These are the real problems facing geeky 23 year old women in today's world

I have a problem that I don’t like to admit to people, because they think I’m fucking weird. Either that or they think it’s sexy, but mostly they think it’s weird and I don’t enjoy getting looks that say – ‘why are you spending money on dress-up things when you’re 23?!’ just saying. But in the interest of full disclosure, I have a costuming problem. Call it cosplaying, call it dressing up, call it whatever the fuck you want, but close to half of my closet if full of pieces of clothing that are intended for costuming purposes only. I’m fucking serious about it – my costumes have to look perfect if they’re from a movie, and I typically don’t settle for cheap things when I’m buying materials. &&& I wonder why I’m poor. I know, I know, I know…

I use Halloween as an excuse, but more than that, I use comic cons as my main reason for costuming so much. Do you know how sad I am that I’m not going to New York Comic Con this year – about as sad as I was when I didn’t get that three day pass to Wizard World Philly. I know, I have serious white girl problems that I’m dealing with here, but now where am I going to wear my Slave Leia costume?!? Not to work for Halloween, because I’d probably get fired – although I may bring back Silk Spectre for the occasion. What are they going to say, I’m sorry your shorts are too short? Oh wait, they’ve already done that to me, so I guess it won’t really matter – they should be expecting it, because apparently no one working at Fulton Bank knows what fashion is! Okay okay, but back to the costume rant. I’m seriously, I need a second closet for all of the shit that I have and it needs to be Halloween every other weekend, because when else am I going to wear three different Alice In Wonderland costumes?? (shhh, I like Alice, what can I say?)  

But for real, I need to find somewhere good to go for Halloween this year – last year Manayunk Brewery was okay, but I feel like people were just kind of beat there. So suggestions, please, because I have no friends, and my cats don’t even like me anymore, so my life is pretty much a mess.

- RIOT! (aka Morgan)

I HEART WXPN

I have been a supporter of public radio for a long time, through my mother, who taught me what real music was. I refuse to listen to radio stations that have annoying commercials or loop their sets during the afternoon or night, and I certainly avoid overly energetic DJ’s who think they know about music when all they really know is what’s popular at the moment. WXPN – 88.5 if you’re a Philly local, is an awesome station that runs out of the University of Pennsylvania, and streams online. They play a huge array of genres (between XPN and XPN2) from alternative to jazz to folk and indie to anything you can think of really, and they mix it together with well thought out commentary on the music and artists and news that actually matters, instead of celebrity gossip. With programs like World Café (which happens to be celebrating its 20th anniversary this year) and XPN Local (where I discovered bands like Good Old War and the like) they’ve drawn support from people like me:  a verging on poor, twenty-three year old. I donate every year, because public radio stations need our support to continue existing – they don’t play commercials, they don’t get paid for advertisement the way corporate radio stations do. I even donated my old car to their vehicle donation program when I bought my new one. The point is, that public radio isn’t just bullshit talk radio that no one over the age of 45 listens to – there are wonderful things going on at WXPN, the XPoNential music festival to say the least, and they need your support. They’re on the tail end of their fall fund drive right now, but you can pledge any amount, any time of the year. I’m really not asking you to give them money, I’m asking you to give them a chance, a listen, because if you do, then maybe you’ll become a supporter like I have.

- RIOT! (aka Morgan)