Teen Angst

I smelled all of these shirts I made, and I still don't know what the "Smell of Teen Spirit" is. I think, maybe its a smell found only in the boy's locker room. But who knows?

At the start of the school year I began printing Teen Angst t-shirts and bags to sell amongst my friends. Which, in turn, caused a lot of people to ask me what I have to be angsty about. I even found one girl making a drawing that said something like: “Teen Angst Is Unnecessary,” in the school’s art room, which I thought was kind of funny because I didn’t know her and also just because, I thought she was wrong, angst is kind of essential to being a teenager in some respect. On a general scope, high school is a weird gap of time in our lives where everything feels so extreme. One day I’ll feel super angst-y, like I just want wear headphones cemented to my brain blaring music that screams “I Hate All Of You,” or I get into an argument with a teacher over the relevance of an assignment to life post-high school, go on deleting-sprees of unfriending people on Facebook, or feel like my social life is over because a really cute ginger on the subway won’t talk to me. But then, just as quickly, I can get hyped up about the little things like gnome stickers I found at Discount Mart, a cute outfit I put together, decorating homemade cookies, watching people on the subway, wearing fresh flowers, writing for Worn Journal (this, actually is a big deal for me. Click here to read it, while I squeal to myself), finding out that there’s a Lizzie McGuire marathon on TV, reading Mindy Kaling’s hilarious memoir called Is Everyone Hanging Out With Me? (And Other Concerns), someone I admire retweeting me, or eating ice cream sundaes at a old-fashioned diner.

The Teen Angst t-shirts/bags I’ve been making have become a larger point of celebrating a mutual love-hate relationship with high school that a lot of us seem to share. I make them in mostly neon colors to counter the whole “Angst Automatically Means Everything Must Be Dark and Emo” which to me, isn’t true AT ALL (April Ludgate/Aubrey Plaza is an A+++ example of what I’m getting at.) I can still be totally deadpan in a bubblegum pink Peter Pan-collared frock, wearing a candy choker necklace, and a pin that says I<3 Bill Cunningham. And I do do this, all the time.

I put quotes on some of the bags I make, like this  one of my favorite line from any Joni Mitchell's song. Ever.

So, now for the part where I get really self-promotional and ask if you want to take part in my project: If any of you are interested in buying a Teen Angst shirt/bag or one of the yin yang ones I’ve been making, check out my super professional website, to purchase them.

 You can get any of the ones in pictures on this post, or you can completely customize your shirt with any color and with anything that involves the Teen Angst or ying yang templates I’ve made! People who bring me a shirt to print onto I’ve been charging $5 (unless that something you want is super complicated), and then for my own shirts/bags that I'm printing onto , I charge $15 + shipping.  

Lastly, I will leave you with a list of some songs that I listen to when I am angsty. This should really include anything by Joan Jett ever, but there are so many other artists too who are doing Joan proud.

1.      Believe- The Bravery

2.      Pale Blue Eyes- The Velvet Underground

3.      Teenage Riot- Sonic Youth

4.      Fake Friends- Joan Jett & The Blackhearts

5.      One Week of Danger- The Virgins

6.      At Seventeen- Janis Ian

7.      Is She Weird- The Pixies

8.      Back in Your Head- Tegan and Sara

9.      All Die Young- Smith Westerns

10.  This Time Tomorrow- The Kinks

11.  Lust for Life- Girls

12.  My Generation- The Who

13.  Bad Reputation- Joan Jett & The Blackhearts

14.  Narcissus in a Red Dress- The Like

15.  Above and Below- The Bravery

Oh, also this:

"Guide To Not Being a Cheetah Gurl."

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