DIY

DIY stands for Do It Yourself, and can refer to anything from backyard gardens to building your own house. The phrase as a movement dates back to at least the hippie era of the 1960s. A number of magazines and such relating to DIY became popular, some of which are still around as very mainstream media. Ironically, DIY is also promoted by groups such as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints--and, of course, Martha Stewart.

"DIY" is a common designation in Taiwan (maybe Japan too) for anything that involves arts and crafts.

The sad thing about hearing numerous punk and pseudo-punk bands on the radio (if you must) and MTV (if you can stomach it) is not that all the preppie kids are listening to half-decent music and calling it their own. I was never down enough to be so territorial.

What does mystify me about the new punks is their lack of interest in (or knowledge of) DIY culture and DIY things. Nobody wants to create anymore (be it records, zines, or little plastic things); nobody even wants to destroy. <

Righteous Babe is not the only, nor the best, independent record label under the sun.

Nor is Epitaph.

You can go to school and learn to make pretty, but you don't have to.

DIY is so American. You really can make something from nothing if you check out all the good dumpsters, and you can make it beautiful.



P.S. Wintersweet, the Mormon Church was pretty fuckin' DIY from the outset, some 150 years ago. The Mormon subculture would not have survived so long as it has were it not for the resourcefulness and sense of community among its members. Where's the irony?

There are times when someone in the house (obviously not you!) loses the remote control and thus follows stress. Then a DIY programme called: 'change the hole you live in...for under a tenner!' or something equally as wonderfull comes on the telly and you end up watching it whilst wishing one of these designer bods would come into your kitchen right now damn it and wash the pots!
However, this craze or phenomena as some like to say in the field of cultural studies, still has a gender issue lurking deep within it. Ok so the men build the MDF shelves and the wee girlies make fluffy cushion covers and do stenciling.

When I 'do' DIY i am 'messing' about with tools and any praise for a well built piece of wood in our house goes to hubby dearest! Like when i went to B&Q with my great mate Rach we loaded in a load of stuff whilst hubby dearest sat at home with a can o'beer. Then we picked him up to go out for dinner and whilst she parked the car, the bloke getting out of the parked vehicle next to us remarked to my hubby how great the car looked! Rach had waxed the damn thing numerous times to hide the dent (but thats a different tale).

Anyway when a lay-dee does DIY she has to increase the ability to swear, curse, shout and explode in new and more creative ways inorder to let the frustrations of not being able to (sometimes like in my case) physically turn that screw in as tight as a bloke might and if one has mastered the swearing to a T... then when hubby/boyfriend/bloke housemates and people in general say:
"ooh you've missed a bit there luv, but nevermind it was a very good attempt"
you have the vocab to hit them where it hurts and as you should still have a hammer in your hand just remind them its not just hammer time but PMS DIY time!