wizzard

All I want for Chanukah

  

Every December in grade school I enjoyed 8 days of being the envy of all of my friends. "So you get present every night and on Christmas?"  They'd ask in disbelief.  I was the only kid they knew who was Jewish and who had a Christmas tree - the only thing borrowed from my Dad's Catholicism.

Each year as Chanukah approached, I suppose drunken from my friends surrounding envy, I imagined running downstairs to the garage to a brand new 10 speed with a giant dradled covered bow on it's handle bars.  

Instead, after the lighting of the candles and monotoned chanting of prayers, my mother would leave the room to retrieve our gifts. She returned with 2 identically shaped presents and handed them to me and my sister, careful not to make eye contact.  

Still disillusioned, I feverishly tore the paper off the cylindrical shape only to reveal a bottle of Suave.  I quickly flashed back to the previous morning when I shouted from the shower that we were out of shampoo.

I didn't have to look at my sister to know that she held the accompanying conditioner, but still exchanged glances of utter disappointment as though we were two orphans receiving a heel of stale bread.

By the time the 8th and final night arrived, we had recalibrated our own expectations.  When my mother handed us each identical rectangular gifts, we ripped the paper off to reveal our very own boxes of sugar cereal - a forbidden breakfast in our home.  As my sister ate her Pops for breakfast lunch and dinner, I savored every bite of Frosted Flakes all through Christmas.

Watts Towers

 

 

 

this is my message to myself

I heard this song last night and enjoyed it as much as I used to when I was 13.

Creative

 

Parents

*thanks sam

I Got Problems

Excerpt From A Teenage Opera

Liv Soviet

 

Everything

If you walk around a relatively unfamiliar place long enough and do your best to let go, you'll inevitably stumble upon something that feels meant for you.

In Inglewood I found a store that only says "books" on the outside, but it should say, "everything".

When I stepped inside and said "Whoa" out loud, the store owner laughed. He didn't want me to take pictures, which saved me from my own self-distraction.

I spent hours admiring used books, records, things, vintage jewelry, bootleg conspiracy dvd's, deadstock greeting cards...

My first annoying instinct was to keep it to myself, but then thought if someone else I knew could experience their own version of walking in there for the first time - then the risk of it being overrun by people who like things is worth it.

Some of my favorite purchases included a photography book of the Soviet Union, a Tibetan beaded belt, and little log cabin.

When the owner, Tsering, helped me to my car, he smiled as a woman in front of us wearing a head to toe black fringe outfit swayed her hips as she sipped from a big gulp. The fringe was so long, the lower pieces dragged on the ground.

"Nice outfit" he said genuinely.

She turned around, not the least bit suspicious and smiled saying, "thank you."

"And you clean the streets at the same time" he added.

Luckily she thought this was hysterical also.

 

Reasons

I do not like change

Inglewood and West Adams

 

 

  

 

teenage kermship

axis of awesome

 

I can't believe I forgot these guys! Ghost (left) is the singer in a metal band called Axis, while also being the sweetest stranger I've ever met.

sun schmun

Weather in this city is the same for the most part - making it especially difficult to answer questions regarding time and place.  Even answering a simple question such as "how long have you lived here" sends me into a momentary daze consisting of numbers, years, and interchangeable sunny memories (literally).

The cloudy days are therefore exhilarating.  The type of day that used to make it hard to get out of bed on the east coast feels like a holiday here.



I spent one of these most recent afternoons in Boyle Heights

After walking around for a few hours I was about to call it a day, but then I felt like I should keep walking.

I did and I came across this.

Aside from having the best name for a store, ever, it might be the most unique bookstore I've found.  David let me come in before he was officially open and snoop around.  He just moved back from D.C. where he held a position as the Literature Director at the National Endowment of Arts. 

He decided to open this store as kind of an experiment I guess, as opposed to a really solid business venture.

People in the neighborhood can borrow a book for free or purchase one for a dollar.  Outsiders like me pay half of the listed price.  I felt like I had time traveled which is one of the best feelings you can have I think.

His neighbor Paul came by to help put the sign on the door. It turns out he's an artist who is currently performing puppet shows in traffic.