Welcome to Seattle

[EZ_Ten Evenings]

First, Id like to preface this by saying I was born in WV, and lived in Columbus, Ohio for most of my life. My 'look' was pretty rare, and got a few weird stares (not the all outs like goth kids get, but you know what I mean).

I go into a QVC with my gf. Were in the produce aisle looking at tomatoes or whatever, and I look up. Over near the avacados is another two of us.

Let me explain: I am a tall, white male with short dark hair, hipster duck glasses, dirt wash jeans, a thrift store teeshirt thats a size too tight, brown cord truckers jacket, pair of Converses, with two rings in my lower lip.

My gf is short, Japanese, wearing bascially the same thing I am (hipster-posers like us can share wardrobes).

Across the way is a tall, white male with short dark hair, hipster duck glasses, cords, a black sweatshirt with some obscure indie band's name on it, pair of Cons, with two rings in his lower lip.

His gf is short, Asian, and wearing basically the same thing he, my gf, and I am.

What in the f*ck?

I mean, I know my thing isnt exactly rare. If I dressed like an eighteenth century French dandy, I might have more wiggle room. But I usually dont see anyone that looks EXACTLY like me when I go out, unless Im at a show or something.

But at the freaking grocery store? Two rings in the lower lip? Asian girlfriend/ white boyfriend? Converses? All four of us together at the same damn time?!

Seattle is great and all, but if that ever happens again, Im moving to Montana.

[Aidden]

Being an "individual" rocks!!

[EZ_Diziet Asahi]

i agree, if i ever enter in a grocery store with mirrors in it, i too will be moving away !

[Jhani Vandolay]

One day I went into a store and saw a badly carved bench.

I moved away the next day. Not to claim the status of a "real professional" in any one endeavor has been a small price to pay for the many benefits and pleasures of trespassing. ~Leo Lionni

[EZ_Ten Evenings]

I dont really think of myself as an 'individual'... I know theres plenty of MFers out there that dress exactly like I do. Scarecrow video store in UD is crawling with them.

But I mean, jeez. The grocery store? Bleh.

[Jem]

I never thought of my girlfriend as part of my look. Interesting... Wraine aka "The Spine Tickler!"
Moderator O'Dethe
"It has.. It has a meter that is tricky. A little wicky wacky wicky..."

[Meddik]

The real nonconformists these days are the ones wearing a 3 piece suit and shiny wingtips. Trojan Horseshoes

[EZ_Peebs]

I was expecting a different sort of Seattle rant, maybe something about how people in this state don't actually pass in the passing lane or something.

[Meddik]

I was thining something coffee related, or rain related, those being two of the biggest stereotypes about seattle.

I guess the Grunge stereotype isn't as outdated as I thought.

[EZ_Jayan Thornfoot]

Moral of the story:

Next time just send your old lady to the grocery store while you stay home and listen to some new indie band so you dont get bummed out....man. Edited by: Jayan Thornfoot at: 10/14/03 9:52 am

[Nenjin]

Quote:I guess the Grunge stereotype isn't as outdated as I thought.

Oh it is. There is a notable distinction between being 'hip' and being grungy. Usually, it revolves around the cost of your accesories(watch, rings, sunglasses, tatoos) and the amount of dirt you let get in your clothes before you wash them. Grunge!= cheap stuff, torn up clothes, dirty clothes.
Hip!= cheap stuff, tastefully worn clothes, and pricey accesories.

For the record, I loathe pre-dirtied jeans that sell for $80. You have to be some kind of winner to pay extra money for someone to get your clothes dirty, before you wear them. Or to pre-wear the hem of jeans so you can have that "rugged" look. I have tons of jeans that are shredded, and each pair reminds me of all the places I've been, all the mud I've trumped through, all the stuff I've kicked. People paying a lot of money for that surface image makes me want to puke.

I just have to ask Ten Evenings, does your GF have a sun burst or celtic tatoo right above her crack on her lower back? "They will come back, come back again, as long as the Red Earth rolls. He never wasted a tree or a leaf, why should he squander souls?"

"The road to Hell is paved with good intentions

[EZ_Jayan Thornfoot]

Oh....And I really would like to see more folks sport the French Dandy look as it would be truly unique. Well until others catch on to that unique look and spoil it for everyone.

[Lisboa]

The sixty year old white haired bailiff at the courtroom I was sitting in on Friday was wearing one of those watch faces on a big leather wristband. Take that, hipsters. Edited by: Lisboa at: 10/14/03 10:52 am

[Nenjin]

Oh yes, I forgot about the watch bands that double as 2 AC Leather Bracers. I espeically like the ones with the metal studs and hoops that look like they were designed so you could be strung up on chains or something. Very posh.

[Dorla]

Go Caveman... wear furs and drag your girlfriend around by the hair. You won't see anyone else doing that and plenty of people will notice you!

[Cantatus]

Little known fact, QVC is actually the gateway to Bizarro World. You just dumped into your Bizaaro self is all!

[DarthEnderX]

Having an Asian GF rocks! "Classes are not that out of balance -AbsorEQ"

[EZ_Geidon]

So your emo?

[Brelkor]

punk rock hipster is soooo dime a dozen in seattle


but Meddik ... so true!

[Lisboa]

Although grunge is dead, Seattle is still indie capital of the country. Followed by San Francisco.

[Nenjin]

Grunge isn't dead, the just went back to calling them what they used to call them when being grunge wasn't cool. People who dress trashy.

[EZ_Prenn]

There's a freaking starbucks in the airport right at all the gates in SEATAK.

Which meant I was required to grab a frappachino before I left the lovely, overcrowded, insane city. Sensei Pren{Dragon Army}[Tribunal Server]
So I take shelter in tomorrow
Tomorrow will bring a brand new day
Think I can make it right tomorrow,
Think I need more sleep today...

[Greldek]

Just for the record, moving to Montana won't solve any of your identity problems.. that trend is growing fast here. ~

[EZ_Gimmie Phatlewts]

That would be "QFC" and "SEA-TAC".. sorry, was just bugging me.

If it was the QFC on Broadway, then no wonder you saw the same couple. Very common here.

I have lived in Seattle all my life, and grunge never really died I don't think

[EZ_Swipey]

Just drive an extra 10 miles and do your gorcery shopping in the suburbs (Bellevue would be best, but lynnwood would do) if you want to go back to being atypical.

[Caowyth]

The one thing I don't miss about living in Seattle is when I'd walk out of my house, one block over to the Ave, one block down to Cellophane Square, and be hit up 17 different times for cigarettes or cash from the Ave-rats.

[EZ_Ciba]

Caowyth, you know that guy with the mohawk that hangs out in front of the McD's on the Ave? The permafried one with the squeaky voice?

Argggh! I hate that guy!

[EZ_Swipey]

McD's on the Ave closed down. I guess they werent getting enough business, what, with the sidewalk in front of their door being the preferred hang out spot (all day and all night) for that particular variety of ave-rat who can afford hair dye, numerous spike studs for their clothes, and, of course, a wide variety of tattoos, but who CANT seem to afford his own cigarettes or food (which one knows because they always tried to bum a smoke or "spare change" off passers by)

I've lived in the district for 15 years, and the ave is a lot worse than it used to be.

[EZ_Phresh Prince]

for the record - i live in Seattle (u-district) - and I see at least 20 of you in my neighborhood every day.

[Caowyth]

Sadly, I think I know who Ciba is talking about.

And Swipey, it was a combination of things, one of which being the near weekly PETA protests in front of that particular McDonalds (Most PETA students can't be bothered to travel more than 2 miles to a protest I guess).

Besides, anyone with taste on the Ave grabs a gyro and fries from Aladdin's before going anywhere near McDonalds. =)

Cao

[Kaielen]

This post makes me feel old.

I still do the black or white T-shirt, untucked button up, and Levi's 501s with a pair of Vans that I've worn all my life.

Scary thing is that I see a lot of people dressing like that now...mayhap in another year I'll be in style finally.

[Pyrocat Moonstalker]

Didn't know there were that many seattlites at the safehouse. *waves*

They didn't teach us about any 'passing lane' in drivers ed.

[EZ_Peebs]

No kidding. Good lord, I'm tired of being stuck behind two cars for 15 miles because the guy in the left lane is driving 1/64 of a mile per hour faster than the guy in the right lane. Just pass him! Grrr. :">

<--Been stuck out in the Seattle area for almost three weeks going for work.

[Nocte]

They must send New Yorkers to the same driving school.

IT'S A PASSING LANE! PASS OR GET THE @#%$ OUT OF THE WAY!

[EZ_Jayan Thornfoot]

The left lane really hits home and yeah NY is friggin awful!


I almost post a rant about this everyday, but I seem to calm down once I walk out of the car and into the house after work. But If I had a wireless laptop while driving....<insert primal scream>....get the hell out of the left you @#%$ dumbass! Edited by: Jayan Thornfoot at: 10/16/03 11:42 am

[Brelkor]

Oh man. Comming from the northwest to LA, people expect me to bitch aboutA the traffic. I'm like, hell! Seattle is possibly worse then LA. Seattle has 3 freeways with almost no other major streets that go anywhere due to the screwed up geography. LA has 20 freeways that go allover, and then still has roads that can take you long distances but slower(like the PCH, Ventura Blvd, etc). Of course theres the orange crush, but anyone smart, or at least blessed, doesn't have to penetrate that mess every day.

[EZ_Bondori Zafiro]

Washington traffic in general just bites.

You'd seriously think that people who deal with rain so often would LEARN HOW TO DRIVE IN THE RAIN! Every time it rains traffic slows to a crawl on I5, even today it was horrible, some bozo rear ended another bozo and didnt push their cars out of the way.

I have to commute from Lakewood to Tacoma Community College every day, on some days it takes 20 minutes, on others it takes hours. I'm always really late or really early to my first class. Edited by: Bondori Zafiro at: 10/16/03 10:46 am

[EZ_Ciba]

At least it isn't a 520 commute, I hated those when I went from Redmond to Seattle.

[EZ_nekoken]

The rant was weak. Seattle is the capital of stylish poseurs. Doesn't suprise me a bit that you saw your clone. Wait a few years, and you'll be shopping at Larry's and Wholefoods with the rest of the pseudo-indie drones.

Now a rant about the Ave would have been a good one. Back a decade or so ago there were plenty of homeless around. Of course it was the old-fashioned style wino bums rather than the current ave rat punk ass Bellevue runaway. I miss the old winos. They kept to themselves and didn't clog up the sidewalk. The only problem with them was when they chose your doorway to pass out in.

Fricking Ave rats are far worse. Aggressive little punks think they are entitled to a handout and bug everyone they see for smokes and cash. Interestingly enough they are usually wearing a few hundred dollars in leather and jewelry. They clog up the sidewalk by camping out for the entire day in a little cluster of smelly laziness. They've managed to drive a number of businesses off the Ave since it is a pain in the ass to run the gauntlet of panhandling and try to actually walk past them. For some reason lots of them seem to think owning an aggressive dog is a good idea too. I wish the city would just pressure wash off the sidewalks about once a day and sluice those little bastards down the drain.

Narsse Nekoken

[EZ_Ten Evenings]

Been back in Columbus for a few days without a computer, sorry for the bump.

Anyway: No, I dont think of my girlfriend as part of my look. She dresses like I do, and the point more was me and her and the other couple were the same race/ gender mix, and all of us looked like we just fell out of a Salvation Army truck on the way to a Belle and Sebastian concert.

Yes, I do look emo. I dont really like emo or indie music, Im more about bluegrass, noise, and dub... But, alas! There is no standard uniform for people with my interests, musical or otherwise, and I cannot recognize them by their paraphenilia. So, Im a clone.

For the peeps who thought I was squawking about how crazy it is that theres people out there who dress exactly like me, you miss the point:

Two men and two women, all dressed in almost exactly the same, same age, same race/ gender mix, same grocery store, in Wallingford (that last might go a bit towards explaining the whole thing, Im learning). Its just a silly anecdote, not a serious rant.

edit: Yeah, you guys got me on the fashion thing, but I spend about twice that amount of money on jeans. I know its silly, but Id love to know what your streetwear is before you pass judgement on mine.

Leather wrist cuff with studs and loops = hipster bling bling.
Edited by: Ten Evenings at: 10/20/03 7:39 am

[EZ_Blusco]

Oh, my.

I'm coming late to this thread, but so much of it rings true.

the Aladdin Gyrocery rules. I recently moved to Capitol Hill, and am a little afraid to try the place on Broadway that reminds me of Aladdin's. Here's to hoping it's cut from the same cloth. Can't say I miss the Ave much though.. last time I was there it really didn't seem to have any kind of character or pulse left.

Left-lane idiots KILL me. I envy Ciba, who was able to ditch the Seattle/Redmond commute, 'cause I still have to deal with it.

Ten Evenings: Wallingford? I was SURE that you were talking about the Harvard Market QFC, and that you freqent the Cha-Cha =).

$160 for jeans?!?! I pay like.... $40, tops. For plain old Levi's that last me forever. As for my look... I've never really thought of myself as a hipster, though I do go to a lot of shows and run a local website about them. It started out as what I always thought of as "normal", but which came to be labelled "grunge": jeans, boots, band T-shirts, and lots of layers. Over time the long hair got cut off, the jeans started getting rolled up, and I've moved away from T-shirts every day to just some of the time, mixed in with short-sleeved button-down shirts.

Anyway, thanks for the thread. Nice to see so many locals! Blusco Kickshaw-Stonefoot
Enraged and Redeemed Hobbit Assassin, Bristlebane
()pener of Locks, Retriever of Corpses
Getting into places I'm not wanted for 65 levels

Slapstik, Gnome Enchanter of Bristlebane
IDoNotTalkFastYouListenSlow!
Jalen
Aracoix Scout of Deception

Kraggar, Dwarf Priest of Deception
TAO - The Ancient Order

[EZ_Hindraak]

$6.99 for a tee-shirt with a pocket!
or
$15 concert tee-shirt
$50 buy-one-get-one free jeans
$35 dollar vans
Hell, my shoes are 1/2 my cost and i'm still @#%$ cool

"The Man makes the clothes, not the opposite"


at least I think that's what this thread is about....

[Pyrocat Moonstalker]

My style = Hooded sweatshirt with the sleeves pushed up past my elbows, black bagy jeans, and Nike Rufus black loafers. So comfy and it still looks good.

Sweatshirt = $30 (fred meyers, how I love thee)
Pants = $40 (pennies is a bit more expensive)
Shoes = $35 (a great find, in canada at an outlet? store cause they're no longer made)

err, that's what you were asking for right?

[EZ_Bondori Zafiro]

I'm not gunna get Vans again.

I bought a pair recently and they are already starting to fall apart on me!

I have a pair of Adidas that I've had for 4 years of heavy use and they still look and feel great, im going back to them ;D

[Dragynphyre]

when not at work, I'm generally wearing a pair of jeans, sneakers or boots, and a longsleeve white buttondown shirt (generally embroidered 'white on white' in some fashion - I can't have 15 of the same shirt!)

No wonder I get mistaken for a guy sometimes... (Back In Black)
Delissandra Splitshadow - Veteran Deceiver of the Circle of Unseen Hands
Grandmaster Poisoner (250), Master Potter (191), Grandmaster Lush (200)

Cause I'm back on the track
And I'm beatin' the flack
Nobody's gonna get me on another rap

[Caowyth]

Anyone know if the 'Real Change' guy is still working the Safeway near the Ave?

"Real Change sir? Thank you very much!"

[EZ_Swipey]

He is, though I usually go to the QFC in U-Village now that I have a car.

[EZ_Ciba]

I like that guy Caowyth, I have NEVER seen him be impolite.

[EZ_Peebs]

Where is the 'ave'?

[EZ_Ten Evenings]

Is the Ave in reference to Aurora? W99?

[EZ_Swipey]

University Way = "the Ave" Its the nickname for the main commercial thoroughfare just off the campus of the University of Washington.

[EZ_Ironsting]

Does anyone remember that guy that walked around campus and the Ave with a 6ft sword strapped to his back? Never wore a shirt and for a homeless guy he was in great shape. There was a article in the Times about him, seems you can carry all sorts of weaponry as long as it isn't "concealed".

Fe

[EZ_Rorne]

Really? I now have something to aspire to. You should of asked him how many levels of barbarian he had!

[EZ_nekoken]

Ciba,
He may be a nice guy but I have yet to see any 'real change' going on there. He's been hawking the paper in the same spot for at least 6 years.

[EZ_Phresh Prince]

Quote:Anyone know if the 'Real Change' guy is still working the Safeway near the Ave?

"Real Change sir? Thank you very much!"


hey Cao - he's changed it to "Real Change? Have a great day sir."

he says "real change" in the catchiest way too - gotta love it. That's where I shop about half the time and he's always there.

[EZ_Evilmagus]

I thought this will be a bad parody of Ludacris' Welcome to Atlanta (which sucks to begin with)

~Evil

[Caowyth]

I used to live about half a block from that Safeway when I was in school. I was about 3 houses down from the Burger King.

I miss being able to walk out my back door, down an alley, and be at Safeway or a halfway decent Teriyaki joint. I miss the crabmeat dumplings...

[EZ_Peebs]

What is it with Washington and teriyaki places anyway? Everywhere I look there is a teriyaki joint.

[EZ_Phresh Prince]

I don't know - and I don't care - because the only food I need around is Panda Express. I've been thinking of starting an Orange Chicken based religion.

[Caowyth]

I remember when the Magic Dragon on broadway was my place for cheap eats.

[Pyrocat Moonstalker]

I'm sorry but toasted subs are, and will forever be higher on my list of places to waste money on food than teriyaki. I mean, I'm not saying Toshi's isn't the bomb-diggity, but Quiznos... less than a block away from school... I don't get what the excitement about is with teriyaki when you can eat toasted subs for the same price.

[EZ_Phresh Prince]

Pyrocat - unfortunatly some of us just aren't fans of the toasted sub experience. My friend works at the Quiznos in the U District, and tries to get me to go in there once in a while - but I just don't like it.

By the way - have I ever mentioned that this emoticon looks exactly like Absor for some reason? I think its the eerie quasi-tint of his glasses.

[EZ_LiquidXIR]

If I where a Green lantern tee with black jeans and white reeboks, what does that make me?

[EZ_Phresh Prince]

the twin brother of the guy who works in zandu comics down the street.

[EZ_Blusco]

Liquid: an employee of Bimbo's Bitchin' Burrito Kitchen