Stuff I've been enjoying and stuff I've been annoyed about

Things I've been enjoying

• Bad coffee: I had a terrible cappuccino a couple weeks ago at a local coffee shop, and it was sort of speaking to me. I think it's nice when things aren't perfect all the time. Sometimes you have to drink a bad coffee in the rain.
• My new Gucci sunglasses from The Real Real: Wearing my sunnies around the bay makes me able to stomach it just a little more easily, since I can pretend I'm going to the WeHo Urth Caffe to link with Vince and E #entourage.
• The new season of Curb: Season 11 was sort of hit or miss for me, owing especially to the presences of Irma and Maria-Sofia, but I think we're back. Now that they're not rubbing obnoxious characters with seemingly no redemptive qualities in our faces, I can laugh at Larry's misfortunes and exploits again... "I think you need to get that dog a pronoun." 
• New Vampire Weekend singles: Capricorn and Gen X cops remind me a lot more of Modern Vampires era VW than FotB, which for many is a positive. I think Ezra grew a lot as a songwriter during the previous album cycle though, and my first impression is that he's found a way to write songs that are more classically Vampire Weekend while still pushing the sound and aesthetic of the band forward. In so many words I think Only God Was Above Us will be the sonic bridge between MVotC and FoTB. I also love it when Ezra sings about time and aging: "Too old for dying young, too young to live alone," is a great lyric. 

         Things I've been annoyed about

• @databutmakeitfashion on IG: Props to the person that runs that account for their dedication to the data science craft, but trend analysis that doesn't touch on cultural context is empty, and only fuels overconsumption and trend chasing. I do follow still though so who is laughing I guess.
• Rain: I usually love rain, but it's been putting a damper on my desire to run outside and also wear my sunglasses. Let's get a handle on that.

I guess that's it. I was expecting to be annoyed about more stuff but I'm happy to report a short list anyhow.

Okay, bye.

Balenciaga Fall 24, the inscrutability of LA life, and the anti-TikTok city

 Hello All.

After many moons and a lot of test taking, I'm back. Also I was home in LA collecting fodder for this blog post. Also I saw Timothee and Kylie at a coffee shop lol.

Running One

Hello.

I've been running, which means that I have to write about running now. 

In a move born from my struggle with procrastination, I've been trying to implement more routines into my life, starting with this blog, and now featuring a workout regimen. As you have inferred from above, that workout is running.

I, like many, have been "running," for a long time. Every sport I've practiced has had some amount of sprinting and warm up jogging involved. In fact, warm up jogging and sprinting were all I did when I ran track. I've never really felt like a runner though... The closest I got was during lockdown, when I was putting in around seven miles a week off the back of nightly one mile runs.* I've claimed to hate distance running for a long time, hence the short distance runs I was doing. Something has shifted though.

*Arguably this is enough to be considered a runner, but I think it was more of an, "I work out," thing and less of an "I run" thing. 

My aim is to run nine miles every week broken up over three runs. I'm traveling a previously unthinkable three miles a session, and it's kind of shaking up my life. The runner's high is too real. 

I've got to run because I've decided it's important to do things you claim to not like. As it turns out though, it feels really good to improve at something, and distance running is nice because you get to just think about stuff. Plus it makes me feel more on top of shit and I like being in shape blah blah blah. 

Another highlight of running is less related to me overcoming past obstacles; whilst pounding the pavement I've felt a stronger connection to the immediate world around me. I see streets I've never seen, nod at runners going past me, peek at what people are eating at restaurants I've never been to, and uncover beautiful views I've never seen. 

Here's an example: I took a run around 5pm on Halloween which yielded a nice moment. During said run, I came through a cul-de-sac where a number of aunt and uncle looking people were sat around a table. They called me over and insisted I take a candy, as no children had made it to their alcove yet. Of course I indulged in a bit of banter before taking the bar and going on my way. It felt good to have a little sugar, but more importantly I felt more like a neighborhood guy than I ever have. Of course, I never would've been there in the first place unless I was getting that work in (as in running).  

Today, I ran up a big hill and looked at the San Francisco bay. Even from far away, seeing the ocean is a transformative experience. Next time I run, I'm thinking about going down to the water so I can make it even more meditative.

The whole process feels unique to me primarily because it isn't stressful. When I was fencing, there was the stress inducing feeling that I needed to be improving all the time. When I played high school volleyball, there were goals for the program that I had to play towards, lest I rot on JV for eternity. Even pick up games of basketball can feel stressful at times, as a series of bad shots is liable to leave a person feeling (or anticipating) the glares of their teammates. Of course this may change as I continue to run, but so far I've found comfort in not holding myself to a standard and allowing the run to be more about process and less about product. The mental seems to fare a lot better when coaches aren't whispering in my ear.

The other great thing about running is that I can do it wherever I want. Two weeks ago I went on a great outing down the so-called Mystic River in Medford, MA. Not only did I get a better feel for the place, but I got to run by a river as well. Something about the natural world... I'm hopeful that my running shoes continue to travel with me, so that I can keep exploring through that lens.

List of things I want:

• To run on the beach path when I'm back in LA
• To join a run club when I graduate Berkeley and move to a major coastal US city
• To get cool running shoes after I wear my current ones out
• To increase to fifteen miles a week over four to five sessions

So that's kind of where I'm at on running. Feels great to be doing something new. Also when is a better time to put on a little How Long Gone than when you're getting fit.

See you guys out on the streets.

P.S. I just checked and I implemented my running routine about three weeks ago, so in some ways this is like an affirmation that I won't kick the habit. Thanks for reading!

Santa Monica One

 Hello. I just finished Joan Didion's The White Album and I'm pretty sure that's why I wrote this whole thing in the style that I wrote it in. Great book. 

I am seated in Primo Passo Coffee Roasters on Montana Boulevard and Seventh Street in Santa Monica. It is sunny outside and the spot is popping. Every portion of the Santa Monica spectrum is represented in here, exactly as I had hoped and expected. There are old men in expensive sportswear, old women in gaudy Saturday morning garb, beachy looking sandal-wearers, millenial women wearing millenial women clothes, IG baddies, and athleisure couples featuring guys that are dressed like shit but probably make more than two hundred thousand dollars a year. Today's surprise appearance is a guy wearing a pair of those terrible "Revenge Storm," fake Vans low-tops. This is what Santa Monica is all about.

It's important to note that this is not necessarily the experience of the majority of people who come here to vacation. There is some invisible force which keeps the army of beach hungry tourists away from these oases, in other words "The real Santa Monica." These places form the collective source of hometown pride I've developed since I left for college. 

Take, for example, the restaurant known singularly as "Vito." My grandparents have been going to Vito for more than thirty years, which has led my grandfather to know a great deal about the personal lives of the staff as well as the ownership. This historical context, combined with both the general ambiance and the amount of old people, lends the dining experience an austere quality that you just can't find on the rooftop patio at Elephante.

What I'm trying to say is that the best of Santa Monica is not defined by what is ultra popping, so much as by what has been held dear by the community. 

Ok hold on.

Having written all this, I would bet a lot of money that this is pretty much what everyone takes pride in within their community. Huh.

In the quest to feel individual I just came to what is probably a universal truth... So it goes!

Bye!

SFO

Hello.

As you might have guessed from the title of this blog post, it is about SFO. Conveniently I am also at SFO right now. At terminal C to be exact. Heading to Boston and what have you.

I love the airport. The variety of people on view here (when you’re not busy writing blog posts on your phone) is frankly astounding. I especially love to pay attention to the genre of people going to particular cities. In the TSA line I was positioned behind a woman with a significant amount of work done, and her Norwood toting, vaguely British-accented husband. I was astounded to find out that they were homeward bound to Atlanta! Not every story is so compelling though.

People at SFO tend to just look like they should be in San Francisco in the worst way possible. Whatever swag this city had historically has been ground to the bone by prolific vest wearers and misguided GORP diehards. I shed a tear at the sight of villainous masses of down feathers and brown leather shoes. Let’s do better SF.

Simultaneously, I think my favorite feature of San Francisco is SFO terminal 1. It’s probably the nicest terminal I’ve had the pleasure of rolling through. Of course it goes without saying that declaring an airport terminal that isn’t even geographically in the city isn’t gonna be a popular take but think about it this way: when I’m at the airport that means I’m leaving the bay. 

Just kidding I mostly like it here. 

Anyway. I’m about to board. Bye.

Sent from my iPhone

The Sincerity-Irony Matrix

 Former Hyper Sincere Nerd Reckons With Behavioral Trends In Newfound Interest Groups

Hello. I just watched a video on YouTube about this huge LARPing event that happens every year in Canada. LARP stands for Live Action Role Play, and is essentially like playing dungeons and dragons but in real life. This is information that I have known for probably about 7 or 8 years now, because I was deep in that nerd shit from a young age. In fact, there was a point in my life where I really really wanted to go the event from the aforementioned video. Revisiting that moment in my life has brought the Sincerity-Irony Matrix to the forefront of my mind.

As you might infer from the above subheading, I would consider myself to be a former "hyper sincere nerd," or one who is deeply invested in their dork-styled interests, and not embarrassed about it at all. Whether it was Minecraft, Lego, or Nerf, you know I was fucking with that shit in a very real way. Even though most of my friends in middle school were not moving exactly at my wavelength, I was empowered in these pursuits by the internet. From around the ages of 12 to 14, I spent an inordinate amount of time playing Minecraft with a group of random people 3-6 years older than me on a group server. We were all putting out Youtube videos on some community theatre shit. I honestly credit some of my interpersonal skills to the amount of time I spent in Skype calls trying to get laughs. No facial expressions puts a lot of pressure on a person.

Yet disaster struck. I was shaken from my peaceful slumber in nerd-land by the call of the "IRL" friend-group-powered social life. I'll say it again: hanging out changed my life. Of course I had hung out before,  but in my sophomore year of high school I really started chilling. The kickback. The function. The house show. I was hooked.

Through these avenues, I was also introduced to some of the thought processes that a person aiming to fit in in a high school setting might go through. Do I look good? Is my fit clean? What do I talk about? Am I cool? All game changing inquiries that I, a kid who only wore basketball shorts and t-shirts, had never pondered. 

To make a long story short, I ended up pondering those questions a lot. Like a ton. This leads me to now. I think I've come to a crossroads where I must reckon with the fact that it is not healthy to be ironic about everything. I don't think I'm the worst in that sense, but I've crossed a semi-embarrassing threshold such that amendments are necessary so I don't say stupid shit.

I think this is especially relevant in the way that I process other people's interests. You really can't hate on someone for being super into some game or hobby or other— assuming its not harmful to others— without being low key weird yourself. I think this just ends up reflecting back on the caster of judgement, such that they come to fear being mocked for sharing their own interests.

After that paragraph I wrote something that sounded akin to the "I'm weird. I don't fit in," speech from Riverdale, so that's all the writing I can do tonight. Basically I want to be just a little more sincere.

Anyway... thoughts on that new Drake?

Bye.

What I would've posted on Instagram if I had taken good pictures this weekend

 

Bright and early in Venice Beach. I promise this post will not feature any additional images. Plus I already posted it on my story so I wouldn't put it on the grid.

I went home for the weekend, but I didn't take any pictures that I would realistically throw on the gram. I really want to post though. Here's the plan: I've decided that I will dictate for you a complete instagram post using words. Although none of these photos exist, they accurately represent bits of what I got up to.

Caption: Back To Rack

Slide One: Three people seated at a three top on a pleasant looking outdoor patio. There are plants I frankly can't identify because I don't know anything about them. Warm light cuts through the darkness to illuminate the scene. It's me and the 'rents post enjoying some delicious Italian food at Colapasta. Smiles all around. Keep it simple.  

Slide Two: No figures jump out in this image. What's obvious is the way the bright yellow of the table where my cappuccino is sitting contrasts against the pure blue of the sky. Let's all appreciate how pristine the pour is on the beverage. A couple of storefronts are visible in the background. Real heads know that I'm posted at Caffe Luxxe on Montana. A foundational portion of the back home experience, and an important nod to my knowers. 

Slide Three: A tasteful selection of neutral tones fills the screen. It's a mirror fit pic, face obscured by phone. I've donned a full tracksuit. The pants have tasteful darting akin to a permanent crease up the front and the neck of the jacket zips up high.... Is that a rack of tasteful, high quality basics in the background? Yes. That's exactly right. The hint of a coffee table book about design can be found in the top right corner. To the left, a full glass wall lets that beautiful Silver Lake sunshine into frame. Blessings to the good people at Lady White Co. 

Fin.

Wow. That was liberating. Maybe I'll never take a picture again.

Bye!