Friday, December 10, 2010

Gift Ideas: Day 3

Now here is a category that I know a lot about. Besides being a hipster, I mentioned before that I also worked in a bookstore. This gift idea is:
BOOOOOOOKS


Like I said in the last post hipsters love books, whether they like the idea of them, actually like to read them, or like telling their friends how lame they are for not reading enough, THEY LIKE BOOKS.
Now here are some suggestions for your hipsters:

Anything by Chuck Palahniuk. You may be familiar with Fight Club? He wrote it, this book is hipster 101, they will love it.

Anything by Jack Kerouac. He was the original hipster (also a great writer) you hipster will love and actually learn something from his books.

Anything by William Burroughs. He was also in the same time as Kerouac and they co-wrote And They Boiled the Hippos in Their Tanks. If that doesn't sound hipser-ish then I don't know what does..

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. This book is better than the movie, any good hipster should know why.

Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. Even if your hipster hasn't read this they will still probably tell you it is their favorite book. Funny how that works...

I Saw You...: Comics Inspired by Real-Life Missed Connections. Your hipster doesn't know they want this but they really, really do. This book changed my life.

Anything by Arthur Nersesian. Not-so-well-known but dearly beloved in hipster circles.

Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart. This book is pretty new but super funny and strange.

Anything by Sylvia Plath. Not only was she a great novelist but a great poet as well. Her husband also sent her to a mental institution where she wrote the majority of her works. What more could you want..?

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides.

Anything Where the Wild Things Are. Self-explanatory.

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Any self-respecting idealist has read this. Your hipster included.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World by Bryan Lee O'Malley. Watch the movie, then you will understand.

Ghost World by Daniel Clowes. " "

Scar Tissue by Anthony Kiedis. See below.

Anything about or by a musician. As I said in my last post hipsters love anything music or music related. They also have this strange belief that they are all unique individuals thus they love reading about famous people who are like them. Famous or dead musicians and artists are seen as just above themselves (hipsters) on the 'Individuals' Hierarchy' and they strive to be like and know more about them than their friends.

Anything by Henry David Thoreau. Hipsters looooove philosophy and all that so they looooove Thoreau...ugh.

Anything by Kurt Vonnegut.

Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger. I'm pretty sure that all the other hipsters who didn't say that Perks was their favorite book said that Catcher in the Rye was..


Note: Hipsters also love saying they have read and own the classics. So if your local Bookstore has a section marked Classics, that is always a good place to start. Also head to the Philosophy section they would love anything and I mean anything from there as well.


These are just SOME of the authors and titles that your hipster would like, I can't take the time out of my day to write down, remember, and look up ALL the titles that your hipster could possibly want. But I do hope this helps and as always feel free to comment with any questions you might have.

-S

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Gift Ideas: Day Two

Today's Hipster Gift Idea:
GIFT CARDS


This is a great gift especially if you don't know what kind of hipster you are dealing with. You can usually tell by looking at them whether or not they would like a gift card from any one of these places:

Tattoo/Piercing Shop--------Most hipsters either have or want tattoos.

Coffee Shop--------Most hipsters had their blood replaced with coffee by age 15.

Thrift Stores-------Most hipsters love the challenge of finding the cheapest and ugliest sweater out of all their friends and then pretending it isn't ugly or cheap.

A Trendy Vegan/Raw Food Restaurant------Most hipsters are vegan or will be once you give them this. Didn't you know? Vegans have cool psychic powers. Meaning they are just better than everyone else.

American Apparel-------
These have the same reason: hipsters like to pretend to do things for other people or to better the planet or whatever but really they like to be trendy....I guess there are worse trends out there.
TOMS Shoes-------------

Urban Outfitters------Your hipster may pretend to hate this gift but really deep inside they will love it more than they love stripes or The Black Keys! They may even try to lecture you on the evils of giant corporations or loss of individuality blah blah blah. But its a risk you must take you make your hipster happy.

Bookstores----------Hipsters love books, pretty much every kind of hipster loves or pretends to love them you virtually cannot go wrong with this choice!

Finally
iTunes------------Every hipster loves music but they also LOVE Apple products! So this choice is a win/win in their eyes!


Good luck and happy shopping readers!


-S

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

The Hipster: Gift Ideas

The last month or so I have been googling, etsying, browsing, and mall stalking for Christmas gift ideas. Mostly for my friends but for my family as well. This year is hard, mostly because I don't have a job and I no longer work for Barnes & Noble. Working at a book store made gifts easy, 'just buy them a book' was always my philosophy.

So this year I am being challenged. & because I have quite a lot of hipster friends I thought it might be helpful for others if I post my finding to my blog. For the next 16 days I will be posting gift ideas for any clueless parents, friends, or family members that might need some assistance. Also lucky for you these will all be cheap cheap cheap ideas because I am poor.


My first gift (& best if you ask me) is ETSY!
Now for those of you that have never heard of etsy.com here is the low down. Etsy is a site where regular people like you and me go to sell the items that they have collected over the years from thrift stores and garage sales or things that they have made. So needless to say there are A LOT of great unique and one-of-a-kind items on this site. Which if you didn't know are PERFECT for the average hipster.

Now no matter what kind of hipster you have in your life there will be something on this site for them. What makes this and even better option for a clueless parent is that if you go to the gift tab and allow Etsy to use their facebook app to help you (just follow the prompts) they will let you pick a fb friend that you want to buy a gift for and then use their 'likes' to personalize great gifts for them.

Note: this may sound too good to be true, it is not, I have used this app for many of my friends and it works every time! It even lets your choose a price range. This is the fastest and best option out there.

But stick around for my other gift suggestions, they will not let you down!

Here is the link to Etsy




Now if you are reading this and thinking to yourself: "How do I know my child or grandchild is a hipster?"

Well here are some signs:
Do they wear fake glasses?
Do they wear beanies?
Do they wear leather jackets or wind breakers layered with zip-hoodies?
Do they listen to records?
Are they ass holes about music selections?
Do they wear TOMS, Vans, combat boots, or oxfords?
Do they love Bob Dylan, Moressy, and/or The Beatles?

These are just the most basic signs of hipster-ness. There are also many different kinds of hipsters. If you read the list and are still not sure if it is a hipsters you are dealing with please, comment and I will give you more examples.

Until next time, good luck and God speed!


-S