reading

in various states of completion; on my kindle.

serif

sans serif

22/23-year-old me tells you where she lives

i lived in echo park before it was gentrified, from 2005 - 2007. here, i explain what it was like.

first, in february 2005, when we found the apartment:

Marilyn and I found an APARTMENT! 3 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom townhouse in Echo Park WITH A TWO CAR GARAGE- can we say PIMP??? And, plus, there is TONS of room in the living area. and get this, its only $1500 a month (i know you midwesterners are balking at this, but thats an awesome price) so if we get a third roomie, it will only be $500 a month! We close tomorrow on the lease (i think!) NO MORE TWO HOUR COMMUTE!! i cant wait to finally be living in the city! I will let you know when my address changes! I think we can move in as early as next week/weekend!! AHHH!

second, in march, when i moved in:

i just moved in yesterday to my new digs- spent the first night on my air mattress bed-in-bag set (that really was more of a betsy-makes-her-own-bed-in-bag set but whatever) that was only about $50 from Target. i slept in the living room- I don't really know why. I guess just because I could. gotta love it. the new place is nice, but huge so I need company to come and fill it up.

third, in august, after living there for six months:

have i ever explained to anyone my living situation? i live in echo park which i like to believe is closer to silverlake than it really is. theres graffiti and the occasional gang skirmish plus mexican music at 7 am every saturday and sunday. when the music isnt mexican its of the hippie variety performed by a range of guys who also have really loud, mechanical sex. you would swear they had porn on but really its just his girlfriend going through the motions, if i can analyze her moans. very rehearsed, and lasting quite sometime which is impressive based on the amount of pot he must smoke. i swear im going to be a little old lady who spies on her neighbors.

the other neighbors have kids who scream at all hours of the night and lay on the garage floor at 11 pm sometimes. im always afraid of hitting one in the driveway and once a ball rolled under my car and of course got stuck, forcing my already precariously attached front bumper (there was a debacle involving a tube on my drive out to california last year plus a shitty body shop at the toyota dealership in thousand oaks) to move a few more inches. needless to say im not quite thrilled about them either. but the rent is cheap and im on the quiet side of the house.

i forgot to add, in this post, that the heater didn't work, so we used to use to oven to heat up the living room. the walls would leak, so large pockets of water would develop whenever it rained. oh, and there was a hole in the ceiling, down to where the light fixture was hung, so every time it rained, the globe around the bulb would fill with water. it was also wall-to-wall carpeting. the garage door was incredibly bowed in the middle, and we never closed it for fear it would fall on our cars. the deck outside was crumbling, and the first(and only) time we had a party, a man was stabbed on sunset, then crawled his way up to our driveway. 5 cop cars, 2 ambulances, 2 firetrucks and a helicopter showed up.

graphix

a friend of mine was worried about the costs associated with printing the place cards, ceremony cards, and table numbers for her upcoming weddung, so i offered up my graphic design services. using a retro, motown theme (she's getting married in detroit) we decided on track numbers instead of table numbers, and had lots of fun remembering great motown songs to include on the table cards. the printing went smoothly, and last friday night a group of us got together, drank wine and trimmed all of the cards ourselves. i think it added a fun, personal touch to the wedding - i hope it looks good in the reception hall!

ceremony cards

table cards

place cards - i found these adorable little icons to use for "steak," "veggie," and "chicken."

if you'd like any graphic services, please do not hesitate to contact me at ministryofcraft(at)gmail(dot)com.

obsessing

cervical stenosis with myelopathy

myelopathy is a generally progressive condition that develops slowly. cervical spinal stenosis symptoms with myelopathy may not progress for years, and then difficulties with coordination may suddenly increase. unfortunately, the symptoms rarely improve without cervical stenosis surgery to decompress the affected area.

are you what is wrong with me?

jonesing

for a trip across the pond.

arrive at heathrow

take the coach to south kensington

stay in a lovely hotel across from hyde's park, perhaps the gore?

visit the V&A to see THIS:

David Bowie Is

tilda swinton (whom i will sing the praises of at a later time) waxes poetic about the glory of david bowie, at the opening dinner, here.

stop, just stop. stop it david bowie with your heterochromia. you know, i made a taxidermy inspired by you. you can find it, here, david, if you're so inclined. it looks like this:

david, being david:

hottie

jarvis gave you accolades, too. don't worry jarvis, your post is coming soon. i heart you, too.

listing

francesca woodman

jay defeo

urs fischer

ray caesar

ugo rondinone

ian baxter&

james turrell

felix gonzalez-torres

louise bourgeois

camille rose garcia

scott hove

obsessing

unceremoniously stolen from since 1969 tumblr.

watching

can. not. wait.

collection of quotes

"we're all a little broken. we're all a little twisted. we're all less than we could be or want to be." - conor oberst

"you live alone, creating your life as you go" - edie sedgwick

"blessed are the forgetful: for they get the better even of their blunders." - nietzsche

"oh, my, how the world still dearly loves a cage" - maude, harold and maude

"the trees, like lungs, filling with air. my sister - the mean one - pulling my hair" - jeffrey eugenides, the virgin suicides

"of course it is happening in your head, harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?" - albus dumbledore, harry potter and the deathly hallows

"i apply my personality in a paste." - clementine, eternal sunshine of the spotless mind

seminal albums / 1980's

i was born in 1982. these are the albums i remember most from 1982 - 1989.

i actually saw this show live when i was in kindergarten. it was not on DVD.

on long car trips in the ford tempo, and really, any time you were in the car with dad, bruce would be on.

another distinct memory was billy ocean. lots of billy ocean.

god, i effing loved this movie. i was 7 when it was released. i was convinced i was a singer.

watching

22-year-old me goes to coachella

i'm starting a new series, with no regular date, copying and pasting from a blog i wrote when i was 22/23. i kept the blog from september 2004 - february 2006, sporadically. you are not allowed to read said blog, because it's far too embarrassing.

i went to coachella. here is a dramatic retelling of what happened

One word: Coachella.

Here's the story.

Two platinum blonde babes head to the high desert around 10 am on April 30th, 2005. In the trunk? Two cases of water, a loaf of raisin bread, 2 boxes of granola bars, a huge carton of goldfish crackers, three fleece blankets, one comforter, two pillows and a tent. Oh, and a random assortment of clothing and a couple of pairs of shoes. Are they prepared for camping at a weekend-long music festival? You be the judge.

They stop along the way past Palm Springs off the 10 Freeway. The local In-n-Out is crawling with indie kids- boys with black hair and tight jeans, girls with buddy holly glasses. Ah yes, this is who will be appearing live a few miles away in Indio, CA, at Coachella Valley Music Festival. The blondes are giddy with excitement. They are almost there.

After driving around three parking lots, asking around 100 parking attendents where the hell the parking for on-site camping is, they decide to go ahead and park. They get to the campsite, begin to set up. One pulls out the tent. There are no poles. She asks the other if their mutual friend gave her two bags, one for the tent, the other for the poles. Nope, there was only one bag. There are no poles. Anywhere. They ask fellow campers, they ask the 'Camp Counselors,' they ask the skeevy guys at the "General Store." There appears to be no tent poles anywhere. So they sit on the tent, instead of inside. Numerous perverse boys claim that they would gladly 'erect' the tent with their own 'poles' which wasn't funny the first time, and certainly wasn't funny the fifth. So the two blondes decide, what the hell, let's just go hear some music.

Saturday was more of a scoping day, dabbling in awesome bands such as M83 and The Kills. They wander aimlessly along the desert acerage which is actually lush grass, and thankfully only 85 degrees. They head to the main stage for Weezer, which rocked hardcore, since Weezer busted out with some of their classic songs, such as "The Sweater Song" and the "Buddy Holly" song. The real treat came after Weezer, in the Mojave tent: Bloc Party.

The more cynical of the two blondes, the one whose blog you are currently reading, had been avoiding Bloc Party because of the hype. What band ever lives up to the hype, really? Well, Bloc Party does. For those that are reading this (Mo, Chris, listen up, you will LOVE Bloc Party) Bloc Party is dance, post-punk disco? If that's even a genre. They are awesome, and the two blondes dance the set away and decide they want to kidnap the adorable, black haired, skeletal lead guitarist.

They retire after the Bloc Party set, deciding to forgoe the main headliner, Coldplay. It isn't until now that one realizes they missed Spoon, but she digresses. One nice thing about leaving the party before anyone else, they did not have to suffer the shame of climbing into a tent with no poles in front of anyone. But there are numerous comments by passers-by which include "Oh, my God, are there people in there? Oh my god, there are!!" and "Oh, I can get your tent up" and various laughs. Luckily it did not get too cold that night, and the two didn't suffocate.

In the morning, they wake up entirely too early. A shocked camp counselor nearby claims he didn't realize anyone was actually in the tent. They decide to strike camp early, to avoid any further questions. They drive into Indio, and find an awesome eatery called "Beer and Burgers" that, yes, is open for breakfast that sunday morning. It is in a castle. Yes, Beer and Burgers looks like a castle from the outside. Thus the basis of its appeal. After a mediocre breakfast (but about 15 cups of coffee) they head to Angel Thrift: For Crippled Children, an AMAZING thrift store off Jackson street in Indio that is open on Sunday mornings. One shockingly finds not one but two totally rad pairs of cowboy boots, an awesome necklace, and the Rocky soundtrack on vinyl. How cool is that? They spend the rest of the morning and early afternoon hitting discount superstores that aren't found in LA such as Wal-Mart, K-Mart, and Payless.

They head back to Coachella around 3, and go inside. Today there is no dabbling, today they have a plan. The hit the outdoor theatre to catch Fiery Furnaces who play their entire, awesome, set nonstop. The drummer is the most animated drummer they have ever seen, and has totally rad style. They want to kidnap him for the supergroup that is now forming in their heads: them as the two leads, the guitarist from Bloc Party, and the drummer from Fiery Furnaces. They now only need to be Yoko's for two bands... well within the realm of possibility. they head to the main stage for a bit of The Futureheads and Gang of Four. Neither of which impressed them that much. After that dabbling, they head back to the outdoor theatre for a set that makes everything worth it: The Arcade Fire.

If you should ever get the chance to see The Arcade Fire preform live, even if you don't particularly like them, go. You will never see a better concert. Ever. They do not put on a show, they put on a spectacle. Richard Reed Perry is crazy, climbing up scaffolding, donning a racing helmet, all while banging on drums, playing the accordian and helping Win Butler belt it out. The strings are onstage, and singing while they play. Regine sings beautifully and plays various instruments. There are about 10 members onstage at all time, all trading instruments, all giving it their all, all putting on one HELL of a show. An experience to be remembered.

Glowing in awe from the excitement of The Arcade Fire (and after sneaking a peak of Mr. Oberst off side stage watching The Arcade Fire) they head to get some food. They have about an hour and a half to kill before their big finale. They watch New Order for awhile, in awe of how awesome they are as well. They vow to buy a plethora of CD's once they get back to civilisation.

They head back over to the Outdoor theatre, weaving their way to the third row-ish. There are die-hards in front of them who wont budge. British Sea Power come on, put on a good enough set, try to replicate Richards daring scaffolding climb to no avail, and leave. Then the crowd starts to get crazy...

The Faint is coming on, and tensions are running high in the front rows. People start to push, people start to move... The natives are restless... Then the Faint comes on and it's all over. The blondes get stuck in the raging dance pit, giving in to the dark, dance electronic and rock tinged beats of The Faint. Though the blonde who now writes this never really appreciated The Faint all that much, she finds herself wrapped up in the experience, being pushed and shoved and forced to dance. She cant feel her feet touching the ground, and is thanking god she wore her cowboy boots. There will be bruises tomorrow, but this is just too damn good to pass up. Though she fears someone, maybe even her, might pass out...

After the set, she expects people will calm down. Au contraire. the crowd surges forward, as Bright Eyes is closing this Coachella. She gets caught in the fray, her friend moves back and she follows. It takes her a good ten minutes to get out of the human pile in front, resigning herself to the fact that it's just not worth it to be that close. And anyway, she was front row center for the last Bright Eyes show. She knows what Conor looks like up close. Bright Eyes plays a good set of songs off Digital Ash in a Digital Urn. He even plays a long time favorite of hers, "Neely O'Hara," which is beautiful live. He finishes with her favorite track off the Digital Ash CD but for the life of her she cannot remember what the title is. She thinks its "Arc of Time." anyway, the lyrics are: "The arc of time, the stench of sex the innocence you cant protect, each quarter note, each marble step walk up and down that lonely treble clef...an arguement for conciousness the instinct of the blind insect who never thinks not to accept its fate, thats faith, theres happiness in death..." well that's just an excerpt, but you get the point. Its a good day. And a pretty good ending to a great weekend.

They drive back to La La Land, hitting home at 3 in the morning. The next day is depressing, after hearing amazing music all weekend, the shock of being back home is very great... The blonde vows to make the rest of the summer as good as this kickoff. She has a lineup of some notable shows:

Tilly and the Wall and Of Montreal, June 3rd two blocks from her house! Bright Eyes/The Faint, June 14th, five minutes from her house! The Go! Team, July 21st, at the Troubadour! Only 500 people in the venue!

And certainly more!

And they all lived happily, musically, ecumenically, ever after.

The End

dear 23-year-old me:

you will stop going to concerts when you move to the bay area. this is very sad. but it is expensive in SF, and no one ever plays more than one night. you'll bemoan 100USD tickets. your friend will throw out a good rule of thumb - never spend more on tickets than your age.

some of the bands you were convinced were going to make it big, didn't.

you listen to basically all the same music. thank you for making it good.

you won't set foot in amoeba san francisco. there is something sad about it, and you can't figure out what it is. you'll make a point to visit amoeba hollywood whenever you're in LA.

the bright eyes show you saw at the theatre in LA, where you were in the front row, does NOT, in fact, end up your favorite show ever. that doesn't come until 2011, when you drive down with your friends to see him at the hollywood forever cemetery. remind me to tell you about it sometime.

you'll eventually get over yourself, and the crushing abyss of your early 20's.

you'll eventually get a "real" job, complete with health insurance, a 401K (but you don't contribute, of course) and paid time off.

the thought of ever, ever going back to coachella is pretty much your worst nightmare.

i love you, 23-year-old me. you were awesome, even though you had no idea.

love, betsy

you're from the 70's but i'm a 90's bitch

from my second book, started march 2003

rhinestone love, always.

stella + paul smith

YSL

manolo + damien hirst + dior

my dad is the best dad.

color + feathers.

watching

my mad fat diary

in 1996, i was 14 - not far off from Rae, the protagonist. impeccable soundtrack if you love britpop as much as i do. lovely little badarse show.

other notable british shows i adore: the inbetweeners, the it crowd, skins, doctor who, sherlock, luther, friday night dinner, fresh meat. not british, but aussie: summer heights high.

currently, i watch a lot of programming geared towards teenagers. make of that what you will. don't bother with the carrie diaries - i keep watching it in the hopes it'll be good, but it's pure dreck. do watch pretty little liars - it's awesome, and you can catch up on netflix. go ahead. i'll wait.

forcing myself to watch some adult dramz, so catching up on mad men, breaking bad, and house of cards. keeping up with the following, which is solid.

questioning my life choices that allow me to consume so much media.

all leather everything

it's possible i harbor hidden desire for S&M, at least when it comes to fashion.

first, i cannot tell you how much i loved this belt on sienna miller when she first wore it, in 2008:

i looked everywhere for it. it ended up being, like, 500GBP from some schmancy store.

then, in my frolicking around the internet, i stumbled upon designer niels peeraer. and his AW12 line BLEWMEAWAY.

yes, please. i'd like this to use as a purse, please. thank you please.

love love love the bracelets. i'd wear these as "cuffs" everyday.

stop. this takes the harness belt to the next level. it would look obscene on me. i want it.

this. is. a. bow. tie.

just stop, niels. just stop. and no, you can't buy any of it in the states - no stockists carry it. and it's too expensive for me, anyhow, this is certain.

bonus, from SS11, this shot. again. beautiful.

visit niels peeraer online, here.

listening

icona pop, iconic EP

the magnetic fields, 69 Love Songs

the stone roses, the stone roses

beach fossils, beach fossils

inspiring: Cai Guo-Qiang

last summer, i went to the MOCA in LA and saw the amazing exhibition, Sky Ladder, of the work of Cai Guo-Qiang.

i was not lucky enough to go to the creation of the gunpowder drawing (which was HUGE), but here's an amazing video of the process, creation and detonation of the work.

Gunpowder Drawings for MOCA from MOCA on Vimeo.

there were a lot of alien elements: UFO's, large-eyed creatures, a recreation of the "i want to believe" poster from the x-files, etc. in the piece. the scale and the fact that it read almost like a timeline made a big impact on the way you viewed the work.

he also made these trippy crop-circles that were hung from the ceiling, as if the viewer was the alien (again, a stolen photo, since they did not allow photos in the gallery.)

and this giant alien on the side of the building:

here's a little behind-the-scenes of the creation of the alien:

the exhibition also had a large video component, where they showed large-formatted streams of his environmental-based firework displays. each is so temporal, so ephemeral, yet requires so much preparation not only with local governments, but to execute fireworks that are timed perfectly and to ensure no one is hurt. it's truly inspiring, and rather reminds me of Christo and Jean-Claude and the years (and sometimes decades)of planning they did for each of their works, even though the works themselves were only up for a short period of time. in short, i aspire to approach my own work with such discipline.

still from Black Ceremony over Qatar. watch the video, here.

watch more of Cai Guo-Qiang's work at his vimeo page, here.