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BACK ON THE TRAIN
šFlower Shop Rooftop Party RSVP LIVE!!! š
But first we rant
How often do we celebrate small changes as milestones? Or are we content to celebrate only the prescribed ones?
Iām SWIMMING in emotions as I sit at a desk at a school I first attended when I was just 15 years old. Iām so full of nostalgia that Iām doing the backstroke. The stairwells smell just as they did back then. The battered work tables and miles of thread stretch a whole city block, just like they used to.
This time, change feels like slowly taking off the breaks and rolling ever faster down a hill, hoping that trust will get you across the intersection. Like when we were kids bombing hills on our bikes, some facing the wind head on, hollering with joy, while others, like me, were always peeking to the periphery and trying to steer, trying to decide when to pull the brake and when to cruise.
Weāre all speeding towards the unknown, some of us are just more aware of that than others. Some of us are just more okay with it than others. Itās taken years to stop applying so much control, so much effort, just to catch a glimpse of what simply is not yet in view.
Itās why I am learning to let go, as best as I can, which is to say little by little.
I first went to design school thinking I knew exactly who the fuck I was and where I was going. Iām heading right back into the kiln, into the literal eye of the needle, into the workroom again with a whole career (or 5) behind me, not as baggage but as sharpened tools.
I donāt always recommend that people ābe like meā as Iām kind of a hot mess, but for once I feel like I know (and have always known) some intrinsic secret of what it means to be human: to follow a calling that you donāt really understand or canāt yet make sense of.
AND WITH THAT SAID: I hope you come give up a little of that control and DANCE with me at a fun new party that I made just for cuties.
Think Italian aperitivo: snacks, bouncing beats, and COMPLIMENTARY Select Aperitivo spritzes?!
RSVP Below!
LATEST WORK: The Candlewood Tapes
Check out my live-taped practice mixes and more!
It feels scary, but good to stop being so protective of my music work. I guess because you have to be so perfect when you publish written stuff, or at least intentional with other forms of content, that recording my DJ sets can feel too much like a live performance than a composition for my comfort. OH WELL time to get over it. I have been teasing my work for like, years.
Time to put up or stay a basement DJ š.
LATEST WORK 2: Your Highness Podcast
INFLUENCED: Buying Insights š²
āØThis time we also talk about EXPERIENCESāØ
I love a good weed lounge. Itās too bad there are so few GOOD ones. Usually, and understandably, theyāre just a corner of the existing (legal) dispensary, or theyāre a dark, dank, stanky āundergroundā space. In California, especially in West Hollywood, a real effort is being made to connect the dots of hospitality and cannabis consumption.
Inside a burstingly tropical lot a few blocks away from iconic Melrose + Fairfax is a little luxurious getaway. Just purchase your fav product at the fully stocked dispo upfront, and get a wristband to sit among the palms while you sip bevs or order food (from outside, its tough to find food menus at these spaces as the regulations stand).
I opted to smoke a LARGE joint of A Golden Stateās happy-making SFV OG. It was delicious and so was the matcha lemonade I had alongside, while chilling with my buds in the gorgeous cabana.
It was sunny, breezy, and peaceful, which is miles better than the typical smoke-in-an-alley experience that THAT part of LA usually offers. New York has work to do!
7/10 šæšæšæšæšæšæšæ
Pork Chop Scallopini at Pasta Ramen
Speaking of California, have you been to Montclair, NJ lately? Itās looking like San Luis Obispo or like some central coast fancy town. I was in shock! I knew it was always āniceā but sheesh! Chchchchanges. New Jersey gets too much hate and not enough love. Real ones know the state has incredible food and plenty to doā¦just depends where you are š.
I had this Italian/Japanese fusion bb cutlet at pastaRamenāYum! Believe it or not, you can fuck up both a katsu or a cutlet despite the inherent deliciousness of both pork and breading.
This was a neatly pounded, impeccably breaded take on the Milanese / katsu. And it was šš¤š¼ just for the scallion ratio alone. It was also like three meals of food aka worth it.
8/10 šššššššš
EEEEvents
Check out these fun events in NYC, the West Coast, and beyond!
Links to Love š or Hate š«
GrOwiNg
Heheheheh I gotta read this every time I get the urge to qualify, quantify, or DISqualify my work. It has a lot to do with online and IRL sexismāthe former of which I experienced in spades as a beauty blogger during the time of gamergate š¤¢.
It often feels like if I donāt put myself down, someone else will. If I donāt humble myself, someone else will. But is that the truth? Do I need to know or care about every opinion? Who knows. Letās start with not giving people a reason to disregard something at its inception.
This is an important program! Kids should have news literacy from a young ageāthatās when theyāre often handed a screen. Providing students with a real opportunity to experience journalism could also spark new careersākids can be (and are) journalists too!
Iāve shared many links and talked at length about music silo-ing. Iāve also listened to some of the micro genres mentioned here since 2008 or earlier, because they are innovative, exuberant, and, well, everything!
Read and absorbābecause if you donāt push the margins of new music demand, it will continue to close around the few, the powerful, and the identities most aligned with power.
Corporate nonsense is at an all time high! Not that communications donāt require skill and effort, they do, but having EVERYONE be a stakeholder in EVERYTHING its truly a chaotic and unproductive experience. Take it from meāsenior leadership RUINED one of my last jobs (like the company tanked and everything) because they obsessed and picked over EVERY creative decision in probably hundreds of meetings.
It was grueling for one thing, soul crushing if Iām being honest, but mainly it was a WASTE OF EVERYONEāS TIME.
Itās sooo hard not to get mad and to instead have hope when new studies about endo come out. I may not post about my pain as much but I still have severe pain almost every day. It doesnāt always last a long time, it can range from seconds to hours, but I firmly believe it would send most people to the ER in tears, but instead I justā¦.move on with my day (most of the time). All I can do is try to make sure this doesnāt happen to younger people by sqwawking and advocating.
DJ Happenings
Ciao ragazzi šš
PLS