Filed under: Uncategorized
Jonathan leaned forward, adjusting the clothes hanger that was fixed to the car radio. The narrow tree-lined country road was slippery and snow was falling thickly from the night sky. Big, wet snowflakes flew in through the window. He lit a cigarette with one hand while steering the old Buick with his knees, trying to get the radio to come in with the makeshift antenna. He lightly touched the brakes, rounding a curve in the road, and could feel the back wheels slide slightly but he had expected it. A glance at the speedometer reminded him that it, like most of the other components of the old Buick, had stopped working. His father bought the car for him after his unceremonious return from the fall semester at Northwestern, where he had failed three courses. He wasn’t sure if the rusty car had been a gesture of pity or punishment. It was from 1988, the same year that he was born, which he thought about often.
after i dropped off tom’s indian visa application yesterday, i started wandering around though union square. i stopped in the new barneys for the first time. as stores go, this one was nice but for barneys it kind of sucks, doesn’t even come close to the new york or beverly hills stores… too bad. mostly it lacks the luxury of open space. the men’s department feels boxy and the space doesn’t flow. plus, they don’t have dries van noten at this location, boo. as i was walking past the levi’s flagship store, i remembered reading about this body-scan thing that they had there and went in, but no dice, they had gotten rid of it. walked down maiden lane to admire shop window’s then bought a package of parliament ultra lights at a 711 on market street.
continued down market into the financial district ( i love how neighborhoods flow into one another in san francisco) in order to better aquaint myself with this part of the city. i love the office tower at 555 california street, its beautiful, and the space around it is awesome- it makes it feel as though you are entering a temple of something.
i continued down to embarcadero center which is also pretty cool close-up, it looks as though you are staring up at jagged cliffs. my grandfather used to work in one of the office towers here, but i wasn’t sure which one. had a coffee from tully’s and went into walden books to consult the san francisco guidebooks on my choice of restaurant for lunch. i was excited because tom told me not to spend more than $40 or else it would look to expensive when he does his expenses. anyway, spending $40 on lunch is not something I do very often (usually $4.25 lo mein special or a home-made sandwich) so I wanted to go somewhere really cool. flipped through the book and called my mom for a recommendation. she suggested one market, mostly because she used to live in the same building as the chef, and had a funny story about making him spaghetti-o’s once. anyway, i decided that i wanted an incredible view, so i decided on the top of the mark. walked through the le meridian hotel to check it out and ask the concierge if i would need reservations for lunch, which i didn’t. the lobby and restaurant were sleek and cool, but small for such a large hotel. on the cab ride over saw about forty people dressed in fairy costumes along california street.
yesterday, in san francisco, i got off the bart train a station too early so i had to walk down market from civic center to the union square area. this stretch of market is packed with homeless people sleeping, peeing in alleys, and asking me for change. why are the homeless in san francisco so much grosser looking than in la? maybe it has to do with them not getting as much sun or something.
Filed under: 3rd street, celebrities, fashion, los angeles, mid-city west, my neighborhood, people, shopping, the grove
chatted with solange knowles while in line at the gap in the grove. she was with her son and they had just seen bee movie. she is very pretty in person and seemed sweet and unpretentious. her son was very well behaved. i opened up a spider-man toy that his mom had just bought him while she was paying and she made sure that he said please and thank you. she bought a cashmere cardigan and horizontal striped scarf. i had no idea who she was until a friend told me after she left. can’t believe she is only 21, she must have had her son fairly young, i would have guessed that she was at least 26.
Filed under: crime, drama, ethical dilemmas, kindness, people, the new york times
i decided to send a letter to randy cohen, who writes the column “the ethicist” for the new york times magazine, in order to solve my ethical dilemma. i hope he replies, i love his column. here is the letter i wrote:
Dear Mr. Cohen,
Recently, my home was robbed. Thousands of dollars worth of things both replaceable and irreplaceable were stolen, as well as my car. A few days later, my car was recovered and the people allegedly responsible were arrested. Upon receiving my car, I discovered that it was filled with the possesions of one of the people in custody. I tried to give the things to the impound lot, but they wouldn’t take them and when I called the detective working on the case, she told me to do whatever I wanted with the things. Would I be acting correctly to give the items ( mostly clothing and other personal things) to a charity shop? Or do I have an ethical obligation to try to return them to their owner, even if they stole from me?
Thanks for your time,
xxxx
Filed under: being poor, crime, drama, ethical dilemmas, kindness, los angeles, people
so, i got a call from the police at 2 in the morning, they had my car, and had arrested the two people who were driving it on crenshaw. the girl in the driver’s seat was 16 and apparently a repeat offender. getting the car back took forever, at first they wouldn’t let me have it because they insisted that it was still stolen, even though you could see it in the impound lot. i know there are some very intelligent police officers out there, but i didn’t meet any yesterday.
the car is ok i think, although they smashed one of the side mirrors, broke one of the tail lights, the check engine light is on, the gps is gone, and someone wrote their initals on the glove compartment-door. unfortunately, everything that i had in the car (cds, chargers, gym clothes, owner’s manual and registration documents) are all gone.
the weirdest thing was that all of this girl’s stuff was in the car and it seemed like she had been living in it, sad. The police told me she was a “problem child” and that they were trying to put her in some kind of prison-school. i took all of her things (clothes, make-up, instant oatmeal, maxi-pads) and put them in a bag. my first thought was to take them to the police station and my second thought was screw that, that little bitch stole all my shit. her clothes are in the dryer now, i’m going to give them to out of the closet, they will probably give her a uniform at her new school. I feel kind of guilty, like i’m enforcing some petty lex talionis, but i do know, from personal experiance, that the worse the consequences, the better you learn your lesson… or would she be better inspired by a wronged stranger’s kindness? idk.
Filed under: 3rd street, architecture, being poor, celebrities, fashion, food, los angeles, mid-city west, my neighborhood, people, restaurants, shopping
this morning i received a (1 1/2 year late) welcome to the neighborhood from norm’s diner on la cienega along with a $10 gift certificate, cool. went there for lunch, interesting 1950’s modernist architecture, slow service, but a good tuna melt– not as good as canter’s or johnny rocket’s but better than swinger’s. I owed them 52 cents plus $2 tip. Appreciated the free lunch but probably won’t go back, canter’s, j.r.’s and swingers are all alot closer.
on the way back stopped at polkadots and moonbeams and ravishing resale on 3rd street. the woman who own’s ravishing resale was cool, funny and used to be a buyer for filene’s. admired an alligator skin gianfranco ferre motorcycle jacket she has. the girl at the resale p & m store was very sweet/funny, but the girls in the boutique p & m store didn’t even say hello to me, even though i was the only person in the store. when you are a boy and you go into a woman’s only boutique, one of two things happen– either they think that you are stylist or something and are super nice, or they think you have no clue where the hell you are and ignore you. i wish more resale places had men’s things… btw, if anyone needs a knee-length mohair cape, there is one on sale at polkadots and moonbeams for $40.
also, saw a decent pack of paparazzi outside of the vegan-organic place on la cienega. almost stopped to see who was inside, but i was hungry, and vegan food tastes like shit.
threw a face that i have been working on for my fashion illustration class in the fireplace because it wasn’t turning out the way i wanted. overtired. but it wasn’t that bad, and i’m not going to be able to do any better tonight. bedtime.
Filed under: 3rd street, celebrities, los angeles, mid-city west, my neighborhood, people, shopping, television, the grove
almost forgot, saw rachel miner (the s&m bisexual assistant / new agent on californication) today while shopping at the grove. i usually don’t get that excited about celebrity sightings, but californication is one of two shows that i’m obsessed with (the other being weeds). she looked great, the same in person as on the show. was walking with a handsome, skinny guy with long curly hair in tight jeans. also, just happened to be watching a rerun of sex and the city, “twenty-something girls vs. thirty-something women”, and recognized her as “laurel” the girl saving herself for marriage who was obsessed with carrie. hopefully they continue her charachter in season 2, i liked her.
http://imdb.com/name/nm0001540/
