The Wandering Aesthete

As I write this on my shiny white MacBook my iPhone next to me alerting me of a text message, and a news update, and to tell me that my mother has just won in Words With Friends I realize that I am wholly dependent on technology. Wow, groundbreaking right? Another twenty-something girl talking about how her iPhone is her baby (insert annoying laugh to cover up the fear that she will never in fact procreate). However, here is the thing that no one tells you. The very thing that makes technology so great is the very reason I resent it- you can be connected to anyone. 

Again, this doesn’t seem groundbreaking. But I don’t mean this in the “OhEmGeeIfIAteAGoodMealAndDidntInstagramItHowWillEveryoneKnowImASkinnyFoodie?” way. I mean the in the “technology can solve any problem except our own stupidity way”. Believe it or not, there are problems Siri can’t solve. Don’t tell her I said that, she knows too much. 

Fear. Pride. Idiocy. These are problems that have plagued humanity and the gods alike since the beginning of time. We look upon Romeo and Juliet with pity but they simply had an unreliable mail service and a too efficient apothecary. Anyone who has ever been to Duane Reade knows THAT is no longer a problem. It wasn’t their lack of love or courage, it wasn’t hubris that made them star-crossed. Or maybe it was and they just had a really good publicist. The point is, all of their problems can be blamed upon an inability to communicate. 

We don’t have that anymore. In a time where we can see a person half a world a way through a phone screen, we need only press a button. But we don’t. We let fear and pride and idiocy make difficult that which technology makes easy. 

The point is, I hate technology. It allows me to say everything but doesn’t give me the courage to say anything. So until there is an App for that, I’m going to consider technology bittersweet.

On the other end of things, Juliet didn’t have to worry about drunk dialing after too many flagons of wine. God that bitch had it easy. 

Accessibly yours (if only you wish it), 

The Wandering Aesthete 

Okay. This rant is entirely unnecessary but I need to say it.

Women in menswear is not revolutionary. Its something that is proclaimed as such EVERY season, and thus not revolutionary, but entirely ordinary. Women in the 20s wearing menswear was revolutionary. It was revolutionary not because of what they were wearing but because of the statement their clothes made. They abandoned the girdle for the vest to show that the only thing separating them from men was a skirt. Now women wear it to prove that they are fashionable, or because Rihanna does it, or to show that they can be pretty even when they are not wearing feminine things. 

Women in menswear is great. Its sexy, clean cut, and appropriate all at the same time. But its not revolutionary, its traditional- which is better, most of the time. So call it what it is.

We’ve all been there. Whether we were the dumper, the dumpee, or in my case, the unfortunate victim of bad timing, we all know that heartbreak is a bitch. Not a betch, or some other word 20-something girls use when they are feeling frisky, a real honest to goodness bitch.

“For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction”- Newton’s Third Law

The same goes for emotions.

Someone who has never felt euphoria can’t miss it. They can yearn for it. They can feel dismal, listless, or even apathetic. But it’s those simultaneously fortunate and unfortunate souls who have known true euphoria that are most affected by its absence.

I am so sick to death of the phrase “Dont cry because its over, smile because it happened”. That phrase is for losers, 7th graders, and people who dont know the first thing about true love.

Of course, at the end of any healthy and enriching relationship you are thankful for knowing the person- for knowing that people like them exist. You are thankful for knowing you are capable of love- because who else here has had THAT fear? You are thankful for the time you spent together. But none of that dismisses the absolute, raw pain that comes from that person being taken from you.

But, lets be serious, you all knew that already.

However here are some things you might not know are the unavoidable consequences of heartbreak.

1) You will have bad dreams. For someone like me, who was used to having ‘night terrors’ once or twice a week prior to the relationship, having one or two right after doesnt seem that odd. However, the entire time I was in a relationship I did not have one bad dream. Now that we are broken up, I’ve had one every single night.

2) Even if your dad is a prick, you will feel a stronger need to be around him. Its the age old notion that your dad is superman, that he can protect you from everything. Plus, if he is a total prick, he unlike your mother, will not press for details.He’s the equivalent to protective white noise.

3) Boys who you are friends with will suddenly want something more. Its the damsel in distress epidemic.

4) Your hair will look really phenomenal. Probably because you are washing it all the time as an excuse to cry in the shower.

5) Your animals will be drawn to you, cherish them.

Plus you will go from not eating for three days to binging on anything you can get your hands on. But if you are like me, thats just a regular product of being a neurotic well dressed hot mess.

Yours in heart break and defeat,

The Wandering Aesthete

In a week’s time I’ll be travelling to Europe. The first week will be spend in Paris. The second in the South of France (more specifically Cannes). The third in Spain. Though I’ve done my share of travelling, I’ve always gone for longer jaunts and have no idea how to pack for such an unbearable amount of time, nor for such a precarious time in which spring is turning into summer and nobody has any idea of what to wear at any time.

So this is what I need. What are your travel essentials?

And if you’d like to add some ‘must sees’ I’d be most appreciative.

Wanderingly yours,

The Wandering Aesthete