbia.’ Wish I could move 2 an ‘authentic’ urban part on the west coast.
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this one hits tooo close to home for me.. made me weep a lil bit
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what abt alts that live in the desrt?
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WRITE A BLOG POST DEDICATED TO POOR ALTS. ALL THE CHILL ASS ONES WITHOUT ‘TRUST FUNDS’ AND SHIT.
DO IT. NOW. DOITDOITDOITDOIT.
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//////////Reply by Sam
//////////Posted August 22nd, 2009 at 8:06 pm
@bitch, Seconded, a lot of us are ruralt-escapees!
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I completely relate to this! I live in the rural farm land north of pittrburgh with the very same upbringing. The only think I don’t think is right is the fact that suburban life is better. I think it is far worse. It’s more of a form of “pod living”
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