Last on the Bandwagon
Someone has to be the last girl in the suburbs to get low-rise jeans. Long after more fashion-conscious girls have moved on, after all their belly-baring denim has been buried at the back of the closet, some poor girl must buy the last pair from one of those loud, brightly-lit stores that are in every mall in the nation.
I am that girl. Not with the jeans - mass market fashion is not one of my things. But I’ve spent several months now trying to explain what I’m doing with this site. By late summer, they would ask, “Is it a blog?” Hipsters asked this with a sneer; little old ladies asked with sincere interest.
FastLittleArticle is a forum for cultural analysis and criticism, exploring the rituals of consumer society, and what I like to call pop phenomenology. At the moment, the articles tend to focus on rites of passage and domestica. But (so far) it’s just me here, looking a lot like everyone else chronicling the minutae of their lives in blogs and zines.
There are three reasons I’ve been reluctant to call this a blog. First, this is not a diary. The essays here take their inspiration from broader phenomena than the personal, and fresh material will appear here less frequently – every couple of weeks, unless someone gives me some paid work, in which case there might be a short hiatus. Second, I am interested in arguments, or at least proto-arguments. Although postings will be less frequent than on most blogs, they will be longer and in more complete form. And finally, who wants to be the last girl in the suburbs to buy low-rise jeans?
I would like to hear from you. If you have an idea that you would like me to explore, or something you would like to publish here, drop me a line. Come here to discuss things, have an argument, try out a theory. And if you have paid work for me, I’d really like to hear from you.
This blogging thing. I think it’s going to be big.
But this is not a blog.
The lady doth protest too much, methinks.
There is another phrase for “blogger” that you might find less fashion-threatening. The phrase is “self-published writer/artist”. And the sneer from the hipsters? It’s based on the simple fact that when everyone can self-publish, you get a lot of crap. You also get a lot of gems. Way more than you do in an area where the barriers to entry are high. So don’t sweat the term. There’s plenty of real worries. Like being one of the gems.
If these first posts are anything to go by, you’ll shine girl, you’ll shine. Good luck.
How very nice of you. And how maddening of you to be so anonymous. I can’t shake the conviction that you are one of my closest friends, though. If you’re not, would you like to be?
Thank you for the kind offer, but I’m already a friend. I’ve updated my nickname (I forgot my old ‘afton’ account, and I don’t remember which of the way-too-many email addresses I signed up with), but it isn’t updating my profile for some reason (I.e. This post will come from ‘Afton’ with my associated web-page ( www.icontactart.com ) but the old comment from “no-name” still comes from ‘no-name’ and lists no web-page associated.
I think this is a bug and I expect your webmaster will fix it soon.
ps. Anonymity is a habit for me on the web, as it will be for others. You’ll have to learn how to suck it up. Okay, well; that’s my blunt advice for the day.
sorry, Afton - didn’t mean to invade your privacy!
I generally prefer anonymity myself, and have been waiting to use the nickname “SweetLightCrude,” should the occasion present itself.
I offer this to anyone else who might find it amusing.
And thank you for your kind comments.
Well - this is a first. I have never posted a comment to a Web site before. Normally content to only read what others have to post (and secretly, gleefully criticize their grammar), I am inspired by your little site. Fantastic job! Entertaining articles! Witty repartee with the posters!
Blog on, my sister, blog on.
“Fast little article”…
an expression that I have really only read once before. In Nabokov’s Lolita. Maybe that’s what brought me here.
But now that I’m here I think I’ll stay awhile.
piscavio -
Thanks for stopping by. I hope you’ll stay, too.
Yes, the expression is from Lolita, but I first heard it as I’ve transcribed it on the “what is” page - a conversation between my mother’s best friend and her sister. It would surprise me if Irene had ever read Lolita, so perhaps the expression is in wider but limited use.
It’s also the name of an album by Quickrelease - I couldn’t say for sure how obscure they are; I only know about them because I was trying to make sure that the name I had my heart set on hadn’t already been taken. Presumably they are named for the passage from Lolita.