teenage dream

i am not a fan of modern day american pop music. it's vapid. and just plain awful. i have no idea how the rest of the world tolerates it. a big offender as well as perpetuator: katy perry. OR so i thought...
it was one lovely day that i received my nylon magazine in the mail. oh, zooey dechanel! failure to launch? yes man? elf? bones' sister? i love her! no, wait - what the....?! katy perry?! i had to do a double take. i had been deceived; it was indeed katy perry. shortly afterwards started my bizarre series of pop star make out dreams. the first partaker: yes, katy perry. we ****** and then i ***** and then she totally ********. i know, right?
when the video for "teenage dream" came on tv, i didn't instinctually change the channel. in fact, i watched it in its entirety. whaaaaa??? when "firework" became a single, the bartender at the dive bar asked me,"what do you want to hear?" and i gleefully requested it. (poor thing, he tried to spell "katy" with a "c" in the electronic juke box. which was surprising because he's a young gay guy, they love her, don't they? how does he find her on his ipod?)
alas, i now have to admit: katy perry's songs are catchy. i kinda like her. and if you do too, pilfer this stencil i've made and prove it.

watch.

to the young sexy beasts that keep us young.

and this is here just because i like it.

new stencils

tis an ode to freja, indeed. who would like to join me in running amuck and stenciling this on the mean streets? i'm serious. let me know. i double dare ya.

this came from this

before

after

night for day

love

power of glamour backstage

love

scissor at beauty bar on sundays

i've made an enemy of my liver through complications associated with jack daniel's. my short term memory is slightly damaged, or hazy at best. my fingertips barely have the strength to make contact with the keyboard and type. i. am. exhausted. what is it exactly that i attribute these ailments to? why, irene martinez's new night scissor at beauty bar, of course. duh. she throws a good party, and gets an even better crowd together: pretty girls and stylish andro types, and some mixed in between. though there isn't exactly a dance floor, the music was not to be contained, thus, the crowd made its own little corner that spread outwards as the night progressed. good times were had, new pals were made, drinks were drunk. and i saw some homos kissing. come see for yourself next sunday. you can even get a martini and manicure for $10. cheers.

http://thebeautybar.com/los_angeles/calendar/calendar.php?mode=view&id=35

over the counter

i have a weakness for pretty girls. i'm not talking about men's magazine types, nor lingerie models...yeah, they're near perfect human specimens alright, but i fancy the "non-norm". give me gap toothed, over bite, big glasses, freckle overload, mass of curly hair, gawky, eyes spread too far apart - any of it, all of it. i find it endearing. what some might call "imperfections", i call unique. i'm a sucker for it. you know what else i'm a sucker for? drugstore nail polish. here are a few of my current favorites:

 sally hansen #79, merlot: it's hard to find a decent red that doesn't register as too orangey or bright. this one dries like a shade of blood: bluish and rich.

 sinful colors #931 see you soon: it's a true midnight blue. looks nearly black once it dries, but catches a pretty blue sparkle in the light. more sophisticated than the lighter blues from teenage hood.

rimmel #270 steel grey: this is not grey really. it's like a dusty mauve. i'm into it.

cracks

i'm an eva green fan. looking forward to this coming to the states finally in march, period costumes and all.

blind

the first time i heard this song, i fell in love with it. i had to interrupt (apologies) and ask my best friend quickly about it before i got too sucked in to go back to asking her about it later. i recognized the vocals to be antony, but the music didn't sound quite like his. alas, it's hercules and love affair with antony lending his vocals. be prepared to be overwhelmed with a desire to go roller skating and rent caligula.

second chances

i'm a madonna fan, i always have been. i still remember begging for like a virgin on cassette for my 9th birthday and taking my mom to see evita on christmas day - both of us crying our eyeballs off at the death of eva peron. BUT when i heard there was going to be a justin timberlake collaboration on hard candy, i refused to give in, even if the song was a political one with a message. so what? i just don't care for timberlake in my library.

so 2 years later, i've just recently heard this song. and just watched the video. where the fuck was i? timberlake got the better of me...

black on black

remember the last time a band looked great wearing only black, yet wasn't goth? yes, me, too. it was the 90's and their names were elastica and suede. thank you, the xx, for bringing it back. here's one of my favorite covers.

keepin' it casual

i know i'm a walking book, a product to be visually judged but with a decent story to be read on the inside. it's funny what people will say to your face, just based on how you look. maybe it's because it was the style awards...i went with my pal j who is a really beautiful, head turning ginger. so when a guy who was talking to her no longer captured her attention, yet, was still standing in our midst turned to me and commented, "so, your style is interesting. a bit like a girl-boy," i didn't have much to say back. i suppose to a pedestrian heterosexual man, my outfit was quite possibly "girl-boy", but wearing black, skin tight jeans, a torn up oversized white tee, black netted tie-scarf, and a slim, fitted, long black blazer to me is today's tattered version of le smoking. to explain such to him, would've been oxygen wasted. oh well. i wear what makes me happy - girl, boy, what have you. here are a few women (plus a dude) whose style also makes me happy.

(disclaimer: i do own skirts.)

jerk v asshole

when i think about some of the words i was first told not to say nor repeat as a small child, words such as "shut up", "stupid", and "what you talkin' bout?" come to mind. but the one, monosyllabic, derogatory word that is as harsh and blunt (and an all encompassing verbal punch in the face) now as it was back then, i still use to call out those who offend me. j-e-r-k. 

as an adult, there are quite a few words that we understand to be profane and socially rude and vulgar, such as: douche bag, degenerate, fuckface, and the commonly used asshole. strangely though, "jerk" to me is a far worse name to call someone; it represents someone who is the pinnacle of disrespectful behavior, idiocy, selfishness, and all done so with arrogant purpose. maybe it's because it's the earliest mean word i can remember to call someone disagreeable that it still holds such power. in any case, if i use the term "jerk" on someone, they have no friends here.

examples: when you ask the waiter for a glass of water only to wait 15 minutes, then decide to ask the bus boy who brings you the glass of water at the exact same moment as your waiter finally does, that makes you an asshole. when the same thing happens to someone else, yet that person tips below 15%, that makes them a jerk. 

if (6 years ago) you brought this design to the line review because you're tired of generic verbiage on tees, you're an asshole. (btw - i made this, and brought it to line review 6 years ago.) if you don't see the humor of it during line review, you're a jerk.

so, yeah, that's the difference...

i love you: freja beha

there are exceptions for everything. for example, i don't have a green thumb. and yet, i insist on keeping orchids...that is, until they inevitably lose their flowers and shrivel up. i can't help it. i can't quit them. and so the cycle begins again...

similarly, i am not into androgyny. except for the likes of freja beha. actually, it isn't fair to call her out as androgynous because it's a reflection of what a stylist wants to project; she's a model, she's a product. it just happens to be that in most cases, she's packaged as a pretty girl looking like a pretty boy. if they were to dress her up as eminem (baggy jeans, beanie, tight thermal top), i'd turn the page. but put her in a loose white tee, tight black leather pants, and i'll probably tear out the page and put it on my "inspiration" board. watch this short, you might become a fan.

back of the van

3 things happen when i watch this video.
1. i want to listen to stevie nicks' "edge of seventeen" immediately afterwards.
2. i regret shaving the right side of my head for a split second.
3. i have a great day.