austin white Yearns for the Finer Things
austin white grew up on the South Side of Chicago before wandering to the Midwest, eventually arriving in Bloomington, Indiana where he simply never left. Ahead of his first full release that is to come later this year through the new Chicago/NYC record label Junebug's Joints, austin shared the first single “Waa Waa Woe is Me”, a self-produced jam featuring bubbly 80’s keys and a beaming saxophone melody. austin describes the tune as a song he wrote about being on your phone too much, loneliness, and “how 2020 is turning out to be a big ole cake”.
A refreshing take on navigating being a person in the world right now, where we may be on our phones more than ever, alone more than ever, and in search of a light at the end of the tunnel more than ever. His perspective is a reminder that there can be magic in the mundane. austin walks us through a list of the finer things in life he wishes to acquire. Take a read and check out the new single below.
Photo: Athena Merry
As an aging millennial, my needs and wants have changed dramatically for the mundane. I once saw a post some years ago with the hashtag #averagelifegoals where it was just a photo of a 2007 Honda Civic with tan interior captioned “💕💕💕” and I thought to myself, “Damn, that’s a sharp ride”. I still maintain these bottom shelf aspirations.
So often on twitter I’ll see folks make fun of others for not having a headboard on their bed or how their partner wears holey underwear but still end up having their hearts broken by them despite of. It’s hilarious and comforting. In the end, to me, it seems like “aight” is the new flex, and “aight” is good enough for me.
With that being said, if my life is to move in any way upwardly linear: Old Navy > Gap > Banana Republic, It’s high time I start doing some “Gap” shit. Here’s a list of super achievable and pathetically normal things I like or aspire towards.
The ultimate bed.
I’d say about once a week I take a trip to Macy’s and hang out in the bed department. If you’ve never felt the silky smoothness of 700+ thread count sheets then I urge that you don’t because when you get home you’ll realize you’ve been sleeping on gauze your entire life. I haven’t pulled the trigger and actually bought them yet since they’re pricey. However, there’s a Martha Stewart collection there that’s 400 count and very affordable. I’m actually buying them now.
Liquor Cabinet
I have this fantasy that a person’s car is gonna break down outside of my house on a dark winter's knight. They’re gonna ask if they can use my phone and I’ll invite them in and ask “Can I get you a drink?” They’ll go, “yea, you got a scotch?” and sure enough, I will. Thus far I can’t keep anything in my house for longer than 3 days. Let alone have enough to warrant a collection.
Brita
I’ll buy $20 worth of candy in an instant and yet I haven’t built the nerve to buy a Brita yet. I just refill old 40oz beer bottles with tap water and refrigerate it. I suppose that’s a pretty environmentally friendly move, but I could bump it up just a bit. Brita water in the old 40oz bottle.
2001 Subaru Forester
I had one once in 2013. I bought it used with 165,000 miles on it. They’re known for going as long as 300k miles so to me, I had essentially bought my last car since I hardly drive at all. I was very wrong and it completely shut off on a busy highway in Chicago. I made a pact with God that If I survived I’ll never drive it again. Never said anything about getting another.
The wardrobe of a cartoon character
You know how in cartoons a character will get a mustard stain on their shirt or something so they go to their closet and it’s a whole rack of the same thing? I want that. Maybe not the same exact thing, but like 6 Pairs of paints, 6 shirts, 6 sweaters. All monotone. Oh it’s Tuesday? I wear my green clothes on Tuesday.
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