Princesss of the Nebula

In a distant hazy nebula, many light years away, lies a kingdom. It was prosperous but now and then there would be a disturbance in certain planets, attacks from outsiders or monsters or conflicts among citizens. In the center of the nebula was a wise star who provided protection to the entire kingdom. To her the kings would speak face to face for advice in very rare, grave situations. In some extremely rare cases, she would rise to fight large enemies or dangerous phenomena.

In this kingdom lived the Princess Andromeda. She had a very unique quality: she could speak with the stars. This was a great advantage for the kingdom, for the stars were the wisest beings in the universe, holding deep secrets, and they could acquire knowledge from any of them any time they wanted. However, the kingdom's star herself asked for the princess to be brought to her, so that she could give her special training and in certain mysterious arts as well as to foment good judgement in the use of her knowledge. 

Andromeda would come for her sessions in the round crystal capsule she used for traveling. Besides this, she enjoyed wandering through the kingdom, visiting planets and encountering her subjects. One time she flew too far away from the nebula, and encountered a black hole, which deeply appalled her, this colossal monster that swallowed all, but what frightened her most was that it swallowed light as well. Not even the power of light could withstand this terrible monster?

There came a point in her life in which she overcame a powerful, metaphysical obstacle, one that gave her maturity. The battle was so intense and profound that she acquired a new special ability: to fly about space without capsule nor suit. She used this power to further serve and preserve her kingdom.

Groovy

I belong to the seventies.

It's my kind of vintage. There are two things that I like most about it: music and fashion. I love the style of all of the music genres of that decade. There's something about the characteristic flourish of violins in the background of disco songs that always electrifies me; I think it must be the drama. And the congos going mad, giving good flavor. This brings me to remember the role African-American culture played in the development of seventies music, its soulful spirit, and this is actually the key aspect that makes me like it so much. Motown! That old sound and groove, it always gets me going! After that there's Bee Gees and ABBA...one last thing that I love is the little twinkle sound effect that was really common. Sparkle, sparkle!

I listen to seventies music, and I think of Old Navy (actually, music usually makes me think of clothes or brands). I don't remember if Old Navy was founded in the era, but at least I've often heard seventies-style music on the speakers at the store. Anyways, despite that fashion at the time was a little crazy--combinations of prints and textures that were maybe distasteful--there are many looks and pieces that I really like. I like the combination of orange with blue jeans, the big round sunglasses, the long necklaces. Right now, I can't remember much what else I liked...if I find photos, I'll add them here.

*Another example of the feel that I like about 70s music, but from a really weird movie that I don't recommend if you don't want to go on a spooky acid trip.

I'm so cool I can define hipsters

Hipster is all about CULTURE.

It likes to be stylish, by vintage standards. Looking like anything iconic from the past: 50s, 60s retro, up to the 90s. It cares most about the looks.

Its activities are all related to culture: the arts, photography (don't forget, it's gotta look vintage), writing, books, and anything that goes well with those, like coffee, for example.

Which brings us to food. It loves foods that look cool, like macaroons, frappes, soft-colored cupcakes or ice cream.

The last important thing is the entertainment part. It loves old, unpopular OR iconic movies, books, music, videogames, etc, (that sooner or later become popular cause now half the world is hipster). 

Sometimes, when people found someone into fandoms such as LOTR, Harry Potter, Supernatural, Doctor Who, Star Wars, even Legend of Zelda , or say, authors like Jane Austen, Lewis Caroll,etc.(note: here Geek comes in and intertwines with Hipster), they would answer "wow, that person's pretty hip!" as in saying "he's fun/cool!" And from that evolved the word.

One last thing! Internet. Lots and lots and lots of blogging and commenting on the internet.

Now the Hipster world has become pretty mainstream. It's hard to keep up, because that means getting into all those fandoms or cult followings.

On the whole, its attitude is cold and snobbish, even if the people who follow it don't intend it. 

The important thing is not to focus on this lifestyle so much. Life is not just about culture, though it is really important. Look at the people around you. Make sure they're happy. Now that's what life's about.

Guernicaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

When I was younger I would spend summer vacation at my grandmother’s house, eating all her food, playing all day and watching way too much TV.  When I wasn’t running around in her backyard, I would play with my Legos in my room.  If I needed more space to build or if I was playing with someone else, we would build our sets in the living room, which was full of old furniture, large, open windows, and many creepy paintings.  Among the posters and the prints was a huge replica of Pablo Picasso’s Guernica.

               I would always try to imagine what all these strange things in the walls were about, but Guernica always confused me.  I could make up stories about the other characters with bright colors and uncomfortable looking shirts, but these guys were a mess.  It was all black and white and flat and weird.  They looked like they were trying to eat each other, or that they were stumbling in the dark and tripping all over the place.  Their flat eyes and open mouths filled with rows of gaping teeth were terrifying, like a creepy old episode of The Simpsons. 

For all the art history courses and research I’ve done over the years, I can never fully remember the actual context of this piece at this moment.  But judging from the design, I think that confusion is what Picasso truly wanted.  That, and fear.