23-year-old me tells you where she works

hollywood + highland mall is a crazy place. it's where they host the oscars every year, so you've seen it on TV. i do not recommend going there, ever, for any reason, ever.

23-year-old me outlines why.

have i ever told you about where i work? its about half a block east of manns chinese theatre where red eye was premiered on august 3rd. did i go and stand among the masses to catch a glimpse of my latest obsession, cillian murphy? that would be a no, i was working, people. and besides im far too hollywood hip to go and stand outside with all the fucking tourists (sorry i know we have all been tourists before but these people are fucking ridiculous!) tee hee hee. but to give you an idea there are people in character outside the theatre snapping pictures with people from all over the world. there is a black michael myers, a johnny depp from charlie and the chocolate factory as well as one from pirates of the carribean. there is a whore/cop and a weird dude in a demon suit that wears a thong. Not to mention the "snake charmer" that shows up on random days and the rapper that apparently used to work NYC then moved out to a warmer, more accepting climate. the tourists LOVE these people and i warn each and every single one of them to back away slowly from the VD marilyn monroe and the "elvis" who stakes his mark right under the construction scaffolding. when i walk down the boulevard (not of broken dreams, hollywood boulevard ya green day freakizoid) these people know better than to a. touch me, b. talk to me, c. approach me in any way. they're sort of like dogs, you have to show no fear and not make eye contact. one made the mistake of grabbing my arm once and i told him, in not so many words, to kindly go and make love to himself in a secluded place underground. im telling you you have to be brutal. they don't respond to ignoring. expletives usually are the only way.

there is a kiosk right outside my store where nailcare products are sold. the people who sell these products insist on soliciting some of the workers i work with. yes, even after encountering these sketchy guys everyday they dont give up hope that one day one of us will buy their fucking product. they also know better than to approach me, and im beginning to think they might be a bit afraid of me which i appreciate because if i were to meet me in a dark alley i wouldn't particularly feel threatened, this is for sure.

for an interesting documentary on the people that hang out in front of mann's, check out confessions of a superhero. it's streaming on netflix.

texting

Scott Reeder, Ideas For A TV Show Episode or A Painting, 2011. Archival Inkjet on watercolor paper. (i took this photo, that's why it's weird.)

Ed Ruscha, Pay Nothing Until April, 2003. Acrylic on canvas.

Wayne White, Important/Vague. Painting on painting.

John Baldessari, Solving Each Problem As It Arises, 1967. Acrylic on canvas.

inspiring

Ian Baxter& had a retrospective at MCA Chicago (one of the better contemporary art museums in the country) a few years ago, and i was lucky to go. here is a small sampling of his work, from a series of photographs, titled Reflected Paris Beauty Spots, done in the 1980's.

i took all of these photos, which is another reason i love MCA.

outfitting

HONEYCOMB JACQUARD BOMBE HIP JACKET, Alexander McQueen, S/S 2013

HARRAH PIPE SKINNY PANT, All Saints, S/S 2013

GUN SHOES, Chanel, 2009

NECKLACE, Colleen Mauer, 2013

googling

in this thought-provoking (?) series, i google a word and give you the very first image that comes up under google image search.

object

talisman

bauble

which prompted me to look up "bauble cakes"

constrvcting

obsession does not begin to describe what i have for the new fashion label, CONSTRVCT. it's art. on clothing. created by users. mind = blown. i have been incredibly excited about new technologies allowing digital printing on fabric to be cost effective to the casual user. sites like Spoonflower really do provide top notch service for fabrics that, if you spend time in fabric stores in urban areas, aren't that much more than their retail counterparts.

production diagram from constrvct

the only drawback is losing the tactile nature of going to the fabric store. running your hands all up and down the bolts in their tidy rows. breathing in the smell of formaldehyde and other preservatives that off-gas and fill the store. pouring over pattern books, with your mother, before christmas or easter to find the perfect dress. i was practically raised in fabric stores. from a very young age, my mother made both my sister and i dresses for every major holiday, and made our halloween costumes months in advance. it was common for me and my sister, in the early years, to have coordinating costumes. one year, we went as mickey and minnie. i'm sure i cried to get to be minnie, or perhaps my older sister was feeling magnanimous that year, but the result was this:

yep, socks with open-toed shoes. it was COLD.

yes, those large headdresses were handmade by my mother, after working as an elementary school teacher all day. she chose to come home and sew. sometimes late into the night, though, i'm sure it was only about 8PM, as my bedtime was much earlier back then. i have the sewing machine she used in my studio apartment now, and whenever i pull it out to sew, i'm immediately taken back to those moments: late at night in bed, when i'd hear her sewing downstairs in the dining room, where she could lay out the fabric on our large table. the machine, unsurprisingly, sounds exactly the same.

23-year-old me tells you about blog angst

i always felt really guilty when i didn't post. it's a common theme in that old blog.

it's been a long time since I have posted a blog and to be honest I feel a bit guilty. A lot of things have been happening which has given me less and less time for this weblog. I always think of things to write in the middle of the night, but sometimes i'd much rather be reading or watching TV. to be honest, i've been going out a lot. not like normal 23-year-olds, to bars and parties, but like loser, ahem, loner 23-year-olds who would much rather sit in a coffee shop with their friend and write a comic book or sit in a quiet darkened theatre waiting for some crap movie to start. And we don't frequent the chic ArcLight on hollywood with its $12 seats and celebrity clientele but rather the Burbank multiplex with $8 seats and weird emo teenagers. but we like it because there is a quiznos, a cold stone, and an urban outfitters within walking distance. And you get out of Hollywood. okay ive got to go...

i still miss hanging out with my best friend at Insomnia.

and i still feel really guilty when i don't post.

the saddest thing in the world, 05.22.13

that is christian bale

le sigh

working

i googled "career." this is the first image that came up

excerpt from Suffering With a Smile in the Occupied Times (click on excerpt to be taken to full article):

Being exploited is no longer enough. The nature of labour now is such that almost anyone, no matter how menial their position, is required to be seen (over)investing in their work. What we are forced into is not merely work, in the old sense of undertaking an activity we don’t want to perform; no, now we are forced to act as if we want to work. Even if we want to work in a burger franchise, we have to prove that, like reality TV contestants, we really want it.

a thought-provoking article about the nature, and expectations, of work. there exists such a high pressure (from peers, colleagues, friends, society) to "do what you love!" at all costs, even so much that you pretend like you are doing what you love at a menial job.

a more light-hearted, but still soul-crushing article from The Onion: Find The Thing You're Most Passionate About, Then Do It On Nights And Weekends For The Rest Of Your Life.

decorating

Merve Kahraman - i want everything on this site

I Love You Very Much, 2011

Maximo Riera, Octopus Chair

inspiring

i came across Nina Saunders' work a few years ago, when she did a collaboration with Tracey Neuls and the revered Sanderson textile company, which produced this:

amazing. here is more:

Never,1999

Katy's Convoy, 2008

Endless Devotion, 2011

find out more about Nina Saunders on her website.

swearing

click on the images to admire

mesmerizing

say what?! now i want to make signs.

always a classic

quoting: movies

"You think I got kicked out because of just the aquarium? Nah, it was the handjob. And you know what else? It was worth it."

- Rushmore

"Well, if some people get upset because they feel they have a hold on some things, I'm merely acting as a gentle reminder: here today, gone tomorrow, so don't get attached to things."

- Harold and Maude

"...creating chaos and uproar wherever she went. Divorced as many times as she married, she leaves only good wishes behind."

- Factory Girl

"Good things come to obsessive-compulsives who fixate."

- Igby Goes Down

"Nobody's looking for a puppeteer in today's wintry economic climate."

- Being John Malkovich

"Why? Because rock and roll's a prostitute! It should be tarted up! Performed!"

- Velvet Goldmine

ridiculous things

that i want in my life.

authentic bullfighting shoes. they're so festive!

Jeremy Scott X Longchamp. i hate the le pliage bag normally. but i want this.

hello kitty plushie hair bow. i know i'm not 12, but that doesn't mean i don't want this.

Prada smoking shoes. cos, duh.

brachyura

the lowly crab does not get nearly the fashion moments that the exalted lobster receives.

Alien facehugger

all via the internets

nephropidae

the inimitable Isabella Blow

Salvador Dali, Lobster Telephone, 1936

Elsa Schiaparelli, Lobster Dress

watching

winning at Vine. all via Ryan McHenry

chav: my other spirit animal

chav, n.: Pronunciation: Brit. /tʃav/ , U.S. /tʃæv/

Etymology: Probably either < Romani čhavo unmarried Romani male, male Romani child (see chavvy n.), or shortened < either chavvy n. or its etymon Angloromani chavvy.

It has also been suggested that this word is a colloquial shortening of Chatham, the name of a town in Kent where the term is sometimes said to have originated (compare quots. 1998, 2002), although this is probably a later rationalization.

Brit. slang (derogatory).

In the United Kingdom (originally the south of England): a young person of a type characterized by brash and loutish behaviour and the wearing of designer-style clothes (esp. sportswear); usually with connotations of a low social status.

1998 Re: Commuter blues! in uk.local.kent (Usenet newsgroup) 8 May, Travelling from Maidstone to Chatham every day was bad enough. I was born in Brompton so am I a Chav or what?

2002 Observer 26 May i. 5/5 Meet the Chatham Girls, known as ‘Chavs’, whose fashion sense and reputation for easy virtue have earned them a global following as worthy successors to their northern neighbours [sc. Essex Girls].

2004 Sunday Times (Nexis) 15 Aug. (News Rev. section) 4 Older children desire nothing more than to dress, talk and behave like chavs, that is, a youth tribe that prides itself on council-estate chic—man-made fabrics, fake labels and lots of eight-carat gold: think Vicky Pollard in Little Britain.

- from the OED

i. love. chavs.

i love everything about chavs.

the beauty about chavs is that they are all around us. hiding in plain sight. they might even be your favorite celebrity. why yes, Daniel Craig is a chav. here is proof:

in an ongoing series (?), i will bring forth evidence of a variety of chavs, and teach you how to spot a chav from over 500 feet away. in this installment, find out what percentage chav you are. i cheated, since i know a bit of chav-speak, and got 25%. that's a number i'm more than comfortable with.

Chavometer.com - it's for findin' out if you're a chav, innit!!

PS: did you know you can log in to the OED online with your library card number? amazing.

watching

After the messy puddle of coagulated blood that was last season, I was hoping that they'd simplify things for season 6 by only showing Eric and Alcide wrestle naked in slow motion for 10 episodes straight. - via dlisted.

spirit animals

i've always had an affinity for giant pandas. anyone who has met me knows this; i have two panda tattoos. but ever since i was 22, something else has been haunting me. trailing me wherever i go...

the lowly moth.

it started as small indian meal moths in my rice bags when i lived in LA. undeterred, i threw away the grains (and once, inadvertently, boiled a handful of moths in a pot of water whilst attempting to make brown rice) and thought nothing more of it. then, the same tiny moths appeared in my car. they weren't hurting anything/one, so i just left them. one of them stuck around for awhile, and flew around every time i was driving at night. i gave him a name that for the life of me i can't think of now.

and i thought nothing of it.

then, just last week, giant moths have invaded my work place. it's hard not to see a pattern here.

the more you know:

Mottephobia is the fear of moths

there is thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moths

Attacus atlas, the Atlas moth, is the largest moth, with a wingspan of 10in (WTFUCK)

the Death's-head Hawkmoth, Acherontia lachesis, (pictured above) is the scariest moth [not actual fact.] it also squeaks when irritated [actual fact,] which is weird. it has a starring role in Edgar Allan Poe's short story The Sphinx, and in the movie Silence of the Lambs. it is also the most "death-metal" of all moths [not actual fact.]

UPDATE 05.15.13: the moth's name was Gregor, after Kafka's The Metamorphosis, natch.

reading

the Casoria Contemporary Art Museum in Italy has started burning works of art (with artist permission) in protest to budget cuts.

at the same time, art investments aren't a "sure thing," (duh) and the market hit it's sweet spot a few years ago. this is perhaps the saddest line i've ever read in a story about art:

“It’s a buyer-beware market,” she said. “If you don’t do research, you could make a costly mistake. Don’t take things at face value.”

apparently, don't trust yourself to buy your own art is the takeaway from that.

PS: can i please go to La Biennale di Venezia?

babes and babes and babes

i tend to love broken / crazy people. i've been reading a lot of addiction-based writing lately. thinking a lot of the crazy - it is an underpinning of my artwork as well. i swear there is a post of my recent work coming. sometime. soon?

not broken down anymore - Kate Moss will always be heroin chic.

Sylvia Plath wrote the book on it. this picture is fantastic.

Little Edie. if you haven't watched Grey Gardens, set aside time NOW for it.

and, duh, Ms. Sedgwick herself.

22-year-old-me tells you about the time she saw bright eyes in santa barbara

we're visiting my 23-year-old self again. this time, she's just gotten back from seeing bright eyes at the santa barbara bowl.

I went and saw Bright Eyes at the Santa Barbara Bowl a few weekends ago. he played two of my favourite songs, "Oh You Are the Roots..." and "Bowl of Oranges." In fact the only favourite of mine he didn't play was "June on the West Coast" but I can imagine how wonderful it is. there are pictures from my friend helens camera as well as some short quicktime videos. it was misty and rainy and too big of a venue, but all in all it was a good show. besides, there's something about a beautiful live show that makes you feel alive again... he played "Falling Out of Love at this Volume" which was a pleasant surprise... a harp was onstage which started with "sunrise, Sunset"...it was nice to hear songs to wrap around your heart and warm it... music that is good for the soul... its the happiest i have felt in a really long time...california doesn't have midwestern winter. so when it does finally become chilly and overcast, i slip in my saddle creek playlist to my iPod and let the thoughts of winter wash over me. i pretend that its about 20 degrees colder than it is, and i can see my breath. i could see my breath at the bright eyes show and it reminded me that i am alive.

googling

in this new, thought-provoking (?) series, i type something into google image search, and present you with the results, unedited. these are the first images that the google algorithm spit out:

drugs:

hardcore drugs:

perscription drugs:

i tried "designer drugs," but i think that term is too '80's because some douchey scensters popped up.

what should i google next? i'm also curious what comes up when OTHER people type these words into their searches...