Seeing in HD

I have a bunch of cool friends. No really I do, they are a hugely wide ranging rag-tag bunch that have somehow adopted me into their everyday life. But they are all uniquely talented in individual ways and I feel like you guys my loyal band of “followers” should be entitled to have a unique insight into some of the young bucks I have had the fortune to call my friends. This side project is going to be a series of profiles and informal interviews with various friends.

First up we have Aidan, probably one of the most suave cats I know.

I met up with Aidan in the aftermath of St Patricks Day. This was no mean feat and it was only right that I lured him out of bed to come meet me with the offer of a free brunch. Feeling the side-effects of what can only be described as a large night I awoke from my drunken stupor to go meet Aidan at a nearby cafe. I arrived a little early and settled down with a section of the paper in the corner of the café and tried to screen out the other noisy patrons. Aidan was running late, but arrived not too long after I had settled down. He cut an impressive sight, seeing as I knew he was nursing somewhat of a hangover from St Patrick’s Day like me.

 To put this in context I had rolled out of bed and grabbed my nearest pair of pants and a t-shirt to go with some old sneakers. Aidan on the other hand arrived with a shirt neatly tucked in and with his hair combed with not a single strand out of place.

Like I said above I do have some really cool friends but the thing that drew me to Aidan first was that he is legitimately one of the most suave cats I know. His knack for knowing about cool events, the coolest musicians, and always looking suave had always impressed me. So I decided to learn a bit more about him.

One could say his dress sense has served him well, in not only impressing his peers, but in also gaining employment for one of the foremost fashion labels in Australasia, Crane Brothers.

I asked him how he got his job at Crane Brothers and this is what he told me:

“I made a list of the top 5 places I wanted to work for in Wellington and Crane Brothers was on the list”

This is quite a feat. Not many people nowadays have the nerve to really think about what they want and pursue it. This younger generation is easily swayed by the trappings of the “easy” life and more often than not follow a path into mediocrity. So when Aidan told me that I was suitably impressed.

In asking him whether it was a hard decision to switch to part-time study while he dipped his feet into the fashion industry he inadvertently quoted Jessica Hische back to me:

“What you do while you procrastinate is probably the work you should be doing for the rest of your life”

That cool reply took me by surprise and when asked to elaborate Aidan told me how he would immerse himself in the fashion culture in his spare time, watching documentaries, getting books out from the library and browsing different fashion blogs. It was clear from our entire chat which lasted roughly an hour that fashion was where he destined to be.

It was as though the cosmos had conspired together to have Aidan born into a creative family. A Father who is an art teacher in Hong Kong and a Mother who is keen sculptor/potter, it is easy to see how Aidan fell into this creative lifestyle.

I asked him about his aspirations and of course the reply was characteristically understated and somehow already obvious.  Aidan wants to start up his own menswear label after he is done with his pseudo-apprenticeship at Crane Brothers.

Our chat lasted for about an hour or so over brunch and only once did his air of coolness drop when he succumbed to the noise around us and let out an exasperated groan. However this was the only time I saw him succumb to his hangover which was clearly nagging at the edges. This was a very impressive effort because in contrast I was basically falling apart at the seams with my hangover.

Take a leaf out of Aidan’s book, he saw what he wanted and he took it. So pop down to Crane Brothers and say hey I’m sure he won’t mind. Be sure to keep an eye out for his label in the future perhaps, because for a 21 year old this kid seems to have life figured out. 

Stay grindin’ 

Matt

So lately I have been dabbling in this whole networking business. It’s hard work I’ll tell ya what. I’m in my final year of Undergraduate study so obviously my  questions about my future are popping up these can be surmised in the simple recurring question of “how the hell can I make money without hating myself too much? “

So I have been reaching out to people in the industry i.e. that already paid writers and asking them for any hints or tips they are willing to dispense. The reaction I have been receiving has been quite frankly incredibly positive. Everyone I have reached out too thus far has only been too happy to help. I won’t get into a stupid philosophical discussion on the human condition, but it’s just quite nice to know that people are so willing to help.

But I just wanted to use this as a heads up that I will be contributing to a few new blogs and online magazines of which I will divulge a few now as a present for being so patient with my ongoing time management issues J

See if you can spot some of my work on some of the follow websites:

http://goodmenproject.com/

http://www.etmusiquepourtous.com/

http://blogs.thescore.com/tbj/

http://www.freshnessmag.com/ (this is probably the one I am most proud of)

The catch is… I am posting under assumed names and pseudonyms. Try and discern what work is mine at your own peril. It is work that obviously differs from my usual.

You know how I said that I wanted my blog to get up to scratch before I try and re-secure those interviews with NZ “celebs” well I think getting these writing gigs has put me on the right track.