Priscilla, a really good friend of mine, posted something funny on Facebook; it was about the Hot Topic store, yes, that one “goth and punk” store you’d see practically in every shopping mall across America:

I remember when this place was scary and all the weirdos use to shop there (like me). Now there are nothing but justin beiber/britney spears/ lil wayne shit everywhere! Way to sell out… wtf is going on??

When I was about 13 years old, Hot Topic had to be the scariest and most intimidating clothing store to go to. The setting was too unfamiliar for me. And every time I stepped in there (which always took a few hesitations before going in), I felt like I stood out too much–it almost felt like trespassing to a shady back alley where deadly moshpits, sadistic rituals, and sacrifices of small animals took place.

When the “emo” trend peaked in 2003-ish, the brand became MUCH more mainstream and acceptable. The transformation from being a dark, gothic/punk/metal clothing store to a hip & trendy one happened so gradually that I didn’t really notice until now.

However! I’d really like to clarify that I think Hot Topic is still a cool and fun store EVEN THOUGH they sell Justin Bieber t-shirts and Twilight merchandise now. I still visit them every time I get the chance to go to the mall. So this entry is not really a “complaint”, it’s more for nostalgic purposes…Remember when Hot Topic use to be a place for freaks, but now it’s just full of hipsters, Bieber tweens and kids who barely started jumping on the late emo wagon? Yeah, it’s KIND of like that.

That said, I’ve done my research and I’d like to share a couple of screenshots I took of the old and present Hot Topic online store and compare them side-by-side. If you couldn’t tell, the left images are old Hot Topic circa 1998-2002, the right images are the most current ones (more after the jump!).

Index page

As a kid, I associated death, darkness and weird sexual fetishes with Hot Topic.

Now, I associate them with hip people who ride their beach cruisers on the beach, have hip bonfire gatherings and rap to Kid Cudi songs all day.

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It’s been two years since I wrote a short list of guilty pleasures, and now I have NINE more to add to that list. And I’m sure some of you are asking, “But Tiff, why only 9? Why not finish it with a 10th one?”

Because I only have 9 guilty pleasures!

9. Mixing ketchup with ramen noodles

With the exception of my older sister, I seem to be the only one enjoying this genius combination of two great things: ketchup and ramen noodles. At the same time, I feel very guilty about it because nobody seems to get it–and when I bring it up people tend to look at me as if I’m a nutjob who blows other children’s birthday candles out for fun. Is it that bad? You should all try it anyway.

Photo courtesy of my fellow ketchup-ramen eating sister

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After discovering the fabulousness of the iphone cake-frosting-case-thing through Jayne’s post, I immediately searched on the internetz with all my being for a cake-frosting-case-thing that would ft my phone (Motorola Charm). I did not find anything, but I eventually found something and I just got it yesterday in the mail…

I think Hello Kitty barfed on my phone

It’s rather tacky and sickening but I’m in love with it. I intentionally showed my new case off to nearly everyone at my school today as if it was my brand new engagement ring; when I’d text or call people I would make it very, VERY clear to everybody around me that I was carrying a chunk of diamonds glued together. Most of the girls oogled and squealed at how ridiculously cute my phone was.

The guys, oh the guys, they just didn’t quite get it: “How can you put this in your pocket?” “That’s um, yeah, that’s something alright,” “If you take a picture of me with that phone, I wouldn’t know where the lens would be!”

If any of you are wondering where I got the case, I got it from an Etsy shop.

Oy, I shouldn’t be spending money–to make matters worse, I bought a pair of Tom Ford Nikita sunglasses today. Like, I don’t know–it just happened, if anything it was an accident, really.

Tom Ford on my face

Originally sunglasses, but I might turn them into regular prescription glasses instead.

Two things I really shouldn't have bought!