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About Me
- Stara
- I'm Tara. I hail from "The Mouth", good old Plymouth, Massachusetts. I have always loved to write, and talk, and experience people and things in new ways. These days, I am using my writing skills not only to tell my own stories and experiences, but to reflect on some other things I love, like fashion, vintage jewelry, and art. I think accessories make the outfit and are the key to true style! I challenge anyone who doesn't like to talk to find their way out of talking to me. I could talk the paint off a wall, I'd bet. I enjoy meeting new people and love checking them out! Guys, gals, and these days, even pets often have their own sense of style, and personality and sense of style are the cornerstones of what I think about a good portion of the time. Food and drink take up the rest. Especially wine and cheese, and no, I'm not talking whine.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
The Leather Backpack
There are some inventions, that when you think about them, you say "I'd like to shake that guys hand" about the person who came up with it. For example, the guy who invented the nacho, and the woman who invented gloves and shoes. There are others that give you a less-positive reaction. The leather backpack is one of those.
I'd like to start off by saying that I didnt feel it would be fair for me to call out the leather backpack for it's lack of coolness without first looking it up on the wikipedia so that I knew a bit more about it's origins. Amazingly enough, I discovered that there is a lot more air time for the regular backpack then for the leather one, and there is some irony to that.
First, the wikipedia describes a backpack as "a handbag for carrying heavy loads" and then goes on to explain that in ancient times, the backpack was first used to carry a hunters larger game and prey. Therein lies the irony of the leather backpack: It's SICK to use the skin of one animal to carry another, no? I mean, in ancient times they had to make due with what they had but still...as my main squeeze would say, it's similar to the idea of making a chicken omelet.
Okay, so anyway, aside from the history, and the irony, my strong dislike of the leather backpack truly stems from both a) it's ugly appearance and b) the likelihood that it is too small to really hold much weight and c) the fact that functionally, our arms don't go that way, and its crazy to carry your valuables on your back where thieves can reach them and you can't!
So, while I can understand that hunters might have found it convenient to carry heavy game on their backs, it seems that carrying prey on their backs likely caused an unsubstantiated number of ancient hunter deaths when tigers pounced upon them to grab the deer in their backpacks. But whatever...I would like to think we've evolved since then, right? Like, we're smarter. Oh wait, except, we aren't, because we still use backbacks unnecessarily.
Guess what? If you are carrying a leather backpack, and it's smaller than the purses of most of the women in your general vicinity, then you are making a serious mistake. Not only is it a fashion faux-pas, but it's also generally retarded. And no, I don't care if it's a Louis Vuitton. Spending a thousand bucks on a tiny leather backpack that can't hold much of anything just so you can show off the label to predators is like tattooing a target on your own forehead. For real.
At this point I guess this has become more of a rant than a blog. But it is food for thought. There are MANY inventions, and inventors that deserve props. I can appreciate the backpack for the hunter, the gatherer, and the nomad. I can even appreciate the backpack for the hiker, and the student. You know, the type of person who is actually carrying heavy stuff that requires the use of the strongest muscles in the body (the back and legs, in case you didnt know). But I absolutely cannot, ever, condone the use of a backpack, and a leather one at that, for carrying lip gloss and car keys. Sure, is the thought of not having to use my hands to carry a purse slightly appealing, yes. But guess what? If I've only got lip gloss and keys I can probably get my boyfriend to put them in his coat pocket. And if I've got a few more things, well, I'd likely go for a wristlet, or a clutch. The over-sized clutch is in style right now anyway.
I'd like to start off by saying that I didnt feel it would be fair for me to call out the leather backpack for it's lack of coolness without first looking it up on the wikipedia so that I knew a bit more about it's origins. Amazingly enough, I discovered that there is a lot more air time for the regular backpack then for the leather one, and there is some irony to that.
First, the wikipedia describes a backpack as "a handbag for carrying heavy loads" and then goes on to explain that in ancient times, the backpack was first used to carry a hunters larger game and prey. Therein lies the irony of the leather backpack: It's SICK to use the skin of one animal to carry another, no? I mean, in ancient times they had to make due with what they had but still...as my main squeeze would say, it's similar to the idea of making a chicken omelet.
Okay, so anyway, aside from the history, and the irony, my strong dislike of the leather backpack truly stems from both a) it's ugly appearance and b) the likelihood that it is too small to really hold much weight and c) the fact that functionally, our arms don't go that way, and its crazy to carry your valuables on your back where thieves can reach them and you can't!
So, while I can understand that hunters might have found it convenient to carry heavy game on their backs, it seems that carrying prey on their backs likely caused an unsubstantiated number of ancient hunter deaths when tigers pounced upon them to grab the deer in their backpacks. But whatever...I would like to think we've evolved since then, right? Like, we're smarter. Oh wait, except, we aren't, because we still use backbacks unnecessarily.
Guess what? If you are carrying a leather backpack, and it's smaller than the purses of most of the women in your general vicinity, then you are making a serious mistake. Not only is it a fashion faux-pas, but it's also generally retarded. And no, I don't care if it's a Louis Vuitton. Spending a thousand bucks on a tiny leather backpack that can't hold much of anything just so you can show off the label to predators is like tattooing a target on your own forehead. For real.
At this point I guess this has become more of a rant than a blog. But it is food for thought. There are MANY inventions, and inventors that deserve props. I can appreciate the backpack for the hunter, the gatherer, and the nomad. I can even appreciate the backpack for the hiker, and the student. You know, the type of person who is actually carrying heavy stuff that requires the use of the strongest muscles in the body (the back and legs, in case you didnt know). But I absolutely cannot, ever, condone the use of a backpack, and a leather one at that, for carrying lip gloss and car keys. Sure, is the thought of not having to use my hands to carry a purse slightly appealing, yes. But guess what? If I've only got lip gloss and keys I can probably get my boyfriend to put them in his coat pocket. And if I've got a few more things, well, I'd likely go for a wristlet, or a clutch. The over-sized clutch is in style right now anyway.
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