26 dicembre 2009

and so this is Christmas


I'm not religious at all but I enjoy Christmas.

I love the smell of the tree.
I love that my Mother's side of the family makes a BUNCH of tamales.
I love that so many places are closed.
I love having an excuse to listen to my Christmas albums.

fuck the gifts.

This year was the 1st Christmas I haven't had to spend at work since I was 17.

19 dicembre 2009

and the punks are united.

A few nights ago Gabe and I watched a movie about his friends and the gutterpunk scene. It premiered and won the Freedom of Expression award at the Sundance awards in 1998.
It was so trippy to see a documentary that starred some of his closest friends when he was growing up.
It brought life to all the stories he told me about when we were first getting to know each other. All the tales that come with each battle wound.
Part of me was saddened. Seeing all these kids with such terrible issues at home that the street seemed better..or not having any place to go.
Gabe's childhood was fucked. Squats felt safer. His friends were his family.
You can download the torrent online somewhere. There are performances and interviews with Final Conflict, Litmus Green, Naked Agression, and The Resistance.

I could go into all the deets I know about each person but it's more special if I don't.

18 dicembre 2009

I meant to post this a week ago...



I had been anticipating the release of this movie for a long time. Not only is this Disney's 1st African-American princess but it's their 1st hand drawn animation movie in a little over 5yrs! I decided I would take 2 of my little cousins, Jimmy (10), Alex (9), and 2 of my youngest siblings Jack (9), and Sophie (11) with me.
Of course, the kids loved it as did I. They spent the rest of the evening quoting the frog aka Prince Neveen and the toothless firefly Ray.
A short summary:
A modern day retelling of the classic story The Frog Prince. The Princess and the Frog finds the lives of arrogant, carefree and BROKE Prince Naveen, who comes from some fictional country but has a thick French accent, and hardworking waitress Tiana crossing paths. Prince Naveen is transformed into a frog by a conniving gap toothed voodoo magician (referred to mostly as the shadow man) and Tiana, following suit, upon kissing the amphibian royalty. With the help of a trumpet-playing alligator, a Cajun firefly, and an old blind lady who lives in a boat in a tree and makes a mean gumbo in an old bathtub, Naveen and Tiana must race to break the spell and fulfill their dreams.

Pros:
  • The film is set in the 1920's in New Orleans. Jazz and traditional New Orleans food play a big part. Randy Newman did his thing and worked in some lovely Jazz, Blues, Gospel type tunes.




  • Tiana is the 1st Disney princess with an actual job....in fact, she's got TWO jobs. She's a 19yr old waitress trying to save all her money to buy a restaurant. Also Tiana, much like my FAVORITE Disney Princess Belle, isn't impressed buy newly arrived handsomest guy in town Prince Naveen. Instead like Belle, she's too busy being wrapped up in her own world of dreams to even notice him.


  • Color and money are not issues...like it should be. Poor, black, Tiana and rich, white, Charlotte are BFFS. The movie opens with the 2 little girls listening to Tiana's mother, Charlotte's seamstress, read the classic version of the story, theP&theF.



  • Cons:

  • I hate that some people are saying this movies is Disney's way of capitalizing on the Obama's. This movie has been in the works for so long. Thats just ignorant.


  • I wish Prince Naveen wasn't from some made up place. He sounds so french at times.




  • Next movie I'm excited for: Avatar!

    08 dicembre 2009

    birth is the beginning of death.

    Happy Birthday to Jim Morrison!



















    When I was Paris last October I visited his grave site at the Cimetière du Père-Lachaise
















    That Greek inscription below the dates reads ΚΑΤΑ ΤΟΝ ΔΑΙΜΟΝΑ ΕΑΥΤΟΥ, meaning "true to his own spirit"

    Rest in PEACE John Lennon






    03 dicembre 2009

    We've only just begun...

    Moving day 1 is officially here. You'd think I would have started packing before today...
    I'm relunctant to leave but anxious to go. I love this house so so much.
    This house used to belong to a man I know as Mr. James Pringle. Pringle built most of the house. He worked for the city and made everything up to code. He was really into jazz and architecture. After he passed, Mrs. Pringle sold the house to my Mama and that is where my love affair with this little bit of property nuzzled atop Altadena began...this 1960's foothill home is full of treasures.
    1st there's the recording studio with the built in bar. Aside from the awesomeness of having a recording studio in your house, the carpet is this super cool pattern of red and orange hues.
    The stuido has two doors that lead to 2 different parts of the yard.

    Before I go on I should explain that the house has 3 different yards and one of them, the biggest of them all, is divided into 3...

    Ok so the studio had 2 doors that leads to two different sections. There's a sliding glass door that leads to a side yard.
    The side yard has a apple tree that house been bountiful to say the least. I've made Apple butter, Apple marmalade, and Apple pies using it's generosity.
    Then there's the seperate little house that sits in the back corner of this side yard. We use it as a laundry room. We also have a second refrigerator in there. It's got an intercom and a doorbell and if I had lived here when I was little I imagine I would have made that little house into my personal playpen.
    Next is an area Pringle aptly named SINATRA LAND. It's got a refigerator, neon beer signs, and speakers. Surrounded but trees and vines. A great place to sit and relax and escape.
    The second door leads to the backyard. This is the yard that's divided in two.
    One seciton has a giant built in grill and a fireplace and the second section has built in benches and a shed that looks like another little house. This second section also has a grill and a little staircase that leads to another part of the house....my favorite part of the house! The Sunroom!
    The sunroom is awesome. My cousin Liz once used it as her bedroom and we currently use it to keep the dogs confined when we're not home.
    The best part of the sunroom is the ladder that takes you to the artists loft. The loft is to die for. It's got shelves, windows, and a drafting table. There's even a tiny little door that leads to the roof!
    I spent countless nights up there painting, drawing, just hanging out. Sneaking out onto the roof for midnight smoking sessions and star gazing. I'll miss this part of the house the most.
    The front of the house has an adorable little bench and portable fireplace and a cute fountain with a little statue of a woman pouring water.
    When I leave here I will take Pringles legacy with me. I will take his black and white photos, his swinger party flyers, his poems, journals, and of course my many memories of being here.
    Here's a photo of the front of the house I found on the realtors website.

    Doesn't do it justice...

    anyway, I have a LOT more packing to do and then I'll be headed to Highland Park where I'll be living with my brother in a cute little 2 bed, 2 bath house with a white picket fence!
    Here's a picture I found of it on Google:


    I blurred out the address and street name haha

    01 dicembre 2009

    bombshell baking

    A 90-second clip from a home movie of Marilyn Monroe in the '50s, apparently smoking a large joint, has surfaced after the friend who shot the footage found it in her attic. Sweeet.

    obsessed.

    He rolls his own cigarettes
    He usually wears boots, converse, or these:
    His 3 signature scents



    Gabe @ 15 <3

    I haven't seen Gabe since...Friday?
    We've both been super busy and I've been trying to get in some quality time with some friends of mine who are moving far far away.
    iiiiiii miiiiisssss hiiiimmmmm.
    Dinner and a movie @ 8pm. Can't wait.

    2 souls with but a single thought, 2 hearts that beat as 1


    Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies...