The Unemployed Life
I've been excited about quitting parking for about two weeks already (actually, more like two years...), but now that I've had my first free weekend in Los Angeles since spring 2007, it's really, really hit me how glad I am that I've quit. Sure, I'll probably regret it when my financial aid money runs out, and especially if I don't find a job in Santa Barbara for the summer...but I won't think about that now.
On Monday night I went to the New Beverly Cinema with Devon and Marissa. The New Bev is awesome; it shows old movies every night, and I'm pretty sure it's owned by Quentin Tarantino. Two summers ago I saw a James Bond double feature there...yeah, that's how awesome it is. So anyway, it was girls' night out in honor of the four hour long Gone With the Wind. We got ice cream before at Milk, then settled in, prepared to cry. I didn't cry as much as I expected...but it was really, really beautiful. Obviously the book is better, because it goes into such a ridiculous amount of detail...but I still really enjoyed the movie.
I have a 10 page midterm paper due tomorrow for my intellectual history class, so I spent Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evening working on it at Elysee. I didn't have to...but for one thing, my apartment is so depressing, I want to limit the amount of time I'm there :( Also, I wanted to get the bulk of the paper done before this weekend, because I knew Saturday was going to be busy and off the chain, yo.
My weekend plans were almost derailed on Friday though, when I got really sick. It was weird...I felt okay that morning, but quickly deteriorated once I got to my internship, and couldn't stop sneezing. How bizarre! I figured it was just allergies. I left early, and felt miserable walking, because it was so hot, but also really windy. Very confusing, and I really wanted to die. I bought OJ and ice cream and kleenex boxes, and I kicked Evan out of our room, and I watched TV. I went to sleep at 10, because I knew that would solve everything: since Coachella (so, two weeks), I've been averaging about 6 hours of sleep a night. I didn't have a sore throat or an achey body or anything, I knew I was just run down and plagued with allergies. SO, I slept from 10 PM to 9 AM...and it worked!!
I felt much better that morning. I sat on the lovesac and watched Community and 30 Rock on demand, then showered and went out into the world with Conor and Megan. First we went to Scoops, which I've been wanting to try for a couple years now, because of their wacky ice cream flavors that change daily. For instance, I ordered lemon basil and almond passion fruit, and sampled brown bread, and chocolate tomato, and could have got blueberry triple sec too!
Next we went to Buffalo Exchange to sell our clothes. I had two bags and a trash bag full of old stuff, of which they took NOTHING. It made me mad, even though it shouldn't have--some of the stuff I was getting rid of was bought way back in SEVENTH GRADE! My closet is still plenty full, probably with a lot of stuff that should also be thrown out...but I have a hard time parting with my clothes. What I mean is, if I'm getting rid of it, it must be really, really, really old and awful...so I shouldn't blame Buffalo Exchange for not wanting it. But still, it hurt!
We got to Space 15twenty really early, and saw the band setting up and wandering around...very surreal. Spent some time at Amoeba, then in Hennessey+Ingalls, a pretentious art and architecture bookstore that I basically fell in love with. I don't plan on spending much money in life--I think I'm fairly frugal now, and I hope to continue that trend. I don't need a flashy car, or a gigantic house...I will be perfectly happy with a studio lofted loft apartment, and I will decorate it well, but it won't be the end all-be all of my existence. And obviously I like nice clothes, but again, I will not go overboard. But I really would love to spend money on nice books. I love books. I want my livingroom to be full of them. Did I talk about this in my last entry? Probably.
Another thing about the future and my last entry and this one too is that I won't be spending money on going out to eat. I just don't like it! You see, we got dinner at Umami Burger before the show...a lot of my friends are really into these fancy gourmet burger places, so I thought okay, here's my chance to try one. It was just a disaster, IMO. First off, the burgers cost $10. Our waiter was also quite rude, and made me feel stupid for not knowing the intricacies of the umami burger, which on the menu, is just listed as "umami burger, available in veggie option." To me that means just a veggie patty and a bun, but after twisting the waiter's arm, I discerned that there is no veggie patty, but a portobello mushroom, and other fancy things, like butter lettuce and sundried tomatoes and fancy sauces and cheeses. How on earth am I supposed to know that if it's not stated on the menu!? Anyway, I ended up getting the Earth Burger, which tasted really good, but fell apart immediately (one of my biggest pet peeves). The waiter messed up again when we were trying to pay. Megan went off to give Alex quarters for the meter, and she left her credit card, which we turned in along with mine and Conor's, and a note at the top with how much to charge to each card. The guy came back and gave this speech about how "I didn't know you were going to do this, and I'm only supposed to accept two cards. So this one [he threw a card down on table] is fine [though it wasn't, because he had charged Conor's amount to my card], and this one [threw Megan's card down] was declined, and I didn't even try this one [threw Conor's card on the table]." What. a. dick. Bah.
Anyway, now that my Yelp review is over, I'll get on with the best part of the night: MEETING and watching Portugal. the Man perform! After dinner we met up with Alex and Ali and her friend, and checked out the Poketo/Kitsune Noir "Los Angeles, I'm Yours" art gallery. As per usual, gorgeous art, way out of my price range. BUT John and Zach, the guitarist/vocalist and bassist for P.TM, were just hanging out, chatting with people! I was nervous but approached them anyway, and had them sign my program, and took a picture with them. John and I chatted a bit about the art there (oh jeez I had no idea what to say), and he was so soft-spoken and nice!
The show started at 8, and Megan and I caused problems in our attempt to get up to the front (something I never used to care about doing). People had been waiting for two hours, and they had roped off the front 3/4 of the place, making the rest of us stand in the back. But then they announced that the bar had just opened, and that it was at the front, to the left of the stage. So Megan and I, the two non-drinkers of our friends, told the bouncer we wanted to go get drinks. And he let us in! We got about halfway through the crowd, and then had a hard time moving...so as a joke, I started calling out "Kyle!," to make it seem like we were trying to find our friend up at the front. This worked a little too well, because people around us started calling out his name too...until they realized it was all a lie, and there was no Kyle! But it worked, because there were only two people in between us and the stage :) It was hilarious though, because every ten minutes or so, the people behind us would start calling out "Kyle" again...and telling me I was "full of lies." LOLZ. Karma's a bitch, though, because after about 15 minutes my chest felt cold...I looked down and was dismayed to see that my dress had become unbuttoned! My bra was definitely exposed...who knows how long for. Whoops :(
WOW I can't believe it took me this long to get to the entire point of the entry: Portugal. the Man's show! Unfortunately we were on the left again (John always faces the right for some reason)...but it was beautiful, of course. Much less rockin' than at Coachella, but so so so good in a different way.
PROOF:
And now I have the whole day to myself! Evan isn't here, it's 12:30, and I'm still unshowered and wearing PJs. Yesss! I have to finish my paper, but I think I'll also clean the bathroom and tidy up my room a bit. And I'm in a good music mood, so I think I'll also download some new tunes. Weeeeee.
On Monday night I went to the New Beverly Cinema with Devon and Marissa. The New Bev is awesome; it shows old movies every night, and I'm pretty sure it's owned by Quentin Tarantino. Two summers ago I saw a James Bond double feature there...yeah, that's how awesome it is. So anyway, it was girls' night out in honor of the four hour long Gone With the Wind. We got ice cream before at Milk, then settled in, prepared to cry. I didn't cry as much as I expected...but it was really, really beautiful. Obviously the book is better, because it goes into such a ridiculous amount of detail...but I still really enjoyed the movie.
I have a 10 page midterm paper due tomorrow for my intellectual history class, so I spent Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evening working on it at Elysee. I didn't have to...but for one thing, my apartment is so depressing, I want to limit the amount of time I'm there :( Also, I wanted to get the bulk of the paper done before this weekend, because I knew Saturday was going to be busy and off the chain, yo.
My weekend plans were almost derailed on Friday though, when I got really sick. It was weird...I felt okay that morning, but quickly deteriorated once I got to my internship, and couldn't stop sneezing. How bizarre! I figured it was just allergies. I left early, and felt miserable walking, because it was so hot, but also really windy. Very confusing, and I really wanted to die. I bought OJ and ice cream and kleenex boxes, and I kicked Evan out of our room, and I watched TV. I went to sleep at 10, because I knew that would solve everything: since Coachella (so, two weeks), I've been averaging about 6 hours of sleep a night. I didn't have a sore throat or an achey body or anything, I knew I was just run down and plagued with allergies. SO, I slept from 10 PM to 9 AM...and it worked!!
I felt much better that morning. I sat on the lovesac and watched Community and 30 Rock on demand, then showered and went out into the world with Conor and Megan. First we went to Scoops, which I've been wanting to try for a couple years now, because of their wacky ice cream flavors that change daily. For instance, I ordered lemon basil and almond passion fruit, and sampled brown bread, and chocolate tomato, and could have got blueberry triple sec too!
Next we went to Buffalo Exchange to sell our clothes. I had two bags and a trash bag full of old stuff, of which they took NOTHING. It made me mad, even though it shouldn't have--some of the stuff I was getting rid of was bought way back in SEVENTH GRADE! My closet is still plenty full, probably with a lot of stuff that should also be thrown out...but I have a hard time parting with my clothes. What I mean is, if I'm getting rid of it, it must be really, really, really old and awful...so I shouldn't blame Buffalo Exchange for not wanting it. But still, it hurt!
We got to Space 15twenty really early, and saw the band setting up and wandering around...very surreal. Spent some time at Amoeba, then in Hennessey+Ingalls, a pretentious art and architecture bookstore that I basically fell in love with. I don't plan on spending much money in life--I think I'm fairly frugal now, and I hope to continue that trend. I don't need a flashy car, or a gigantic house...I will be perfectly happy with a studio lofted loft apartment, and I will decorate it well, but it won't be the end all-be all of my existence. And obviously I like nice clothes, but again, I will not go overboard. But I really would love to spend money on nice books. I love books. I want my livingroom to be full of them. Did I talk about this in my last entry? Probably.
Another thing about the future and my last entry and this one too is that I won't be spending money on going out to eat. I just don't like it! You see, we got dinner at Umami Burger before the show...a lot of my friends are really into these fancy gourmet burger places, so I thought okay, here's my chance to try one. It was just a disaster, IMO. First off, the burgers cost $10. Our waiter was also quite rude, and made me feel stupid for not knowing the intricacies of the umami burger, which on the menu, is just listed as "umami burger, available in veggie option." To me that means just a veggie patty and a bun, but after twisting the waiter's arm, I discerned that there is no veggie patty, but a portobello mushroom, and other fancy things, like butter lettuce and sundried tomatoes and fancy sauces and cheeses. How on earth am I supposed to know that if it's not stated on the menu!? Anyway, I ended up getting the Earth Burger, which tasted really good, but fell apart immediately (one of my biggest pet peeves). The waiter messed up again when we were trying to pay. Megan went off to give Alex quarters for the meter, and she left her credit card, which we turned in along with mine and Conor's, and a note at the top with how much to charge to each card. The guy came back and gave this speech about how "I didn't know you were going to do this, and I'm only supposed to accept two cards. So this one [he threw a card down on table] is fine [though it wasn't, because he had charged Conor's amount to my card], and this one [threw Megan's card down] was declined, and I didn't even try this one [threw Conor's card on the table]." What. a. dick. Bah.
Anyway, now that my Yelp review is over, I'll get on with the best part of the night: MEETING and watching Portugal. the Man perform! After dinner we met up with Alex and Ali and her friend, and checked out the Poketo/Kitsune Noir "Los Angeles, I'm Yours" art gallery. As per usual, gorgeous art, way out of my price range. BUT John and Zach, the guitarist/vocalist and bassist for P.TM, were just hanging out, chatting with people! I was nervous but approached them anyway, and had them sign my program, and took a picture with them. John and I chatted a bit about the art there (oh jeez I had no idea what to say), and he was so soft-spoken and nice!
The show started at 8, and Megan and I caused problems in our attempt to get up to the front (something I never used to care about doing). People had been waiting for two hours, and they had roped off the front 3/4 of the place, making the rest of us stand in the back. But then they announced that the bar had just opened, and that it was at the front, to the left of the stage. So Megan and I, the two non-drinkers of our friends, told the bouncer we wanted to go get drinks. And he let us in! We got about halfway through the crowd, and then had a hard time moving...so as a joke, I started calling out "Kyle!," to make it seem like we were trying to find our friend up at the front. This worked a little too well, because people around us started calling out his name too...until they realized it was all a lie, and there was no Kyle! But it worked, because there were only two people in between us and the stage :) It was hilarious though, because every ten minutes or so, the people behind us would start calling out "Kyle" again...and telling me I was "full of lies." LOLZ. Karma's a bitch, though, because after about 15 minutes my chest felt cold...I looked down and was dismayed to see that my dress had become unbuttoned! My bra was definitely exposed...who knows how long for. Whoops :(
WOW I can't believe it took me this long to get to the entire point of the entry: Portugal. the Man's show! Unfortunately we were on the left again (John always faces the right for some reason)...but it was beautiful, of course. Much less rockin' than at Coachella, but so so so good in a different way.
PROOF:
And now I have the whole day to myself! Evan isn't here, it's 12:30, and I'm still unshowered and wearing PJs. Yesss! I have to finish my paper, but I think I'll also clean the bathroom and tidy up my room a bit. And I'm in a good music mood, so I think I'll also download some new tunes. Weeeeee.