amateur philosophers

[jersey_hero]

today was awesome for a few reasons. i'm now listening to the smashing pumpkins mellon collie and the infinite sadness. i finally found it used, so i bought it. about time, john. god. anyway, yeah..

i woke up at 1 and had numerous missed calls and a voice mail from mike deasey. so i woke up, showered, and got dressed and all, then called him back. we met up at reading terminal market, which is one of the coolest places ever, smeriously. i love it. i'm so going there in the near future. so we got lunch from this amazing turkey place and talked. our plan was to go check out body worlds at the franklin institute, but it was crazy crowded when we got there and there wasnt another available ticketable time for about two more hours. at this point, i had already fed the parking meter outside two hours worth of change, so we were kinda stuck for two hours. we threw some crap we were carrying in the car and walked. we walked around center city. our original intention had been to visit my dad at his office, but when i called him, he stated that he was at home, so apparently there was a slight mess-up there. anyway, we walked around some more and eventually settled in rittenhouse square. it was awesome. we people-watched and talked about culture and subcultures and coffee houses and life and people and other awesomeness. it was so cool. mike, i'm fairly confident you'll read this, so thanks for hanging out with me. anyway, we had a great talk and i'll go through some of it here.

we talked about subcultures. i'll list a few we mentioned.

• scene: typically, i hate this term, but it was pretty much first if we wanted to explain people and our thoughts about people. now, i'd like to start by explaining that i hate typecasting/stereotyping people, and i'm doing this strictly by outward appearance and action and i mean no offense to anyone and i dont meant to come off as a jerk or anything. i just want to get this across to people. i'm not claiming to be correct, i'm just observing. so's mike. ok, so, the first was scene. this is the self-conscious person. the scenester is someone who wants other people to see them doing stuff that they think others will approve of. i realize that was a super awkward explanation, but they want to be seen as cool and elitist and all the things that they see as cool. it's basically a cry for attention. these people are seeking approval and are usually not gracious recipients if they're lucky/unlucky enough to get it. they're usually snobbish. actions include going to artsy movies or underground concerts and pretending to be critics. others might involve going to starbucks with a book they really want people to see them reading.
• neo-/new-beat: these are the coffeehouse people. this definition is comparable with that of the neo-coffeehouse crew. ok, so, these are the people that, either genuinely or falsely, dig talking about life and experiences. they're usually very well-read and politically/culturally aware. they write, whether it be in journal, poetry, or prose form, and like to discuss writing/reading/art/film/whatever. they can usually be found at laid-back places like coffeehouses or book stores or record stores. they can be snobbish or very down-to-earth. that's not part of this definition as it is with scenesters. they can be cool or uncool. mike said i fall, at least partially, into this category. i dont know if i agree. i haven't really thought about it.
• hipster: hipsters are kind of the neo-mods. i love mods. they're [typically] culturally aware, politically aware, sophisticated, well-read, well-dressed, and like to roll with people like themselves. they're the kind of people that, when you're with them, make you wanna say "wow, i actually feel cooler when i'm hanging with [insert hipster's name]. they can often be seen toting a messenger bag. i'm not going to lie, i aspire to be a hipster, but i'm certainly not there yet. i can pretty much say that all neo-beat people are hipsters, but not all hipsters are neo-beat people.
• neo-punk: these are the kids that are the rebels. in this generation, however, they don't seem to be as coherent as they were in the 70s. they're sometimes confused. they're usually angry. they are rebelling for the sake of rebellion and they're not conforming for the sake of not conforming. they're an interesting group and typically adorn themselves with things that most people question.
• neo-grunge: this is what mike considers himself to be. it's kind of apathy, but with personality. they're the kids that are non-conformists, but have an agenda. they have identities and are usually outspoken. they're also apathetic toward clothing, and their name reflects the grunge movement of the late 80s/early 90s. i'm going to close their capsule with a kurt quote. "if it's illegal to rock and roll, throw my ass in jail."
• Bo-Bos (Bohemian Bourgeoisie): these are easily defined. these are, quite simply, the kids that come from money, but do not flaunt the fact. sometimes they try to hide it. they're the ones who try to "fight the power," but not violently or with much firepower. they can be hypocritical, but can just as easily live what they preach. i think they're a super-interesting group. these are the anticrombie kids. it's like the abercrombie/cookie-cutter kids and the bo-bos grew up in the same house, but then one group left out the front door and one group left out the back door and they never saw one another again. now, i stole that analogy from mr. truman capote, but 1) he's dead and 2) i love him, so it's ok. that's about it.

we talked about others, but those were the big ones. i also had a thought about coffeehouses when we were walking. there was a coffeehouse that i was drawn to for two reasons. first and foremost, there was a band playing. i saw an upright bass and was like, "i gotsta go in!" so then i looked at the sign, and saw that the place was owned by ING. yes. ING. that's right. the mortgage company. uh huh. so it was an ING café. strange. i kinda felt sick. so many compaines are endeavoring in promotions to seem cooler. i guess the coffeehouse scene is a logical step for a mortgage company to get its name out. turns out the band was a steel drums band and i didnt really dig what they were doing. it was boring as eff. anyway, i was just thinking about how commercialized it all is and it made me feel yucky.

i feel like this is one of my most substantial entries. there's another topic i want to tackle, but i'll do so at a later date. promise. i feel like i've already written too much. that's all i got.

with love,
john dodig