too hip to be old?

A few days ago Tara Henley wrote a response to this New York Magazine article regarding aging hipsters, otherwise known as "grups."

Having worked in a record store in downtown Seattle, you couldn't throw a stone without hitting the amalgamated character where Volvo meets "Vice." Olderish people who obsessively rave about Clap Your Hand Say Yeah (or I guess Tapes 'N Tapes, now) and are able to afford three day passes to the Sasquatch Festival. I used to hate those people. Then I read the article which prominently features a series of photographs of "cool" parents and their equally hip kids. Then I shuddered.

Being in my mid-twenties, I'm still a good decade away from being considered a "grup," (by which time, the term will probably be dead) but the article still hit a little close to home with being a father who happens to play music and who also happens to work within the music industry (albeit in the lowest level short of intern). Hmm.

I suppose in regards to New York Magazine, Henley and Byron Crawford's opinons of the matter, it's easy to write off people who can't seem to break out of their youth. Peter Pans, as they say. Hell, I've written off those people, but primarily because I've had to cater to them.

Ultimately if someone refers to me as a "grup" simply based on the fact that I have a child, I'd see it as just cause to rip their face off and send their nose back to their family.

Your life will change because you've had a child, but I think it's a ridiculous notion to assume that once a baby enters the equation, you'll sell your Metallica records and start buying up the "NOW! That's What I Call Music" series and whatever else they sell at Starbucks to be "in the know."

So does listening to Sufjan Stevens while simultaneously buying Dora the Explorer CDs make you cool? Probably not, but let's not confuse being a parent with being pathetic. Grups are indeed lame; let's face it, it's probably not in your best interest to be 35 years old and have your hobbies include snorting rails with a 19 year old community college student. But it's also pretty pathetic to be afraid of the future and not breaking out of the confines of going to shows and bars.