Hipster manqué

Well, I guess I'm just not quite hipster enough for this segment on CBC Radio One one Monday. Back in February, after I wrote about hipster-parent-bashing (as some of you did, too, and I was writing about it having read Bub and Pie's take on it), I noticed that someone from the CBC had been to read the post. Yes, dear reader, you are so few in number but regular in your visits (and so dear to me, obviously) that odd addresses in my Sitemeter provoke my interest. And so I discovered that producer Michelle Eliot left me a comment.

You have to understand how much I love the CBC: I listen to Radio One, Radio Two, and even Radio-Canada Espace Musique. I was tickled; my interest was piqued. So I emailed her. She never emailed me back, but did visit twice more, Googling her way here with the blog name. I wondered what would come of it, and Tuesday I found out. Pynchon was out walking Miss Baby when he ran into an acquaintance who used to work in the same building as him. They got to talking and the acquaintance joked about how, from the looks of our massive and pimped out carriage, Pynchon must be one of those 'hipster parents' he'd just heard about on the CBC. Did any of you hear it? I missed it, but would love to hear about it ...

So now Pynchon and I have both been mistaken for hipster parents, and I've had a near brush with the Mother Corp.

In any case, the whole near-publicity of it, the idea that I might go on national radio and talk about my blog was attractive and repulsive. And I think I'm actually glad my 'cover' is not blown, and that my Sitemeter reports the same 10-15 of you visiting and commenting. I really do like the communal and reciprocal aspects of this space, and I think that could easily be violated by lookie-loos drawn in for a fast peek after hearing something on the radio. I like that you all found me by blogging, and that you're invested in blogs of your own. Also, I'm a professor of new media theory and practice, and I'm a little uncomfortable blending that part of my life with this part. I think, too, that I'm a little uncomfortable with the idea of making a spectacle of my parenthood--like that might make Miss Baby the soapbox I stand on to get my head above the crowd for my 15 minutes. I kinda know someone who did that, in another place and another time, and it felt and feels icky to me.

Ultimately, though, I guess I'm just not hipster enough. As these seven songs will prove:

1. Rufus Wainwright: "In My Arms"



(I like to sing Martha's part. It gets good here once you get past the banter. Be sad.)

2. David Bowe: "Space Oddity"



3. David Sylvian: "September"



4. Japan: "Nightporter" (yes, David Sylvian used to sing lead for Japan ... nice hair, dude!)



Uh-oh! I've caught new wave fever!

5. Depeche Mode: "Love's not enough in itself"

I really love DM. Have forever and ever. Except that stinker of an album in 1993. Which was, regrettably, the tour I got to see them on.

6. Yaz (or Yazoo, depending on your continent): "In My Room"

Speaking of DM! Look, it's a band with Vince Clark and Alison Moyet. I played this CD on repeat one all-nighter during my PhD (in a five disk set that included The Smiths and some Beastie Boys) and couldn't listen to it for a couple of years.

7. Rosemary Clooney and Marlene Dietrich: "Too Old"

Um, yeah, I have loved Rosemary Clooney since hearing her as the sister act in White Christmas. And my mom was always telling me that I have this Dietrich thing going (I do find her hopelessly cool now, but when I was a teenager? I did not take this as a compliment but rather a dig at my, ur, teutonic features). And this song is a seriously funny duet about men being too old 'to pass the mustard any more'. This is the comic relief song after I've bummed you all out ...

So it ought to be obvious now that I'm no hipster mommy, right? And you didn't even have to watch me groovin' out with Miss Baby to the strains of Salt 'n' Pepa when I got home from work tonight. :-)

Dance, people, dance!



Thanks for the tag, Cinnamon Gurl!