Right now I am going to tell you that Halloween in Athens, OH is a gauche display. It is over-the-top in every way, and that is just the way we like it. This is my last year attending an Athens Halloween, and I would like to take a minute to reflect. I recently read an article/slideshow in the Huffington Post that makes jest with all the inappropriate costumes to wear. Writers Alex Leo and Katla McGlynn write "Just remember, no matter how bad you may feel about whatever you come up with, as long as you're not dressed in one of the costumes below, you're all set." The worst, truly "inappropriate" (by who's standards?) costume was probably the child dressed as a suicide bomber... but what I saw it I didn't feel offended so much as confused as to why a child would ever want to be that. Anyway, the rest of the costumes are pretty much crude penis jokes socially insensitive puns. To the Huffington Post I say: Just come to Ohio University.

Here we fly our crude costume flags proudly. It is the one time of the year our strait-laced Judeo-Christian society lets go of the politically correct and socially acceptable for a night. Men go out proudly dressed as women without fear of reprimand; college students proudly show off their sexuality, Any other day of the year a skirt so short would only gain looks of scorn, tonight girls will compliment each other on how cute they look as a school-teacher-by-day-hooker-by-night.

And so, I plan to revel in our most celebrated day of social aberration. But before I do, I would like to curse those that can't handle this amount of freedom from the norm, even for a night. For tips about how to stay safe this weekend, check out Amanda King's article. To her advice, I would add: Stay away from the horses. If you mess with them you can be charged with assaulting an officer. If you are wearing heels, bring flats. Who knows if you will be doing a lot of walking or if you get too drunk to walk in heels. Police will look for people that stand out from the crowd. If you are the person tripping a lot, odds are in your favor you may recieve more attention than you want.

Ah, the smell of fall. Halloween is days away and I am thinking what everyone else must be thinking... weddings. Here is my thought process: Halloween, costumes. Costumes, wedding dresses. Wedding dresses, weddings all over the world.

I have already been exposed to some interesting wedding traditions in the past. For instance, at Jewish weddings I have been witness to the groom smashing a glass at the end of the ceremony. But I really do not know much about universal wedding norms. I would think it would not be okay to kiss the bride if you are not the groom, but even this has been tradition in different cultures. Maybe it's just me, but I would think you should take off your wedding veil before you do a keg stand.

It isn't tradition to wear white all over the world, even red and black are popular in some countries. In the U.S.A I am consistently disappointed by our cultural windfall. But we also borrow many really interesting traditions from other cultures to dress up our own tired white gown, best man, ring bearer, Wagner's Bridal Chorus shtick.

Below you can check out some of interesting wedding norms (and trends) that exist across the world. If you are interested in further knowledge (of which there is a ton) check out this interesting site.


View Wedding Norms Worldwide in a larger map

Here is a lower quality version of the post with AUDIO this time!! I really am not sure why youtube stripped the video of music. It said it was unapproved, but I didn't receive any flags.

Eating from Jess Tyroler on Vimeo.

One of the things I love most in the world is food. I admit this; cooking it, sharing it, making an event of it is one of the best ways to have fun with anyone. As the adage goes, food brings people together. But what about when you ask a friend for some of her food? A few of my friends (including myself) basically growl at each other and then grudgingly allow the friend to take an it-better-be-small bite.

And when you ask people you have never seen before for a bite of their foodstuffs? You don't. It is not socially acceptable at all. It probably has a lot to do with sanitation reasons. That I didn't think about until after the taping of the clip below. If I die of some strange illness in the next week, you will know it was a result of the following clip. This is was just a tiny sample of the student population, a few of the people I asked were foreign-exchange students who all shared their food with me. Junior Katie Fritz from Australia said it didn't bother her at all when I asked for a fry because "everyone shares everything in Australia."
So perhaps this is partially an American phenomenon. The New America Foundation published a great article about American eating.

No matter, the clip I made this week takes place in fast-foodish restaurants and shows me asking strangers for food. Some of the people took a bit of convincing. While I think the video may not be as fun to watch as some of the others, it was the scariest to perform and in the end I was the most pleased with the results. I had never seen so many outwardly uncomfortable, sad people conceding to an individual's wishes. On a side note, I will probably die from this fast-food consumption if the disease doesn't kill me, the restaurant will.

Sidewalks are pretty narrow places that smash together people from all walks of life. In Athens, where driving is more of a luxury than a necessity, students tread the sidewalks hurriedly between classes. The sidewalk forces people together with a bump or a brush, and is the location of many a scuffle. Sometimes, like when the weather is rainy, the sidewalk width is just too small to accommodate everyone.

This week I thought it might be fun to be behind the camera for a change. I enlisted the help of my friend Liz Westendorf to attempt to hold an umbrella over strangers on two occasions. The first day we went out it was raining and even hailing for a brief period. The second day was cloudy, but no rain. Not surprisingly, and comically, people found it much more normal for someone to try to share an umbrella on a rainy day than on a clear day.

Liz went through the same difficulties with nerves I did, but I think she is so hilarious on a day-to-day basis that the whole task was more enjoyable. Once again, while we both set out with the fear of being yelled at or ostracized, we were pleasantly surprised by the reaction of people on the street. In this experiment, it seemed that children were far more disturbed at the idea of walking under Liz's umbrella than adults. I figure this has to do with the "stranger danger" mindset of all kids these days. Regardless, it was a lot of fun. Below is a clip of our umbrella endeavors.

In an attempt to put into context the wild photos of people who pushed their physical other-ness to the very max, I think I failed to recognize the fabric of every community that pushes the norm just enough, those people that are putting themselves completely "out there" without trying to change their species.

So today I recognize those fellows who help us to create our sense of individuality, the tattoo artists and pierce artists of Athens.

Alex Andrews, 22, is a graphic artist who tattoos at Art Apocalypse on Union Street. He said he feels stigmatized when he comes into contact with people who would never choose to be tattooed, and find tattooing more of a masochistic hobby than an artistic one.

"Every individual is made with the same very limited amount of differences," Andrews said. "We can all grow our hair out and buy the same clothes at the same stores, but a tattoo or piercing is something you can put on you to represent a certain style or aspect of yourself that no one else has."

Craig Jacobson, 24, said he fell in love with piercing three years ago. Today he works as a piercer at Art Apocalypse with Andrews. While Jacobson conveyed how it is true those who are also pierced and tatted probably have more in common with him than others, he explained the catch-22.

"We do these things knowing that it keeps us from being part of the norm but then it becomes the norm," Jacobson said. "It's really weird how it all works out."

Taking a left on Union to Court Street will eventually lead you to Decorative Injections and its owner, Jimmy Kisor. Kisor grew up in Athens and has owned the tattoo and piercing shop with his wife for seven years. He has seen the way the tattoo market is becoming more mainstream, and is thankful.

"Reality television showed educated, nice people with tattoos," Kisor said. "Thirty years ago it would have been different. I've tatted a 70-year-old woman! Who knows where we will be in another thirty years, maybe [it will be illegal and] I'll have to go underground. That's how fast it changes."

Both stores will be celebrating in a special way during the Athens Halloween Block Party. Art Apocalypse will be doing a suspension for four or five people at the shop and Kisor will be performing "Rock Opera Act Three" with his band The Goodbye Goats Oct. 23rd at the Union Bar. Check out the slideshow below for more info on the artists and their art.