I want you to believe that you are #1.  Not just to your parents and to yourself, but to the entire world.  Similar to how black athletes and rappers feel, but in a more genuine+logical way.

Life is sorta like a marathon.  There’s a lot of other people competing against u, but u sorta just need 2 run ur own race, and u can sorta convince yourself that you some how ‘won.’

I am the only bro in this pack of runners listening to Animal Collective.

Need to ‘overcome.’

////continue reading

Finally, architecture and urban planning ‘makes sense’ now that I am transcending-ing through this city [via running].

Kinda weird how there’s over 100 million ppl on Earth. Seems like there are tons of opportunities to ’sell merch’/build a brand/market ‘hope’ + ‘the power of the human spirit’ 2 people.

Had my ‘bros’ from the internet come out 2 support me. It is important to have a ’support system’ of bros on the internet, and i.r.l.

A marathon is one of the last physical achievements most people can ever accomplish.  It is the halfway point of your physical life.  It might be the peak of your ‘youth.’  Completing a marathon may or may not be more meaningful than competing in youth sports.

(worried that I might need reconstructive knee surgery at age 45. Heard ellipticals are better 4 u.)

I love ‘the city.’

‘Never, ever, ever give up.’ -miscellaneous coaches/inspiring figures throughout the years

I just want to win the race. On a global scale and on a personal scale. I want my race to mean more than any1 else’s race.

This bro is me. This bro is you. This bro is every1 we know.

I feel proud. I am finished.

I won.

I am Carles.
I am a Brand.
I am Hope.
This Brand Wants You to Be Happy.
This Brand Will Enable You to Accomplish Your Dreams.

“Follow yalls dreams.”
-Carles

Has Carles ever inspired u 2 do anything? Use the comments section to share your survivor stories.

Carles announces a ‘once in a lifetime sale.’ Carles announces the ‘Halloween Blowout Sale’ of the once popular meme, IAMCARLES. This sale is meant to target people who ‘want 2 be Carles’ 4 the popular holiday ‘Halloween.’ For a limited time, the IAMCARLES shirt price has been ‘fucking slashed’ to $22.

Ordering before Tuesday means that you will get your I AM CARLES at a discounted price. Your shipping will be ‘upgraded’ to ensure delivery before the Saturday holiday. This is your ‘only chance’ to get a ’sweet deal’ on the IAMCARLES shirt before they are all gone. It feels like I have ’sold a lot of them’, but still need a ’sale’ to liquidate inventory/ rejuvenate potential interest in t-shirt ownership.

This type of sale will surely ‘do in’ the last of the of IAMCARLES t-shirt inventory.

Who will u be 4 Halloween?

‘Am I getting a good deal for $22?’ ‘Is Carles worth supporting?’ ‘Did Carles empty out his annual trustfund stipend before the year was over?’

Is the IAMCARLES tshirt a bad Halloween costume idea?

I AM CARLES HALLOWEEN BLOWOUT SALE–a concept ’sale’
Goal: 2 get ppl 2 buy tshirts and be ‘carles’ 4 halloween
Gimmick Pros for shoppers: Discounted Price, Upgraded shipping
Cons: Still potentially ‘overpriced.’
Fun ideas: put fake blood on Carles shirt, and u can be ‘Carles after a Juggalo killed him’
Price: $22 (includes expedited shipping)
Buy Now at this URL: http://iamcarles.com/

‘On Halloween, u will put on ur IAMCARLES shirt, and transform into a relevant blog. This is the perfect costume for the modern world.’

CARLES PROUDLY ANNOUNCES The Teenz 4 t-shirts program

Carles has also heard many stories about teens with no debit cards/paypal accounts/etc. He has launched the T-shirts for Tweens Program, which is dedicated to the mission of giving under-18-year olds the same consumer opportunities to ‘waste money on internet products.’ The program is meant to enable teens to purchase Carles goods through non-paypalian methods.

Please contact me at carleser [at] gmail.com if you are a teen/miscellaneous adult who does not trust ‘online commerce.’ When was ur first bank account/debit card? Do u wish u could only use cash so u couldn’t ‘waste money on shit’ on the internet?

Visit I AM CARLES.com now to participate in this sale.
http://iamcarles.com/

‘The Brand is stronger/weaker than ever, and we must capitalize b4 we all die.’
-Jesus Christ, God, and the Virgin Mary in a ‘branding’ strategy session

‘I honestly feel like I am still creating compelling content when I make a whore-ish post.’
-Carles, commenting on the state of the blogosphere/journalism/music criticism+tastemaking

Will u be Carles 4 Halloween?

Sale ends on Tuesday.

iamcarles.com

Worried abt my brand–might not be ‘universal’ enough.

http://www.iamcarles.com

Can some1 plz design ‘trendy-looking advertisements’ utilizing images from my lookbook? Needs to look ‘cutting edge’/flash intensive/ripping off Am Appy/like something that has never been seen b4.

Rlly need an intern. Soo swamped with ‘the brand.’ Not sure if I should have ‘contest’ where people write meaningful essays about why they ‘need an internship with HRO/IAMCARLES’, and then I can post all of the essays for every1 to read. Wish I could start a youtewb reality show/vlogging collective.

Carles Presents I Am Carles dot-com
http://www.iamcarles.com

I am Carles is a lifestyle brand, created by Carles.

The brand is meant to be ‘high level’ but also ‘relatable.’ Similar to Chili’s. You feel comfortable when you eat there, but you are also having a unique experience.

Do u feel alone? The IAMCARLES.com brand is attempting to be similar to the HIPSTERRUNOFF.com brand. It wants u 2 feel like it ‘gets’ u. Carles wants to relate to you.

Bro
alone on the internet
downloading illegal mp3s
Pulls out credit card
purchases t-shirts of bands and brands
because buying things off the internet
seems ‘more authentic’ than the limited selection of
local shops in his suburban area.

//////This post is ’sponsored’ by iamcarles.com

‘I will take a picture of u and remember it 4 ever
the way u looked that day
young 4evr and ever’ -something a fashion line would say, I think.

It feels good to finally put my design school degree 2 use.
I never thought I could create something.
Bringing a product to market requires tons of teamwork and dedication.
Lots of emails, lots of decisions.
Just doing your best to ‘preserve/strengthen ur brand’ without ‘losing authenticity.’
It means not isolating ppl.

Please see our limited time offer which includes a shirt hand delivered by Carles

I wonder if this tshirt will cut into the ‘band tee shirt’ demographic.

‘For a limited time, I will offer you free shipping’
- a company that doesn’t understand that consumers know that they are ‘paying for shipping’ somehow.

Carles will be adding new authentic products soon. Please let Carles know what products you need.

R U CARLES? //// I AM CARLES?























This post was sponsored by IAMCARLES.com. For more information, visit http://www.iamcarles.com

Please email carleser [at] gmail.com if you would like to interview Carles about his design process + brand goals.

I might try to make my website ‘less bloggy.’ Not sure how to do this. Maybe if I turn off comments, my posts will seem more ‘absolute’, like it doesn’t matter what n e 1 says. Maybe I will change my font. I recently read that Helvetty is an ‘immature font.’ Just want to be taken seriously, and seem ‘hella attractive’ to advertisers who want to reach the most coveted demographics.

Just want to ‘report stuff’, but also write ‘very formally’ without any gimmicks, even if it feels less natural to me. Just tired of being a blog any more. Not even sure if my goal in life is to be ‘worth blogging about’ n e more. Just feel like everything is irrelevant. Part of the alternative long tail, or something.

Feeling meaningless. Feeling like even when u become ‘relevant’ on the internet, maybe it’s still a lil meaningless. Sad. Not sure if I still want to be a ‘blog.’ Not sure if ‘blogging’ is a viable career option. My parents are making me change majors from Design to Chemistry so that I can get into medical school.

Not sure who I am n e more.

‘Another day, another meme.’
‘So Many blogs, so many memes.’
‘So many memes, so many [vias].’
‘So many buzzbands, so many pitchforks.’
‘So many niche blogs, so many ad spaces.’
‘2Many Bloggers.’
Might start a ‘website for opinions’ instead of a ‘blog.’ Might be a dying format, kinda like ‘magazines/newspapers.’

I have always wanted to be a ‘designer’ & create a ‘meaningful brand.’

Ultimately, the MEMORABLE POSTS are there so that ‘new site visitors’ can get a snapshot of ‘what HRO is all about.’ Feels like my site probably looks ‘mad stale’ + irrelevant, since there are faces like Steve Aoki + Girl Talk + miscellaneous bloghouse personalities showing up whenever my site loads. Carles needs to rebrand HRO ‘as quickly as possible’, showcasing his most recent era of ‘memorable posts.’

This is a reflection upon old MEMORABLE POSTS, where I try to remember why these posts were relevant, and ‘what was going through my head’ as I wrote them.

********
Post: PITCHFORK STARTS WAR WITH ELECTROBLOG COMMUNITY + Steve Aoki + DIM MAK + the rock/dance zeitgeist
Date: February 21, 2008

I think this is the first post where I ‘actually wrote a long post with ‘real writing” and it ‘really resonated within the mp3 blogosphere’, which was very electro-centric at the time and mainly only focused on ‘getting hits by posting mp3s. At the time, I probably felt ‘very inspired’ like 1 day, if I blogged hard enough, I would become ‘as big and relevant as pitchfork.’ Psychologically, it was probably just part of a huge inferiority complex that seems too embarrassing to go back and read the entire post. Like I don’t want to explore what my ‘thesis statement’ was…or like if you went back in time and read your college essays and thought ‘I was a faggot when I was 18 years old.’

Sort of just feel miniscule, like I will never ‘touch as many livez as P4k’ or that I won’t make ‘as much ad revenue’ as they do. Think that there is also this underlying theme of ‘mp3 blogz are young, fresh, and authentic’ and ‘pitchfork is all old ppl.’ Feel like I probably ‘think less’ of mp3 blogs, and generally ‘feel lukewarm’ about Pitchfork now. Guess we all have different goals, but we are all possibly still all trying to become the #1 site on the internet who makes the most money and connects the most amount of people, uniting every1 around something that we all love, like ‘music’ or ‘pictures of ourselves.’

Just skimmed the post and it seems very short. I posted an entire p4k review within the post. Not sure if I have even read an entire p4k review since. Jesus Christ. Really need to take that picture down so I don’t seem ‘too electro.’ Not sure if people even know who Aoki is any more.

***********
Post: WTF is a lifestyle brand?
Date: May 25, 2008


I think I wrote this post back when the electro era was becoming ‘very monetized.’ Like when Justice became ‘larger than life’ and for some reason, you knew the name of some weekly party/venue/altClub on the East/West Coast. I think there was a time when alternative people were honored as a relevant demographic who marketers needed to reach in order to give their product ‘credibility.’ Also,people were looking to export the products that ‘we were into’ into the mainstreamer economy.

Think it also analyzed the desire that most bands have to ‘try to make it’ and become this entity that changes the world + sells tons of merch. Seems like a ‘very low level concept’ now that I am a senior in college, finishing up my Political Science degree.

*************
Post: My Relationship With Girl Talk
Date: July 2, 2008

I think that this gif is ‘very eye catching’, but I skimmed back to the post and realized that it is ‘not very epic at all.’ It was a pretty interesting time when Girl Talk was going from alt to malstream, and then from maltstream to mainstream. Seems like a ‘pretty obvious post’, like something that an entry level blogger would make in 2010 as an excuse to post some sweet MP3s to hypemachine. Very ‘weak’ obvious take, like a sports fan calling into a talk radio show just to give his opinion. Maybe at the time, people ‘weren’t talking about’ this aspect of Girl Talk, and just ‘deifying him’ or something.

I think Girl Talk is ‘no longer relevant’, and it is possibly very bad for my blog brand to have his face appear every time the page loads. I think that in the future, Girl Talk should only be blogged about by huge gossip blogs, saying things like ‘this shit really gets da party started, yall!’ He will probably morph into one of those really annoying old bros who get ‘blurbed about’ any time that they say something that is ‘relatively obvious’ about music business strategy on the internet.

***********

Post: WTF is blog house?
Date: July 10, 2008

Blog house is probably 0% relevant as of today. It seems like the genre is officially an ‘inside joke’ or something, but I still find it to be 45% funnier than it was when I wrote this post. I think it seems like I should probably just retire the phrase ‘bloghouse’ and possibly brand my site with the whole ‘conceptual core’ genre/gimmick.

Just read the post, and I think I just listed a bunch of bands, and analyzed what type of ‘electro’ they were. Feel like when I wrote this post, I ‘honestly thought that my taste in music was the best in the world’ and wanted to post-post-ironically brand that music as ‘bloghouse’ to represent how that music only belonged to me and a group of my closest internet neighbors.

I think this post is important because it made my site the #1 result when u google ‘blog house.’ I have read that it is important to be ’search engine optimized.’

***********
Post: Mainstream = Alt: TenenbaumZissou Edition
Date: September 12, 2008

This post was not very memorable, but I think I made it a ‘memorable post’ just because it exploits the iconography of Wes Anderson, and says something ‘extreme’ above his face. Feel like if I were some internet bro visiting HRO for the first time wondering what this site is all about, I would click on that link, and then I would sort of ‘get’ the site more. Might leave that up, just because of the reasons I just ‘explained.’

***********
Post: Should I do blow off my iPhone?
Date: October 8, 2008

I think that this was an example of a ’stupid, short post’ that HRO commenting culture ‘really enjoyed.’ Might be a post that ‘resonated’ because it was some ‘funnie commentary’ abt technology + youth culture. Just the kind of thing that some1 who doesn’t fully ‘get’ HRO would buy into, but then some1 who super ‘gets’ HRO would make fun of the other bro for latching on to such a minor concept. Not much to say about this post. I think I probably wrote this post very hurriedly, worried that if I didn’t make a post, I would lose 80% of my readership.

************
Post: If U Were Going 2 Kill Some1, What Would U Wear?
Date: November 17, 2008


Think that this was a mediocre post with some funnie constructed serial killer memes. Not sure if it represents my current brand, but is possibly still ‘mildly funny.’ Think some people are ‘really into’ serial killers, though.

***********
Post: I Wish they Had Macbooks when I was a Tween
Date: December 2, 2008

I feel like I ‘really like the concept’ behind this post, but the post featured 2 videos by 2 lil cunts dancing around to the Ting Tings and CSS [filmed by Macbook]. Unfortunately, these videos were removed since youtube ‘regulated’ on licensed music within videos. Feel like the post lost its meaning without those videos.

I sincerely wish I had a macbook when I was a tween. Possibly an iPhone instead.

***********

Post : TV on the Radio: 2008’s Biggest Sham/ Gimmick/Pyramid Scheme
Date: December 22, 2008
Picture:
I think that when I wrote this post, I was in an era of ‘trying too hard to be controversial.’ I can’t really remember what I wrote, but it was probably sort of an ‘implied post.’ I feel like I was probably frustrated by the amount of coverage that certain bands get as soon as they reach ‘alternative tenure.’ Feels sort of frustrating how when you become a ‘large enough outlet’, you have to ‘cover everything’ even if it isn’t that good/doesn’t fit in with the brand of your outlet. Also probably wanted to ‘make people uncomfortable’ by throwing race issues into the post. Think that white people ‘feel guilty’ about a lot of stuff.

Think it is HRO’s niche to sort of ‘talk shit’ about bands, but I feel like I sometimes ‘need to be extreme’ to counteract the excessive positivity within the bloggiasphere. Still haven’t listened to TVotR. Does any1 know if they are ‘good’/'relevant’ now?

*******************
Do yall have any reflections about these posts?
Which posts do u want Carles to do ‘directorz commentary’ abt?
Will u be ’sad’ 2 see them go?
Which posts have been ‘memorable’ lately, and what images/memes would ‘improve the brand of my blog?
Do u feel ashamed for identifying with HRO circa 2k_?
R u ashamed of the person who u used 2 b?

miss u old memmy posts.

What I will probably do:

• watch hulu
• eat some pizza [via frozen [via oven] ]
• eat some Ben & Jerry’s
• ‘pleasure myself’ while watching ‘pornography.’
• Stay off the internet, get some fresh air
• avoid checking my twitter every 2 minutes… ‘lol’
• ‘have a cold one’

Love yall and thanks for the support! If anything ‘relevant’ happens, leave them in the comments… I might be checking my email on my telephone. Kinda weird how if u rlly think about it, every day is ‘the same.’

Best,
Carles

PS: U can’t just force memes…  A high level meme won’t just fall in ur lap every day.  You need to be patient, work hard, and accept the memes that come ur way.