Once again, I’m bringing you something old-school, rad, borrowed and bad for your private perusal. Maybe good girls are looking for something old and something new, something borrowed and something blue—but that’s not me. Not by a long shot. So, let me take you on a tour far deeper into the exotic world of geekchic…

Old-school: Teach Me Tiger

First, something old school before we get into the rad and the borrowed and the bad. And, honestly, if you skip down to onlinekyne, I won’t be offended…

I was watching an episode of my favorite PBS shows, Call the Midwife, and noticed a song I’d heard before… well, it was a re-run, so this was my second listen. But it was that second time around that I decided I was going to look it up. It’s very whispery and seductive, very sweet and bold: Teach Me Tiger, by April Stevens. I hope it sneaks up on you and squeezes you the way it got to me.

What a great song to own. And it makes me want to gather up a collection of dreamy 50s songs for those lovely, quiet moments at home.

Now, onto onlinekyne, the guy who’s making-me-my-raddest (once those Powder Room D wigs he YouTube-recommended arrive in the mail)…

Rad: ONLINEKYNE (He’s in caps because it’s -that- serious)

It’s time to talk about onlinekyne. It’s very hard for me to become a true fan of anyone I encounter in life. (Steam Powered Giraffe, and I wrote about them on my fiction blog, surprised the heck out of me because, before that, I was only ever obsessed with Justin Timberlake—and that had been going on since the nineties.) But over the last couple of weeks, I have completely been swept away by this young teen’s skill as a makeup and drag artist. His pictures on Instagram are truly unbelievable. I think I lost a day or two of my vacation catching up on all the cool photos and YouTube videos I could bingewatch. The intro video for onlinekyne’s YouTube channel says it all: it’s about self-expression, creativity, delving into fantasy. And I am going to take the time to link out where else you can find him online, because he is so fabulous.

His Instagram: @onlinekyne
His website: onlinekyne.com

From heartbroken Madonnas to an intellectual portrayal of Faust, and from electric skulls with hot pink hair, to doe eyes beneath a sharp, macho hat—onlinekyne is very fun to watch. And the energy that comes through all his instructional videos is pretty electric. You come away thinking, ‘hey, that’s not so hard, I can do that.’

Kyne doesn’t make you feel like he’s too good for you. You just laugh along with him and find yourself clapping when he nails down some pretty genuine advice and observations, like when he said he could ‘show more face than this girl’ referring to the generic picture of a model on the front of a Powder Room D wig package. Or, when he tossed out the wig instructions, at age… was/is he 19 in this video? Saying that he didn’t need them because he was a professional. And, trust me, he is.

There’s something really accessible about onlinekyne. You’re just fascinated by him and you want to cheer him on, see what more he comes up with. He’s definitely on his way. And I am like two steps away from having a bright green Marie Antoinette wig like the one he made, because he made that look possible. It might become my gateway wig styling experience. I think that was one of his best videos that I’ve watched so far.

CAUTION: Onlinekyne’s video channel is srsly SUPER addicting.

Borrowed: Girl LEGOs

I went to my local LEGO store and found out you can make your own LEGO people, in the store, using the pieces they provide. So, I guess that’s technically “borrowed.” When I was last there, I was able to make three whole people, (I’ll say it again… three WHOLE people) complete with accessories for pretty cheap. I made one tough lady in a dark rogue’s outfit with a crossbow, and then a couple of um… I guess what they ended up being are millennial girl LEGO people. (Because of the colorful hair and fun clothes.) I did this mainly because I never, ever had such cool feminine LEGO characters when I was a kid. We had a Maid Marian in a Robin Hood LEGO set and she only had painted on hair. She had to wear a green headscarf. And then her shirt was this weird laced up green and white bustier thing that I remember thinking it was a little weird for me, as a little girl, to have to play with. I would have been happier to see her in a normal shirt.

In a nineties world where I used to obsess over which headscarf I could put on Maid Marian (red or blue), you can see how I’d be relieved to have, like ten different hair colors to choose from for millenial LEGO people. And I’m just counting the ponytails. There were a lot of other hairstyles.

Thanks again LEGO for letting me borrow your um… LEGOs and play with them in the LEGO store before I bought them!

Bad: Ken Ashcorp… of course.

Things that go in the Bad (as in badass) category are often going to be YouTube artists, I’m starting to get that feeling. Also, some of this is turning out to be not safe for work (NSFW)… oh well.

Ladies and gentlemen, fanboys and fangirls. Gamers of all ages (over 18) let me present… Ken Ashcooooorp!!!1!1

I am really falling for his music, though, dang! I’m pretty late to the game, here. I know very little about this artist but every time I listen to one of Ashcorp’s songs and close my eyes a little bit, I see the opening scenes of an anime (any anime) flashing by… Bleach, even Madoka Magica… his songs just have that edgy, freakishly cool, creative vibe. For some more chill songs, try Blue (and I was just talking about Madoka Magica, too…) and also listen to Shut up and Trust This. I also love 20 Percent Cooler (excellent Ferris Bueller reference in that one) and Absolute Territory (above). I want to hop in a bright pink jeep, slam on the gas and cruise down the beach blasting Absolute Territory because it sounds so cool.

And Crazy Chicks is somehow… very, very sweet and also very creepy. It’s so lovely. If you really want to know what Ashcorp’s all about, look up those lyrics on his bandcamp page and you’ll find they’re quite racy nearly every single time. At that, a lot of Ashcorp’s songs are racy, but they’re also hilarious as well as dirty and silly. A YouTube commenter described it well: he writes songs that are about lust as well as love. The ones about love that I found made me get pretty teary-eyed. He’s solidly good. And, Ashcorp’s focus on gamer (I liked the Warcraft references I noticed) and other non-mainstream themes really pushes the limit. Funnn!

I hope you get hooked on all these artists, too. The world is about ’20 percent cooler,’ now that I’ve found them…

Bonus Challenge: Turn this up at your desk, way up, and chant ‘Woo Woo Woo!’

Enjoyed the old-school, rad, borrowed and bad tips? Check out my other one on Snotgirl, boutiquing and Studio Killers.

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