Posts Tagged ‘Eeeee Eee Eeee’

Entertainment - Wednesday, April 22, 2009 18:21 - 11 Comments

Tao Lin Chats With Carles of Hipster Runoff, World Explodes

A few months back, Local, along with a few other online destinations, thought we were hot on the trail of the mysterious personality, known only as Carles, behind the popular weblog Hipster Runoff. Noting the curiously close relationship between Carles and NYU alum/poet/author Tao Lin, we floated the theory that they may very well be the same person. Lin, an NYU Local interview subject previously, was kind enough to respond, albeit only in vague innuendo.

A little internet digging by some commenters found that the two might really be separate people, but still close friends who attended NYU together. Whatever the case, their mutual influence on one another is undeniable. Now, in a promotional push for his new literary press Muumuu House, Lin’s ‘people’ have sent out an email press release plugging two upcoming books due out this year, but the real prize for readers is this newly published Gmail Chat between Tao Lin and Carles. Get a few giggles after the jump. Continue…

Entertainment, On-Campus Developing - Tuesday, February 24, 2009 21:13 - 29 Comments

NYU Alum and Writer Tao Lin Comments on Conjecture That He Is Hipster Runoff

Hipster Runoff is “a blog worth blogging about.” Its anonymous author, who signs off as Carles, trades in scare quotes, the meme economy and party pics. His post-ironic blog babble—laced with intentional internet typos and Pitchfork-approved name-drops—feigns a lack of self-awareness that manages to sharply critique the young, urban largely white (and AZN) set. You know the type. You probably are the type.

Tao Lin is a poet, novelist and blogger living the post-graduation dream of approximately 17,436 NYU students. He is a working writer living in New York City whose subject matter is painfully relevant, ranging from Gchat to Haley Joel Osment. He reportedly writes from Bobst. His upcoming novella is called Shoplifting From American Apparel. I happen to think that he is Hipster Runoff and I am not the only one.

Bouncing the theory off of a few friends, I usually received a “…you could be right!” reaction, but never pushed the issue. Yesterday, the blog Hipsters United collected a ton of speculative and circumstantial (but oh so convincing!) evidence [via Vulture Blog], including but not limited to similarities in writing style, graphics and interests, as well as the budding internet friendship between the two. They trade blog comments, Tweets and syntactic tics, coming off as indistinguishable in entries like this one about the ‘existence’ of interns on Lin’s website.