Working for Free

 I would just like to have a quick chat about the Condé Nast-internship debacle. To bring you up to speed, Condé Nast (big, important magazine company) announced last week that they are ending their famed unpaid internship program. This Refinery 29 article showed some of the reactions from people in the industry and I must say, for the most part, they make me angry. 

A reaction that makes sense:

One that does not and makes my blood boil:

To address the downside of terminating this program: Yes, having an internship at a magazine is a wonderful way to make connections, gain experience, and be in the right place at the right time for when an entry-level position opens up. It's a way to get your foot in the door without needing to have an excessive amount of previous experience. 

HOWEVER, there is NO reason why this "opportunity" should be unpaid. The industry's outlook on interns is that they are lucky to be there, they should be thankful that they've been given this chance  and they should feel fortunate and grateful. 

But let's look a little closer, shall we? Interns are completely exploited to do free work for these companies. FREE! Why is the practice of someone working 8-12 hours a day 5 days a week for a company without any compensation being seen by our society as the company doing them a favor? 

To have a full-time, unpaid internship means that you have to have the funds to pay rent in NYC, food and transportation without an income. The concept is 100% geared towards wealthy, privileged college students who can afford to do so. So then you might say that no one is forcing you to get an internship. But guess what? False. Internships are such a norm now that no one would hire you, even for an entry-level position, unless you have several of them on your resume. The worst part of this all is that, because unpaid internships are technically illegal, they "pay" you in college credits. So what if, say, you graduate college and still don't have enough internship experience (me)? Tough luck. No one will take you on because you are no longer applicable for college credit. But no one will hire you because you don't have enough internship experience. So this horrible cycle continues until you find a place that will let you intern ("let"??) for free.  

So moral of the story is, I completely support this movement against internships. Obviously Condé Nast will still need someone to go get their coffee, make copies and pack boxes, but whoever is doing that will now be getting paid. With such a huge corporation making a stand (not that this was a political statement on their part, more of a way to prevent future law suits) this will completely change the whole culture of pre-career careers. What will be the new internship? Will we revert back to the days of yore when you had an apprenticeship and learnt from Masters in a symbiotic relationship to hone your craft and add to their inventory? 

Last weekend I attended Teen Vogue Fashion University, and hearing the reaction from the other girls on this subject in our Facebook group was insane. The majority of them are in highschool and went to this workshop in the hopes of finding a way into the Teen Vogue internship program (a Condé Nast publication). Networking to the extreme, these girls were ravenous for tips on how to make your resume stand out, which the Teen Vogue editors were giving plenty of advice (because little did they know). Following the announcement, these girls were making the interns who are currently suing Condé Nast the enemies! In reactions not unlike slut-shaming, they were blaming the victims of exploitation as the demons who "ruined" it for the rest of them.  One girl wrote, "Two self-righteous people single-handedly ruining it for everyone else the industry. Sigh." Another added "This is so frustrating, like thanks so much to all the whiny lazy interns who made this possible" and "So many important people in the fashion industry started out as interns. This is horrible."

Well guess what, people ADAPT. This is not the end of the world, it will just mean that more PAID entry-level positions will open up that will need less experience.  

Agree? Disagree?

Happy Friday!

Hello lovely readers! Sorry for the slow week, I had a lot on my plate (career changing plans(!), Late Night with Jimmy Fallon tapings *look for me in the audience tonight! Front row center*, and reuniting with old friends (read: college friends)). 

What do you have planned for this weekend? I'm going to a NYU Slam Poetry competition tonight to spice things up, a birthday brunch for my friend Emma at Norma's (should I get "The Zillion Dollar Lobster Fritatta" with caviar? Literally $1,000. No joke.) and also planning on doing a little vintage store touring of Manhattan on Sunday. 

This past thursday I mapped out all the best vintage stores in Brooklyn (according to the interweb) and had a wonderful time exploring both my new neighborhood and the thrifty nooks within it (FYI my favorite was AuH20 Vintage). On that note, there is a legitimate brooklyn vintage crawl on November 2nd that I am VERY interested in attending. It ends at Brooklyn Bowl for a little after-partying. Anyone want to go with me? Check it out here and lemme know: Brooklyn Vintage Crawl.

Have a wonderful weekend, and here are some links from around the world wide web to keep you busy:

I want to see this movie at some point soon. Has anyone seen? Looks potent.

Going to attempt to pull off this hairstyle sometime this weekend.

The best animated short ever created.

How great are these Elizabeth 1 Ladies Panties?

The Primate Awards.

A pretty print.

Have you heard of Phonebloks? I think I'm sold...

What a wonderfully cozy house in this Kip & Co ad.

xx

Public Service Announcement

Just so that everyone is aware, there is a blog dedicated to Bruce Springsteen's Butt.

This was discovered through the Buzzfeed titled, "15 Reminders that Bruce Springsteen is a Stone Cold Fox" (worth a gander) which was introduced to me by my insightful sister Lorelei.

Please enjoy this sensual soundtrack as you gaze upon His HEINIEness (see what I did there???)
 (Fun fact: a young Courtney Cox at 2:20 lucky dog):

A few of my favorites <3

 

Oh and then there's this:

Now try and get back to work mwahaha

The Grand Budapest Hotel, or, That Time Tilda Swinton Wore a Ton of Old Lady Makeup.

Wes Anderson's latest film, The Grand Budapest Hotel could not have debuted its trailer at a better time. Anderson is now thrown back into the spotlight and therefore my tentative Halloween costume (a character from one of his previous films) is now less random and lame! Hurrah! (I'm sure I'll do a costume post eventually, please don't die of suspense.)

Wes Anderson is a filmmaker I've come to enjoy and appreciate more and more as time goes on, and if the trailer is any indication, I think this might be one of his best features yet.

Thoughts:

 I don't think I've ever seen Ralph Fiennes play such an airy character, and I think M. Gustave H might possibly be the anti-Voldemort. Also, if you were expecting a less-than-stellar cast, think again (read: Edward Norton, Saoirse Ronan, Willem Dafoe, Jude Law, Bill Murray (obvs), Adrien Brody, Owen Wilson (obvs), Léa Seydoux, Tilda Swinton, Jeff Goldbum and Jason Schwartzman (obvs).)

 I always forget about Ed Norton, and then his awful, nasally voice pierces the silence and I fall in love with him all over again. Does anyone else find their admiration for him hard to validate? How did he manage to break into the acting world with that voice? I'm trying to picture his very first audition. So many questions.

My only criticism is that the narrator voice of future Zero Mustafa (the Lobby Boy) has such a radically different accent from young Mustafa. But why stop at him? All the character's accents are all so mishmashed, considering it takes place in Hungary, that I guess you just have to give up on that front.

How is Saoirse Ronan so cool? Please stop, you are like ten. 

The lilac/purple theme throughout the trailer? Into it. 

Bringing "darling" back.

Hotel is 100% pure and unadulterated Wes Anderson, so if you're not into his style, don't hold your breath. And as the Times so wonderfuly put it, it has his signature "rose-colored nostalgia for something that never quite existed in the first place." Ha, so true.

Also, just throwing it out there, I will eventually be throwing a Wes Anderson themed party. Whose in?

Tangerine Snail

Made this little guy for breakfast this morning. Mostly because I was in the mood to play with food after my sister Selina showed me this creative mom, but also after I saw the snail on Pinterest (where creativity goes to die). As everyone knows, food is much more fun to devour when shaped like cute little animals! Especially in escargot form so you can feel all fancy-like. 

(But real talk- shape Mac 'n Cheese? Soooo much better than the original, whose with me?)

omnomnom

BONUS: My favorite escargot joke from childhood. We all have them, so please share yours in the comments below!

...

A snail bought himself a snazzy fast car but took it in to get a more eye catching color. At the car paint shop, he asked that the car be painted neon yellow and have a large red ‘S’ printed on each side.

Confused, the worker asked, “Why a big ‘S’?”

Grinning, the snail replied, “When people see me drive past, they’ll notice and say, ‘Hey, look at that ‘S’ car go!’” 

...

So good right?? My parents read this to me every night before bed.

The Gold Standard: The Ultimate Accessory

Would anyone like to buy me this iPhone case from Miansai? It's solid 14K gold and only $10,000. 

Let me know! Thanks!!

The Power of Beyoncé

Has anyone ever listened to Beyonce's "Best Thing I Never Had" and wondered if she was singing about food? Because I have. And I realized, hey, this could be a great dieting strategy.

It's happened to all of us: somehow, a full pie makes it's way into your kitchen and sits on your counter top and stares at you. Maybe an apple, ginger and rhubarb or some sort of raspberry/boysenberry mix. Irrelevant. The point is, it can be a major distraction and it's dangerous.

This is how you overcome that inevitable moment of weakness: blast "Best Thing I Never Had" and sing to that pie at the top of your lungs. Channel your inner Sasha Fierce and tell that pie how much it sucks to be it right now (see visual below).

And that is how Queen B has her body.

So go ahead. Listen to the song below and tell me it doesn't make you want to exercise discipline whilst clad in some sexy wedding lingerie (seems to be a rather bizarre outfit choice given the intended recipient of the song but who am I to judge.)

How glad are you that you read this post today? #totallynotawasteofyourtime

ACL Style or Lack Thereof

 As I mentioned in a previous post, I was home for Austin City Limits last weekend. I had a fantastic time romping about with old friends, eating Chi'Lantro tacos (THE BEST), checking out new bands and reminiscing with old favorites (cough cough Okkervil River). But this year I also went armed with a camera in the effort of trying to get some good style shots of the blithe and sunburnt festival-goers (try being the operative word here).

 I'm ashamed to admit that it was an incredibly difficult endeavor. I figured running off between sets to snap a few pics would be a slice of cake but instead I missed half of Lissie trying to hunt people down. Yo Austin: Step. Up. Your. Game. People go to Coachella PURELY to be photographed for style blogs and probably don't even realize it's a music festival. Sure, ACL is about the music, but lets have some pride in our style, shall we? What happened to Keeping Austin Weird? 

Below are the few shining stars I came across, but next year, let's do better hm?

(P.S. Anyone beg to differ with me on this? Maybe all the Glamazons were trolling about while I was at Grimes. Who was killer btw.)

I cheated on this one because she's my friend Lauren but she's also super stylish so bonus points. Hi Lauren.

She also took my picture for her atx style blog. (Ha! Please ignore awkward stance.)

She was so sweet. Great texture/print mixing.

This girl was on every ACL style blog post. Way to be.

        

Crop tops for daysssss.

 

That low-V. Daring.

 

mmmm GoodPop.

Oh and here's a little collage of some atmosphere pics from the weekend taken by both myself and my dear friend Skinney after he gently commandeered my camera. Look out for him, he's a NatGeoPho in the making (I just made that term up, I think).

Annnnd the half of the Strasburger tribe that could make it <3

Skinned

Your daily dosage of contemporary art and design:

"Skinned is an experiment in borrowing confidence, beauty, and protection from other living beings in our world. By applying another being's skin, fur, or quills to a wound, cut, or blemish- one morphs into the donor creature. Porcupine, fish, wolf, rabbit, and crocodile skins were produced to create a dialogue between the bandaid, the user, and the world surrounding them."

....

My friend Jacob Lenard might possibly have come up with the most enticing way to bandage a wound. Call me a masochist, but sharp objects are all of a sudden a little less fearsome. Made from the actual organic materials mentioned above, see them in practice below (or on his website). 

Thoughts? Is this the new luxe look of medical adhesives? If so, which one would you go for? I've got my eye on the porcupine needles. Sure, additional lacerations may be inflicted, but everyone keeps saying pain is synonymous with beauty (you also gain things?). Talk about insult to injury.

Austin City Limits 2013

Today marks the first day of the first weekend of Austin City Limits Music Festival and I could not be more excited to be home for it! This year they're doing TWO WEEKENDS of the same festival. (Where was that idea the last four years when I had to miss every fall W.I.L.D for it??) I chose to go to the first weekend this year so that there will still be remnants of grass on the ground and everything has that fresh, new and exciting feel. And Coolhaus will still have edible paper to eat. 

A Couple of Bands I'm Most Excited For & Why:

MSMR: Lizzy Plapinger's hair.

HAIM: Saw them at SXSW & Governors Ball and the dynamic threesome never gets old. But now that they're "big" the crowd might be a bit more unruly *sigh* *eye roll* ~*over it*~

GRIMES: Pure shock value/ performance art.

MUSE: I know, I know. I'm not in 6th grade anymore. But these guys headlined in both 2007 and 2010 and they were phenomenal. I can't explain how powerful the experience is, you just have to go to a Muse concert. 

FOXYGEN: Cool name. Foxes are really on trend right now, ya know.

MAX FROST: Gotta show fellow Austinites some love.

PHOSPHORESCENT: They're from Brooklyn so I figure I'll wave at them and be like, "hey new neighbors" and they'll see me and be like "hey" back. Brooklynites are friendly like that.

THE BRIGHT LIGHT SOCIAL HOUR: Tryna dance.

THE WILD FEATHERS: Into "The Ceiling."

I've put together a short playlsit of most of my must-sees for the festival (sorry kendrick lamar but no). My father and sister are going to BOTH weekneds so they don't have to worry about scheduling conflicts, but there will defintly be some tough decisions to make today. GAME ON.

Until The Ribbon Breaks

Monday night I saw Lorde perform at Webster Hall (woo!) and it was as fabulous and amazing and bizarre as you'd expect. She just has the most sophisticated demeanor for a 16 year old. She also kind of  dresses and dances like a witch, but I guess that's part of her allure? 

However, what I also thoroughly enjoyed was her opening act, Pete Lawrie Winfield, a.k.a. Until The Ribbon Breaks. Out of UK, Winfield's music has the sensual overtones of The XX and the jarring synth beats of Massive Attack (not to mention he and his bandmates are incredibly attractive). The weird and somewhat haunting sampling and cutting also reminds me of Bastille's Mixtapes. It was a wise choice for Lorde because it had a chill head-nodding vibe that slowly evolved into more of a full-body sway when Ella took the stage. Although I wish someone had informed the jerks in front of us that Lorde's music at a sold-out concert venue is NOT the time NOR the place for THIS (as adorable as the Mitt Romney/Jim Carrey love child is).

Check out 2025 and Pressue, below. Thoughts?