Monthly Archives: September 2008

Summer is Over

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I hate the heat. In California, we get a dry heat which starts around June and cools off late September or early October. If it’s one of those bad years, we’ll get the heat well into October or even early November, which means hardly any rain for the coming Winter. Thankfully, it seems we’re heading into a nice Autumn. Cool mornings, warm days, cool nights. I love it.

And yes, Summer is over. Today is the first day of Autumn. I’m always a little sad when Summer ends. Not because I love Summer or anything like that…but thinking about it, I realize that I still maintain childhood feelings of melancholy that school is starting again and the year is almost over. Of course, I don’t have school anymore. So why so blue? Don’t know. Halloween is around the corner. Once that baby hits, it’s on to Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve. Big things are happening this year. My brother’s baby is due around the end of November. I’m trying to decide if I want to travel to Omaha. I probably will. Christmas Eve is now being held every year at my palatial estate. I need to start thinking about that. The end of the year means the start of a new one which means I’ll be 34 in a matter of months. Cripes.

As you can see, I’m starting introspection early this year. Must be the cool weather. I planted Oregano in the backyard. One of the plants that came with the house didn’t last on my water schedule and died, what must have been, a slow, painful death. I think a spider bit my knee. Bastard. So I replaced the old plant with hearty oregano. How awesome will it be to use fresh oregano from my own yard? Pretty awesome, I think.

Now that the weather has cooled off, as promised, I’m going to start cleaning out the garage for reals. Over the Summer, I hired two kids to help me and all they really did was put things in indistinguishable piles. The garage, upon completion, will be my new photography studio. I’ll set up a backdrop, lights, a make-up table, a changing area, and music. It’s gonna rock. Along with shooting my own junk in there, I’m also thinking about renting it out. I imagine there are quite a few people in the area that would love to have access to a small studio for a low price. So cheap, you’ll think you’re stealing it! Anyway, that’s up and coming. Perhaps I’ll start today. The garage, if it’s hot, is intolerable – If it’s cold, the garage is freezing. Over the winter, I’ll have a heater and by Summer, if all goes well, we’ll be able to install an air conditioner. I’m pretty excited. Thing is, little old me has to do it all by her little old self and little old me ain’t looking forward to all the manual labor involved. *sigh* Get started, that’s all I can do. Thank Apple for iPods and thank me for frequent breaks. I’ll also be putting all kinds of things on eBay. Sales will go back into the studio and make for improvements and equipment.

I’m hoping cooler weather means the spiders have all gone to sleep. Now that Summer is over, I finally feel like I can start getting things done. The heat fucks me up. I get tired, cranky, sweaty, gross. Time to come out of my Summer Coma and get to work.

Twitter Updates for 2008-09-19

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  • My hairstylist wimped out and despite my requests, gave me a standard cut. lil bitch. #
  • I now cut my own hair. #
  • The new 90210 bitches were 3 when the first series came out. pfft. #
  • Contrary to popular myth, there aren’t actually any brown recluse spiders in California. That’s good to know. #
  • …and apparently, Recluse bites don’t kill people. Knowing is half the battle. #
  • What? Iron Eyes Cody wasn’t a real Native American? Sham! #
  • Matilda killed a spider on my bed leaving it’s corpse and a trail of spider blood. #
  • Palin is running for President: http://tinyurl.com/49txdq #
  • Paid gig booked for Tuesday. Band and dog in Lincoln Heights. Rad. #

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Why I Cut My Own Hair

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Yesterday I got in touch with an old friend from Hot Topic and asked him if he would take some kick-ass rock star photos of me. I need them for several reason: As a photographer, I am behind the camera, but having blue hair helps. You know, it’s all about image n’ shit – and why not take advantage of that? Secondly, after much debate, I’ve decided to take part in a small feature for the Pasadena Weekly. It’s the brainchild of a friend/not-friend from back in the day. I won’t go into anything or say who at the moment, because right now, it’s not important. I also don’t want to discuss until it’s actually in print. This small feature is pretty simple and while it may not be the best promotion of my life ever, it certainly won’t hurt. And you know what? PT Barnum said, all publicity is good publicity. PT was right.

As part of the prep for this photo-shoot, I got my hair cut. Before I left for Florida, I got re-blued by a new guy at a hip/indie salon East of Old Town Pasadena on Colorado. I liked the salon and I thought the guy was edgy enough and maybe even a little punk rock. For a first timer with my hair, he did a good job and listened to my wants. I was excited because after a life long search for the perfect hairstylist, I thought I’d finally found one. I should have known better. At my last appointment, he talked non-stop about Blink-182, how he was a chick-magnet, and how cool he was. OK, fine. We’re all allowed to boast now and again. By the end of the appointment, I actually liked him and was happy with his work. Not the best ever, but good enough.

Flash forward to my haircut last night. I arrived at 7pm as scheduled. He didn’t know I was coming. What-evs. I explained to him what I wanted and told him about the photo-shoot. He was stoked. I felt like he wasn’t as confident as I would have liked him to be, but I’m always willing to give people a chance. 2 hours later, I checked out what he’d done. Not happy. Not that it was a bad job. Technically, it was very well done. I have bone-straight hair and any little mistake is immediately noticeable. On that level, it was great. Nice job, but not what I wanted. I’d explained I wanted to shake things up, that he shouldn’t feel timid or conservative. Go nuts, I told him. When he asked if I liked it, I said, “Honestly, I was hoping for something a little more reckless”. He went into explaining why he played it safe and I expressed I wasn’t totally wowed by the cut. He said that since it was the first time he was cutting my hair, over time, we would rock it. Over time? No, see, I need it now. Photo shoot on Saturday, remember? Over time? I just paid $85.00 (including tip) for a haircut I didn’t want? Over time, are you fucking kidding me? What hairstylist does that? I’m not going to give you the haircut you really want, but if you keep coming back, it’ll get there. I don’t think so. No fucking way, dude. That would be like me saying, “I’m going to take your family portrait, but right now, since you’re a new client, I’m only going to shoot little Timmy and Mom. Next time you come back, we’ll shoot Dad and Grandma.” I’m no genius, but I don’t think that’s how you ensure repeat business.

To make matters worse, the cut took 2 hours. Look, I have long hair, but two hours? I get it, the stylist was green. I get the impression he hasn’t been working the floor very long. One indication of that is how much he loves his job. I’ve done hair. It’s shit work. You bust your ass for hardly any money, stand on your feet all day, get shoulder pains, and piss off clients like me. The few times you rock a cut and actually read your client’s mind and give them exactly what they want…it’s not worth it. That’s why I got out. It’s why I got back into my real passion: photography. You can like being a hairstylist, but when you LOVIE-LURVE it, that’s a newbie attitude.

I feel for the guy. He was tired (he kept reminding me) and he’d just had a new baby. A young, unmarried kid with a kid. Oy. I get it, after working all day, he was ready to go home. Been there. Regardless, if you don’t give every client what they want, you risk them not coming back. I probably won’t go back. I’m annoyed at his arrogance and his lack of people pleasing skills. If I’m going to pay $85.00 for a haircut, I want to leave the place like a Vidal Sassoon commercial. Am I asking too much? Fuck, I saved my money for that?

When I got home, I took out my scissors and went to work. Chop chop! We’ll see what it looks like after I shower, but I’m pretty happy with that I did on my own. What a waste of both time and money.

For years I’ve been on the hunt for a kick ass hairstylist. They don’t have to read my mind, but it would be nice if they listened to me. And when I said I don’t like the cut, they fix it. I guess I’ll just cut my own hair from now on. I do a better job anyway. I’m picky about my hair, but I’m not an asshole. I want what I want, but I also appreciate people’s creativity and many times let people express it. I’m boggled by the fact that hairstylists play it safe when I tell them they don’t have to. Do I seriously need to say, “No, dude, I mean it, go for it. Got crazy. No, I mean it. Really. For reals. I’m not kidding. Do your thang. I promise I won’t sue you. I’m serious. Honest. Get creative. Please? Pretty please? For the love of God would you just do something awesome with my hair?! Fuck. What do I have to do, beat it out of you? I promise I won’t get mad. No matter what you do, I’ll be fine. I’m cool. Just do it. I trust you. Rock this hair cut. Rock it. Cut my hair. Would you get the scissors out and…” *pant* *pant* *pant* Ay caramba. Is that how it has to be? Do I have to beg for it?

What I imagine really happened is that I expected my hairstylist to be cooler than he is. I expected that, even though he was green, he still had enough talent and confidence to give me what I wanted. In the end, I walked out of there with the same haircut I always get. Long layers. Really? After I said I didn’t want long layers?

Arg.

Old Town Pasadena and Why Urban Outfitters Sucks.

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I love so many things about Old Town Pasadena. Granted, in the last 10 years, it’s been sterilized and jam-packed with stores like The Gap, American Apparel, Barnes and Nobles, and Urban Outfitters (among other name brands). If you can handle the arrival of several new frozen yogurt places (what is this, the 80′s?), the droves of Paris Hilton wannabes, the constant onslaught of homeless people shaking cups at you, and the resident cigar smoking Armenians at Starbucks, it’s a cool place to walk around on some evenings.

No, wait. Old Town Pasadena is everything I hate about American consumerism. Well, most of me hates it, parts of me likes it. Still, I am in conflict because locally-speaking, it really is the coolest place to hang out in without driving 20 minutes to Los Feliz. Of course, it’s no Los Feliz and had I the gumption, I’d be in Los Feliz a lot more often. At the very least, you’re guaranteed a Giovanni Ribisi or Glenn Danzig sighting…which isn’t saying much, but at least it’s something to tell your friends about.

Tonight, my brother and I had falafel wraps at Father Nature’s, a place I love. Still, I remember when it was The Museum Cafe. At the time, I worked at a coffee house, but still went there after work for a latte. They had a back room with folding chairs and a screen playing movies. It was the kind of place you could find refuge from the corporate world in. When it closed, it was really the end of the end. With countless other stores loosing the battle of rent increases and buy-outs, Old Town became an outdoor mall – and everything that implies. The Equator, a coffee house that managed to stand the test of time, recently turned into a douche-bag nightclub/bar, sans coffee. Or maybe there is coffee, I don’t know. Since the change, I haven’t bothered to check in. As if Old Town needs yet another watering hole for greasy macho men cruising for tail. Not that The Equator was anything special. The service always sucked and the coffee didn’t provoke warm fuzzy feelings. Anywayz…

As much as Old Town sucks, it does have several redeeming qualities. For example, Akbar Indian Cuisine, The Apple Store, Holly St. Cafe 54, Tibet Nepal Restaurant, and in the Summer they show old movies in Miller Alley. Or is it Hugus Alley? I can’t remember. It’s the one by Johnny Rockets and Gordon Biersch. Occasionally, they sport some really cool activities like Make Music Pasadena (which I missed cause I forgot), and Yoko Ono’s Wish Trees – which I also forgot about and wonder if it’s still there. Regardless, I feel like I should spend more time there. I don’t know why.

I started this entry because I wanted to complain about Urban Outfitters. After coffee, my brother and I went in for a looksie. I always find cute clothes at UO, but when I check the price tag, I realize why I don’t shop there. OK, seriously…$58.00 for a cardigan sweater that is made to look like you got it at a thrift store and actually, you could go to a thrift store right now and find that exact sweater for $3.99. In the 90′s, when all I did was thrift shop, that is, before Kurt Cobain turned the whole world onto it and after that you couldn’t find a cardigan to save you, you could find the exact sweaters Urban Outfitters is peddling. And I mean exact! How DARE Urban Outfitters charge such outlandish prices for clothing that looks used? I have no problem with used clothes. 90% of my clothes are from thrift stores, but if it’s used…I expect to pay less than market value for it because it still smells like the previous owner and I have to wash it. Fine. Urban Outfitters sells recreations. Think about this, in the 60′s and 70′s, when that sweater was new, it probably didn’t cost 60 bucks. Original! Not used! Authentic vintage apparel! What I also don’t get is why people concede to pay that kind of money for something you can buy for much cheaper. What’s the deal? By paying $60.00 for a $3.00 item, does this somehow give you street cred?

In these troubling economic times, it baffles me that Urban Outfitters has the balls to over price a reasonable facsimile of vintage clothing made in China. I understand why American Apparel over charges their merchandise. It’s made in America and they pay legal wages. I can’t afford to buy American made, but I understand their motives. Along with Urban Outfitter’s same hoodie/different screen print, “vintage” tees and kitschy tsotchkes, isn’t what they’re doing just repackaging our youth and selling it back to us? Classic to me, brand-spanking-new to today’s college kids, I guess. Nostalgia isn’t worth $60.00 a piece.

Urban Outfitters is a rip off on so many levels it sickens me. I’m done. I can’t go back there. Urban Outfitters, consider yourself boycotted. I should have done this years ago.

As an added bonus, I pay attention to street fashion and I’ve noticed these kids who dress like ragamuffins from the latest casting of Oliver. Truth be told, most of what they’re wearing cost a pretty penny and some are actually from high-priced designers. How the fuck do college kids with no income afford designer clothes? Furthermore, why pay a heap-load for something they won’t iron and looks used? And stinky-looking Emo kids with a billion tattoos. Hey, tattoos are expensive…how do they afford it? I’d really like to know.

Oy, I’m getting old. Or maybe, street fashion replaces street smarts. Fashion in general has taken a powder.