teenage angst... the meaning of life?

I changed the URL for the diary collective to TeenageDiaryCollective.tumblr.com

hello hello. So far my teenage diary collective is going swimmingly. (check out the original post here). I've already gotten some submissions which is both exciting and encouraging, and people already seem to be enjoying it so yay! Thanks to those of you who have submitted! If you haven't yet don't hesitate to do so! It can be anonymous if it's a personal entry and it's a fun way to spread your diary creativity and such. Feel free to help spread ze word via tweetin or blog postin or tumblrin or somethin.  (hiiiiiiiint). I also found this cool thing where people read their diary entries and it's really awesome and perfect and audible rather than tangible which is incredibly enjoyable and satisfying when you need some aesthetic assistance to your angstiest of days and when that Nirvana song just isn't doing the trick. Teenage Diary is kind of a homage to my love for journals and diaries; they are so mysterious and house so many unspoken secret thoughts, opinions, feelings, and ideas. Diaries are like the other half to a person, the parts of themselves they would never share with or expose to the world. They're like the holy grail of secrets and confessions and feelings and teen angst. 

Even though angst can suck I love feeling angsty purely for the experience of being an angsty teenager and how being in that very state of angst helps enable me to live vicariously through cool people in movies and TV shows, like Ivy (my favorite movie) and Lisa and Paulie. Sometimes being hormonal sucks but other times it's just great because it helps you to achieve the full experience of teendom as well as all its highs and lows, which I treasure, which is weird of me. I feel like being a teenager is the best time ever because of how it's this time to venture into new directions and take risks and be a freak or a geek and laugh too loud and get depressed and scream and shave your head and make out with guys you don't know the name of and spend all night going to random diners and spying on people with your best friend and running through fields yelling the lyrics to some song by Stevie Nicks and starting a band that never ends up rehearsing or performing and redecorating your room a thousand times over, each time to represent the new you that will inevitably change tomorrow. I just love that. I know I'm looking at this in a totally romanticized perspective, because some people are actually clinically depressed which isn't fun for the experience and is actually serious and horrible and not enjoyable in the slightest bit, but other times the roller coaster that is teendom, for me at least, is really exciting and fun even when I feel like crap.

to represent how concerts seem to be a right of passage for life and a huge part of teendom

to represent the importance of journals diaries in the lives of many teens

to represent that fun with friends is timeless

to represent hating society and being independent

to represent having fun at the beach

to represent that fabulosity of paul mccartney

to represent the importance and awesomeness of david bowie in one's life

to represent that slut shaming is wrong and that it's virtually impossible to actually be a slut

teenage diary

ATTENTION CITIZENS.
This is a very important post. I just started one of two collectives I'll be establishing within the fine old month of January. The one I just set up is called Teenage Diary (but the URL is teenage-journals.tumblr.com). It's similar to Teenage Bedroom, in the sense that any person can submit, but rather than bedrooms it's diary and journals entries. Entries can be posted anonymously if the author requests as such. I've been obsessed with diaries and journals for a while and I've always thought it interesting to have a huge collective full of diary and journal entries from teens (past and present) of the world. Entries can be written, collaged, drawn, or whatever. Entries can be song lyrics, poetry, love letters never sent, sticker montages, etc. I hope you all submit and follow and spread the word!! I'll have more info about my second collective soon.

***

resolutions for the new year:
1: take more risks!
2: be brave
3: have A LOT of fun
4: do well in school
5: save money
6: finish at least 10 of the books i've already started
7: stop procrastinating
8: blog more
9: take more photos of my outfits
10: take more photos in general!
11: establish my collective by the end of january
12: finish redecorating my room
13: make lots of art
14: do more creative things in my journals rather than just rants.
15: hang up my tea bag collection
16: get more masks for my mask collection
17: get some tarot cards!
18: live life and be happy!

these are two of my favorite entries from Minna's journals. She is an artist for Rookie!

this is a college-drawing I made a few days ago. I didn't draw the face, I just cut it out and taped it. I did do the designs though. I originally drew the black pen design, thinking I would cover the entire paper in it. But then I found the face drawing and thought it would look awesome with the design, and then I drew a colorful design around it. It's supposed to represent insanity... I was thinking of putting a quote from Alice in Wonderland:

The Mad Hatter: Have I gone mad? 
[Alice checks Hatter's temperature] 
Alice Kingsley: I'm afraid so. You're entirely bonkers. But I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are.

OR

putting this lyric-esque thing I wrote,

"Someone call a doctor, I think I'm going crazy. I think I'm going crazy. Somebody save me."

What do you think I should put?

PS: I just received in the mail The 1000 Journals Project, The Diary of Frida Kahlo, and Kurt Cobain's Journals. They are all incredibly fantastic and I'll be posting photos of them soon! Happy New Year!! 

take me to paradise

Here is a collection of paradise inspiring photos for summertime. I, being a city dweller year round, meaning no vacations whatsoever, have made it my duty to discover a paradise within my city, full of retro/vintage/grunge vibes, and maybe even little bits of Disneyland-ness here or there. If only good ol' Walt wasn't a misogynist/anti-semitic dick face, Disneyland might be a lil' more enjoyable. But I am willing to ignore the horrid side of Walt, and focus on the awesome side of Walt, which is the side that created DISNEYLAND! Walt should totally be added to the It's Complicated zine. Also, I think my perfect paradise for the summer would be a nice vintage/old fashioned/retro diner, with red leather booths and milk shakes and black/white tiled floors and cheap food I can afford and cool wall décor and vintage photos all over the walls!

Look at the pretty colors and the 1950's vibes and the awesome font and the fish scale background OMG it's too perfect! (source unknown)

Hella unknown sources, but bottom right is Neil Krug.

More unknown sources. Thanks, google.

More unknown sources.

unknown, unknown

Look at the awesome clothing!! Unknowns.

Unknown sources

source, Davelandweb.com!

via Grease, ze movie!

AHHHHHHHHDGKLHSAUIEHG:LKA. I'm so unbelievably in love with this photo you have no idea OMG. Ugh, look at the 70s colors that have appeared to be kissed by the sun! The beautiful Burger King sign that is rocking life to the max, the striped walls that remind me of that striped gum that tastes amazing, and the awesome yellow taxi with the dent! So seventies and so many Reese's Pieces vibes! (unknown)

GOODBYEEEEEEEEE (unknown)

summer is upon us!

Summer is here! I can actually SMELL IT. The air in my room SMELLS LIKE SUMMER. Smells like teen spirit, eh?

My summer plans will most likely consist of photographing strangers and friends, the consumption of junk food, compiling disposable cameras, writing, reading, wandering, and sitting in fields at night with my chums! What fun!

School is officially over, freedom!

Freshman year was okay. I made like, 2 or 3 good friends, but I didn't really connect with many people, which is kind of a bummer. It's kind of forced me to be more independent, and I've definitely learned more about myself, and delved deeper into my creative side while developing new interests. I think I'm definitely more of that independent loner-y type at school who has friends and can have conversations with a lot of people, but just doesn't really fit in. I don't really feel like I fit in. And who knows, maybe I actually do fit in, but as of now, I feel like I don't really fit in. I just feel like nobody in my grade really enjoys the pass times I enjoy, like rapping and thrifting and screaming and reading books in fields and dancing around neighborhoods and going to strange concerts and talking awkwardly and making strange noises and pretending to be foreign at Starbucks and doing dances for money and food in public places. And who knows, maybe everybody actually enjoys doing these things, but nobody is vocal or expressive about it so we're all just secretly dying of boredom. I feel like I've been semi-introverted this year. It's just so weird transitioning from middle school, where you feel super comfortable in front of everyone, to high school and an overload of uncharted territory. I feel like I've kind of been withholding bits and pieces of my personality... because I want to be accepted? Perhaps...? Perhaps not? But then, at the end of the day, I'd rather be myself than be anyone else, which is definitely good. But then when I'm at school, I just feel so uncomfortable. I feel kind of ashamed that I get like that, that I turn into this semi-self conscious person at school, but I think everybody kind of goes through that. I guess it's human. I think part of the reason I'm a little reluctant to fully express myself and just be 100% me, is also in part because I'm still not really sure who I am. Which is such a cliché, but it just ties back to that "teenage discovery" crap. I guess the one thing all teenagers have in common is the fact that we're all still trying to figure out who we are. Hopefully I figure it out this summer.