IT'S BEEN

one month since I wrote one of these

I do not exactly know why writing and guilt are so intertwined. There's guilt that you aren't writing enough, or not writing well enough, or not writing long enough, or not writing serious enough, or not writing funny enough, or not writing at all. Again, I do not know why this is but it seems to be a widely occurring phenomenon among writers. I suppose it mostly stems from how personal and solitary the experience of writing is and that writers are always comparing themselves to other writers who always seem to be writing more in quantity and quality than yourself. This is pretty silly, I think. It's fine to go days, weeks, months, years without doing something you like and you shouldn't feel guilty about that. Writing should be fun and you shouldn't lose sleep over not doing it. 

So anyway, I'm making an effort to be actively writing again mostly because I enjoy doing it and maybe more mostly because I got a press pass to write about Portola Festival which is in two weeks so I'd like to be in the rhythm of writing by then. Also Twitter is seriously dogshit these days and I’m making an effort to spend my time on more worthwhile ventures such as messing around on my blog and walking around outside. I don't have some big topic to dive in so I'm just going to write about some things that have made me happy recently. 

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Right now I'm on the roof of my apartment building in Los Angeles. It's nice up here. The view isn't particularly special but I get a fantastic look at the sunset and it's great to have an outdoor space without leaving your house. I drank some beers with Kale and Alexio up here on Friday while we watched the sunset. What's better than that? Some stuff, but not much. 

sunset

set sun

One thing that is better than that is renting out a private karaoke room with a bunch of friends and a few mutual friends that you've never met before which we did a couple weekends ago. It took us a little while to figure out the outdated queuing technology for the songs but once we got in the rhythm I was truly having the time of my life. I think I did something in the neighborhood of 10 songs in the three hours we were there including some of my go-to's (Call Me Maybe, Kokomo, All These Things That I've Done, any ABBA song) and some new ones (Happy Birthday, Taylor Swift's Love Story twice in a row to end the night). Having someone approach you after a karaoke performance to congratulate you and ask your name is one of the best feelings in the world I think. Brief moment of superstardom. 

I listened to Arthur Russell's World of Echo for the first time last week and was blown away. I haven't been floored on a first listen like that in a while. The record sounds like nothing else I've ever heard which is an overused sentence but in this case is absolutely true. Certainly possible other stuff like it exists but I just haven't heard it. There is a very beautiful entry on the rateyourmusic.com page for this album which I recommend reading. Music is so beautiful in so many ways. 

Boy’s Day part 1

Boy’s Day part 2

Going to the beach absolutely rules. Swimming in the ocean is one of the most visceral feelings in the entire world and we are so lucky that we are able to do that. I have always lived at least reasonably close to the ocean but they've always been the cold and foggy kinds which I'm sorry almost always suck ass. The Oregon Coast has some cool spots but if you are offering me a day at Astoria or a day at Malibu it is an absolute no-brainer. 

Another new artist to me is Call Super. They are a DJ/producer who I've been aware of for a while but never listened to until a couple days ago. I was hiking up Runyon Canyon listening to their Dekmantel set and losing my mind. It is a ton of fun to listen to, as is their b2b with a longtime favorite of mine: Objekt. Call Super's discography is excellent from what I've heard so far and right now I've got their 2014 album, Suzi Ecto, in my headphones. Good stuff thus far, I recommend you give their music a few spins. 

incredible apple pie I shared with friends at Jones (7205 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90046 - I will not gatekeep on here)

One thing I was dreading about moving to Los Angeles was the driving. I've always enjoyed driving but resent having to do it because public transit should be far more robust -especially in a city of this size- and I would much rather take a train or bus than get into my car by myself and spew exhaust all over town. I've used public transit a decent amount and you know I'm getting my steps in but I have also really enjoyed driving at night here. Zipping home on 101 with just a few cars on the road and the silhouettes of palm trees plastered on the artificially illuminated sky is a real treat. Polluting has its pleasantries.