Fuck, man. From what I hear it’s bad everywhere. In every way, and for everybody. Even in Austin, the shittiest recession town of all thanks to all the new raw foodist juice bars that keep opening their doors. Maybe it took a little longer for the badness to hit here thanks to all the disposable SXSW dollars or something, but the veil is off the corpse by now. Staying okay is no longer a matter of barricading yourself with the things you like because the things you don’t like are more than capable of busting into your blanket fort. Dealing with this shit requires proactive efforts now. Watching Bones on Hulu doesn’t count as proactive, and you better believe I’ve tried to make it count.
That said, these are my suggestions:
+personal end-of-day dance parties (soundtrack courtesy of Prince, Blackstreet, Kate Bush, the Coasters, Stevie Nicks, and Beyonce)
+BTW why is there no Wordpress predictive text function for Beyonce? WE ALL KNOW WHO SHE IS
+elaborate stews/soups shared with your friendos (made from scratch DUH)
+taking care of plants
+4 LOKO enormous budget caffeine malt beverage of the wise (lemonade is the only really okay flavor but blue raspberry is fun if you feel reckless and are not diabetic)
+being nice to your friends (no sadness competitions, just listening and observing and putting your ego aside, no seriously, really do this one)
+being a witch (always nice because you know who’s calling before the phone rings)
+don’t be afraid of competitive games because they will make you a better person because you have to risk maybe losing
+do the Sunday NYT crossword with college friends over a six hour span fucking trust me you will laugh so hard you spit up some of your latte (FART-O-SSSSMELLIE)
+do one thing every week that you said you were going to do but are kind of hesitant about actually doing JUST MAKE YOURSELF DO IT
+be really happy that you have a brain and that it works, even though it gives you access to the most horrible fucked-up ideas
+stay in touch with people from your past because A) they know you pretty well B) they can make fun of you in really inventive and knowing ways
+forgive anybody who needs forgiving, if only because it will help you become less obsessive and dogmatic
+get some skills, even if this means forfeiting some of your precious Hulu time
+btw your precious Hulu time is not really that precious
+physical activity is necessary, and maybe better for you if it’s social/part of your life rather than a daily hour-long appointment with the gym (consider swimming, biking, and bedroom dancing to “No Diggity” worthy activities, in other words)
+eat some fucking collard greens NO SERIOUSLY that stuff is magical
+get five meaningful things done before 11 AM no shirking
+be really funny, especially if you only have you as material
+DON’T BE SCARED
+know that making stuff is the best possible state to be in and even if you make a dumb thing it’s better than watching Bones on Hulu
+some people will like you when you’ve obviously right and some people will like you when you’re obviously wrong, but you have to ignore both of those kinds of people.
