These are my roommates

And I miss them.

The Fourth of July

Was fun. Not extremely fun, but fun. I really like Anna. And Reade; Val was grumpy.

July 2, 2008

Not the Government shows are amazing.

These are some of my friends at such shows:

June 30, 2008

On the last day of work I was very much myself, which is good, I hope everyone remembers me as “Stephanie!!” and I made friendship bracelets for everyone I liked at work and considered a friend. Then I gave them each a blessing and photographed their bracelets on their various limbs to seal the blessing. I had a lot of fun, and I think they are feeling especially blessed.

June 30, 2008

There once was a show at this place that wasn't really a venue, but a marijuana store. There was a menu and everything. Of course, they were selling 'medical' marijuana, but still.

My friends played a show here and although I couldn't get any really good pictures, I still had fun taking them!

June 29, 2008

There are always dead cockroaches on the steps to my house and it is gross. Yet, slightly interesting.

July 28, 2008

One day I checked my email and I got a calendar list of things to do from Flavorpill, which I get once a month. It is like getting my period--but fun: I never really know when it is coming, but it immediately warrants my attention once I get it.

This issue there was a blurb about this band called Wolf Eyes and how they were playing at Spaceland. There was a contest—if you guessed what the gestation period of a wolf was you could possibly win free tickets. Now, I didn’t know who or what Wolf Eyes was, and I didn’t particularly care, but I did think it was strange that the question could be so easily answered by a quick movement of the fingers and the help of google.com. So, I copied the question and put it in the little box on google.com and sent Flavorpill the first answer from the first website that came up in the google search. I was sure I would be disqualified, in fact I WANTED to be disqualified. I wanted Flavorpill to realize that this question is silly because ANYONE with access to the internet and the knowledge of google.com could answer it in less that 30 seconds. I wanted Flavorpill to be more intelligent than that, and maybe they are because Wolf Eyes turned out to be a noise band.

But they were a pretty amazing noise band. I won the tickets and I went to the show and my friend bought me a vinyl with really great cover art. And they had the best merch—they simply bought used clothes and then sewed patches or painted their own art on them. That is ingenious!! Yay for recycling!

And I got to take one of my favorite friends and he came home with me and then left me in the middle of the night, but all in all Wolf Eyes was worth the little effort.

(This picture is not from the show at Spaceland, but it is Wolf Eyes!)

June something

My friend and I went to 15 because we were under the impression that they had a tasting menu/3-course deal that was $15, at least that is what the menu on the window said. But when we finally went and ordered that is was actually $19.

Liars.
I really like this burrito place:


And this liquor store NEVER carded me. I am 21, but still, it was nice.

June 27, 2008

My friend from work told me he saw the girl from Juno at Intelligentsia the other day, although he claims he never saw the movie and doesn’t understand why everyone is so obsessed with it. If he hasn’t seen the movie and seems to not care about it, why did he tell me this? Why does he think I care?

June 27, 2008

Last time I was at Spaceland I made a friend and she said (if I remember correctly) that the area between Echo Park and Silverlake and Glendale that everyone claims is Silverlake is really “Frog Pond,” or at least that is what people are saying, according to this girl. I really liked that girl, too bad we didn’t exchange numbers. Maybe we could have been friends! Or neighbors! I like Spaceland. Except for the time I was there with my friend and she used the ATM and it didn’t give her her $20 but said it did and Spaceland said they would refund here, but I doubt they ever did. That night was actually great, though, because my favorite friend from work was extremely drunk, drunk to the point that if we had wanted too, (which, we of course did because he is gorgeous and smart and hilarious) we could have kidnapped him. I wish we did.

June 26, 2008

I really want to like Lamill coffee, but it is just way too expensive. Who can afford to eat and/or get coffee here? Am I really that poor? Are people really able to afford this?

There internet wasn't even working when I was there.

I would rather go to Pazzo and spend my money on gelatto, like I do almost every other day.

June 25, 2008

Gas is expensive and policeman will pull you over if you are talking on your cell phone without a cord. Why do people still drive?

I like taking the bus.

June 24, 2008

Every night I hear cats screaming and every morning birds are chirping and it wakes me up. I kind of like these sounds.

June 24, 2008

Every night I hear cats screaming and every morning birds are chirping and it wakes me up. I kind of like these sounds.

A long time ago . . .

Now we go often. Although, not always together. But I wish we did!
A long time ago my friends Renata and Joseph and I went to the shortstop. We took a picture.

At Work

This is what I do at work:

I steal art supplies and make fun masks like this one.

June 22, 2008

Today I went to my friend Liz’s show at the Echo Curio. Well, it wasn’t here show, but she had art in the show and it was actually an art auction. I had fun. Well, I only had fun because I was talking to her and then she said she want to Voices Voices show too and I was said because I wanted to go but I didn’t hear about it until it was happening and I didn’t really have any money. And I may have only wanted to go because it was at The Smell and I like The Smell.

Anyway, Brian came after his shift from Café Mariposa ended and Liz told me I was unconsciously seductive often because I talked about things that may turn men on (she may have worded this differently, but whatever). I said, well, why does that matter? Why can’t girls just say whatever they want to say? Why should I worry about whether or not I am turning someone on? And she said, not here is nothing wrong with it, it is just funny. And that is why Liz and I are friends. And why my mom is constantly worried about, probably.

Then we got sea monkeys and I don’t know what happened to mine. And then I decided I think Brian is really hot and smart and attractive. Why didn’t I ever realize this before? And then we decided we were going to go to the Museum of Jurassic Technology, but we never did.

The Echo Curio, at least that night, was like seeing a bunch of middle-aged people and under-aged adults pretend to be interested in things they don’t understand or care about and then spend money on those things.

6/22/2008

There is a wood shop by my house that operates in a garage and I really, really wish I knew what they did in there. I don't know why I never talked to those guys. I shall never pass up such an opportunity again!

June 22, 2008

Today I went out with my roommate named Fernando. We had a reason for going out together but I cannot really remember what it was. Anyway, since neither of us actually wanted to spend any money I drank the Heinekens my friend left in my refridgerator and he drank some of his beer and some of my beer and by the time we left our house (around 11:30 PM probably) we were both drunk. Okay, he probably wasn’t, but I certainly was.
We went to the Shortstop first, but there were too many people and no live DJ, so we left. Then we went to the Goldroom. And it was really, really awesome. There weren’t even that many Mexicans! (please see previous post, as I am being sarcastic, but honest). They fed me peanuts. They had cheap beer, cheap Stella!! All of the waitresses has big breasts. There were neon lights and mirrored walls. I felt like I was back in Madrid for some reason, maybe it was the free food!

At one point the bartender asked me if I wanted some soup and I said “What kind” and she said “Beef” and I said “definitely!” and she brought me out FREE SOUP. It was delicious.

Somehow me and my friend/roommate started talking about really ridiculous stuff and I remember explaining to him why I was not a prostitute. This was a very entertaining conversation (well, explanation really, as he wasn’t talking, I was, for a really long time). When I finished I think he asked me if I have ever been in love. I don’t really know why he connected me have a very complex and in-depth reason for NOT being a prostitute to have much to do with whether or not I have ever been in love. My answer was “yes” and we are still involved in a messy mess (messy for him, clean for my lover, probably). This, somehow, proved his (unknown to me) suspicions and quite possibly made him happy. I don’t know why.

June 21, 2008

One day I was standing outside Café Mariposa and I was talking to my friends and this guy that I do not know, but that I think used to work with my friend kept asking us all if we wanted to go somewhere to get a drink and NOBODY wanted to, and everyone kept rejecting him. Then he came up to me and asked me and I said “No.” And then he was like, “Hey, maybe if we go to the Goldroom we will get mugged by a bunch of Mexicans” (or something along those lines) and I was like “what?” and he replied “You know, blah blah blah” (this is when I stopped listening to him because I was sure he must be stupid). Then I thought, this would be great material for my blog! So I said “hey, would you mind repeating what you just said so I can record it with my camera?” and he answered “Why, are you offended?!” and I said “No, now I am just annoyed.” Because I was very annoyed.

Now, if I was a resident of Echo Park, I would punch this guy. But since I was only a temporary resident, I didn’t. I hate people like this; people that A) assume a particular bar or restaurant or any place is full of one particular RACE of people, B) assume this that everyone part of this particular will do the same thing. He assumed everyone in the Goldroom was Mexican, which may be possible, but is certainly not a guarantee. This just shows he is completely ignorant to the ethnic makeup of Echo Park. I have no idea what “Mexican” means anymore because as far as I knew, “Mexican” refers to people from Mexico, and I can guarantee you many of those people are not from Mexico. (I have a really confused notion of race and ethnicity and nationality as I don’t really understand what any of those words mean. I am considered ‘Mexican’ but I don’t know a soul from Mexico, I have only been to Mexico on service trips and for vacation, and no one in my immediate family speak Spanish, hardly anyone in my extended family speaks Spanish. I share some Mexican traditions, but they are actually the watered-down traditions of other American-born people that may or may not be brown and may or may not be from Mexico—mainly eating tamales during Christmas time, having family barbeques in the summer, having big weddings where everyone gets drunk, sometimes off Patrón, sometimes off tequila and often off margaritas, oh and I think I remember having a piñata or too at my birthday parties, but other than that, there isn’t anything my family does that is really all that different from our other American-born neighbors that are white. Actually, most of my family has a very light skin, so even our skin color isn’t that different. I think race and ethnicity is mostly just a way for people to frame other people as different from themselves when really we are all pretty much the same and pretty much different, but usually these facts are unrelated from being connected to any particular race. Many of this may seem ridiculous, and that is because, like I said, I am completely confused when it comes to these terms that are so loosely thrown around) . Many of those people he naively labels as “Mexican” are probably from all parts of the earth. Maybe, those people are mostly from South American and ‘Latin’ countries, and maybe not. I don’t know why any of this actually matters.

Okay and the main part that bugged me about this guy’s comments are that he not only assumed everyone in the Goldbar was of one ethnicity, and assumed everyone from that ethnicity would do the same thing, but he assumed that same thing was rob us. Now that is just silly.

June 20, 2008

So there is this thing called “Fabrica” and it is in Italy and it is one of my main aspirations in life to be an artist in residence there. They will only take artists that are under 25, so I have to act fast (kind of . . . ). I saw some work of their artists at the Pompidou when I was in Paris a couple of years ago and every single piece was fabulous. Go Culture Commentators! Go Culture Connectors! Go Fabrica!

(Fabrica happens to be under the umbrella of the United Colors of Benetton and as I mature I am beginning to accept the fact that big corporations MAY be able to help out society in a really good and really acceptable way).

Colors Magazine

June 18, 2008

This is the point where I start making this up.

Today is not June 18, 2008, I just am going to pretend that I am writing this post on June 18, 2008. I don't even know what day of the week June 18 was. All I know is that when I started this blog I wanted to blog everyday and write really cool, semi-intelligent things about what it was like to be brown and kind of a hipster and hang out in and around Echo Park and Silverlake and Los Feliz with a bunch of hipsters, and Mexicans that happen to be hipsters. Okay, just one Mexican who doesn't even associate herself as such and the hipsters are just artists and musicians, really. This is why my plan didn't work:

1. There is only one thing I do regularly everyday, and due to the lack of a romantic interest in my vicinity I have stopped doing it. So it is very hard for me to post in this blog every single day.

2. I usually don't have anything cool OR semi-intelligent thing to say about anything, unless I am stimulated by someone cool or semi-intelligent. That is just how I work. I feed off other people like that. Not that I don't come up with great things on my own, because I do often, I just forget them very quickly. Take my dreams, I have amazing dreams and I consciously review them almost every morning, but then I forget them instantly. I do this ON PURPOSE because I feel dreams are meant to be left in the subconscious part of my existence and to write them down would pretty much ruin the very essence of my dreams.

3. Mid-way through this past month, or the month of June because it is now August, I took my computer to the Mac store because the bottom was peeling off and I like my computer to look sexy. It cannot look sexy if it is peeling. The Mac store kept my computer for a week and this completely threw me off.

4. I just am not good at keeping a blog.

So, this is my solution: I will write as many posts about as many things as I can remember doing in Echo Park, California during the month of June, even though I am now in Gilbert, Arizona and it is actually August.

Fab fotos from WTC

Fabulous photos by HAPPYLAND from our event last Sunday, WELCOME TO CATHARSIS.

Yay

6/17/08

TUESDAY: THE DAY OF THE BUS KUFFUFFLE

(When I was looking up the word kuffufle to see if I made it up or if it is real I found this word, that is real: kaffeeklatsch/noun/an informal social gathering at which coffee is served---NOW I know the word for all I ever want to do in life!! Next time I get the option of picking an outing I can just say "I want to have a kaffeeklatsch"!)

Okay, so I have been taking the bus because I cannot afford the gas (even though my loving Grandparents pay for it) and I am boycotting gas stations (except when I absolutely need to go somewhere far . . . or just really, really want to do so). I think we in LA should be having full on strike/protest/sit-ins at the gas stations at this point (it is ridiculous, gas being upwards of $4.60 a gallon of unleaded!!)

Anyway, on the bus yesterday I was just sitting minding my own business. Well, no I was trying to sit and mind my own business and read a book too but the bus driver kept talking to me, which was weird because I knew he could see me with his crazy mirrors and I definitely could not see him. Then, SUDDENLY! this guy sitting next to me started hitting this other guy with his cane. The bus driver got all upset and started yelling "Get off my bus!" and after lots of commotion he stopped the bus and then this happened:

6/16/08

Today I bought a wedding present and the best jeans ever! And I got noodles with my friend Tim.

We went to this place in Little Tokyo that is open until 3 AM!

I love Little Tokyo. Tim drove but I directed because he, like many Angelenos, really doesn't know how to navigate himself and a vehicle to a known destination in downtown LA. I, luckily, am pretty good at that, mainly because I have made myself walk here and there downtown. And I used to intern for Villaraigosa and had to walk to City Hall from a far-away parking lot once a week. It's funny, I feel like I know every other city I have visited much better than LA just because I have spent more time walking in other cities (out of necessity) than in Los Angeles. Which is WHY we should all walk and take the bus as often as possible! So we aren't stupid in our own city; so we can FIND Little Tokyo!

I orded Ramen with pork wontons and it was super yummy, but whenever I order ramen I half-expect and hope even that it is going to taste like Top Ramen. I know this is silly, but I really like Top Ramen.

6/15/08

WELCOME TO CATHARSIS

TODAY



myspace.com/welcometocatharsis

6/14/08

The Bachelorette Party







So the great thing about having cool friends is that you get to have fun bachelorette parties--like Emily's which we had on the beach in Oceanside. The campgrounds were kind of small . . . but I didn't stay the night anyway so it was cool cool!