i don't miss it but i remember

me at roscoe's chicken and waffles, shot by my mom

LOS ANGELES IS NOT NEW YORK

-in n out burger, roscoe's chicken and waffles, canter's and el pollo loco (my fave eating spots) are all in los angeles but not new york.

first thing when i landed, i insisted that we go to in n out burger. for those that don't know, this is a double double, no lettuce, grilled onions and an order of fries,my fave way to stuff my face.

mom at roscoe's before a 1/2 chicken smothered in onion gravy, 2 waffles,
candied yams, collard greens and cheesey macaroni [HEAVEN].

-in new york the trains are fast and sometimes reek of urine, in los angeles the trains are clean and usually take mad long.
-in los angeles people don't talk to each other 'cause they're in cars and all spread out, in new york people are on the street and smooshed up on top of each other and they don't talk to each other 'cause they just don't.
-there are no palm trees in new york. shame.

a palm tree

-in los angeles you look out your window and you can see across the county to the snow capped mountains and beyond, in new york you look out your window and you can see across the street or, if you're really lucky, you see a brick wall.
-in new york everyone has cats, in los angeles, everyone has dogs.

mija

-there are buckets of donut shops in LA! i never noticed it before. it's nuts.
-in new york if you don't have money for the train you can risk hopping through and facing a $100 ticket for fare evasion, in los angeles they've got this honor system running; you don't HAVE to buy a ticket, you can just walk on BUT if you get caught, you get a $250 dollar ticket. huh.
-in los angles you can turn on red without ever getting in trouble (unless you hit someone), in new york you can jaywalk without ever getting in trouble (unless someone hits you).
-the hipsters are WAY hotter in new york but they're WAY bigger assholes too; people in general are way hotter in los angeles and the hot mexican constituent is off the door hinges. i swoon...
-the recession is alive and kicking in NY and LA and in both places, it takes hella hours in the welfare office to get food stamps. new york is faster though. step it up LA!

a bathroom break at the welfare office

-it's easier to get a smile on the street in LA and i'm learning to walk slowly. it's hard but i'm getting it.

rat tar

i caught one last opening at the WORK gallery, my favorite art spot in brooklyn. emily driscoll, the dearly departed painter/poet and co-founder of WORK gallery, much of whose work had never been seen publicly, had paintings from her college career up till just before her passing on display at the red tin shack.

the WORK gallery is one of the things i'll likely miss most about new york, just a little thing on a corner with a fire in a barrel (constructed of found objects by the waugh brothers) outside and a clusterbone of wacky, literate, self-aware works inside. i've been to every opening since...well, since the opening of the gallery. i missed one event, last month there was a fund raiser that i slept through 'cause i'm lame. but whatever, i held it down and i'll likely plan my future travels to new york around events happening at WORK gallery. the outdoor-multimedia-dance party that's happening in 11 april already has my ears perked. check out WORK here.




all the above works are by emily and look WAY better in real life; they hang until the 23rd of march, go check them out!!!

in other rat tar news, i'm an intern! i managed to line up a sweet little gig for myself at THE COMPANY, an art space in chinatown. i'm totally in love and really excited for my future with the space; not only am i an intern, i'm the new event photographer. fancy. you can check out their web presence here and check back at the blog for updates on openings and events. i don't get paid but annie, the woman who runs the gallery hooks up the foodstuffs like whoa:

yummy vietnamese veggie sandwhich that totally made my day, thanks annie!

movies

american heart
i haven't seen many movies this good. i caught this one on ifc by chance and was happy for it; the acting, writing and shooting of this film give jesus a run for his money. take a hint BRIDE WARS, this is what a movie is suppossed to by like! jeff bridges gives us an awesome look at a proto-dude style character, fresh out of jail, bumming it up and trying to get his life back together. his son is played by a young and awesome eddie furlong in a manner that made me wish that eddie would make more movies 'cause his acting chops are on point, even kiddie style. check this one out, it's a goodie.

self portrait from kinda far away on will and margeaux's porchy/baolcony thingy.
that's the couch i sleep on it's the most comfortable couch my rump has seen in a minute.

arizona dream
marissa had been telling me about this movie for years, about how it was her favorite and how it was awesome and stuff. one of the last things i did with marissa before i got out of dodge was to finally sit down and watch this movie with her. johnny depp is in it so from there you know it's gonna be a winner. it's surreal and lily taylor is a weirdo, beautiful and awesome as usual. faye dunaway and jerry lewis also bring the weirdness, the awesomeness and the beautifulness in this strange love story with a few great lines about new york including but not limited to "in new york, you can see everyone but no one can see you". i say check it out.

russian ark
i remember when this one came out about six (7?) years ago; it's a feature length film shot in one continuous shot, the only film to this day to be able to lay claim to such a feat. it's long. i fell asleep before it ended because of the beers and the food from the taco stand and the greens and the cookies that desiree made but i enjoyed it up until then. it's kinda like a critique of russianness. i think. but it's really beautiful and there's this old guy who's lost in time and space and he's really funny. plus i really like the sound of spoken russian. lovely language.

flowers in pasadena

tv

lie to me
my new favorite network tv show! it's a little dumbed down (lots of repetition of the fancy terms and close ups on the "hints" that lead to solving a case) and formulaic in the way that your typical cop drama will unfold with the exception that these folks aren't cops, they're a team of "deception experts" who know how to tell what's behind the myriad of human expressions and gestures. i really enjoy it and i'm hoping that by watching the show, i myself can become something of an amateur deception expert. next time i ask if you've been reading the blog, don't scratch your nose or look off to the left before you answer, i'll know what's up...

the lovely margeaux

united states of tara
honestly, this is one of those shows that i knew was going to be good when i first started seeing the ads for it. it's a showtime original and at this point, showtime can be pretty well trusted to come correct with good tv. tara has multiple personalities and is a suburban housewife. she was on meds to keep her various personas under wraps; the show opens up as she's come off the meds and is trying to live her day to day life and work through the triggers that 'cause her various others to pop out. toni collete is a riot, sean corbett (chris from k-bear circa northen exposure and the boyfriend who was WAY TOO GOOD FOR CARRIE on sex in the city) plays the loving husband to the teeth and even the kids bring real chops to the table. the show is bittersweet, it'll make you laugh and shake you like a crying baby with the sadder moments. but mostly you'll laugh. i say check it out.

a toilet a block away from where mom is crashing

music

charles manson? yeah. he makes good sounds.



in other music news, ada from tiny masters of today and the indelible el-p had birthdays yesterday. happy birthday to two of my favorite noise makers, hope your days were fun.

in other OTHER music news, i saw a myspace bulletin yesterday alerting me that blockhead's new album is done. i'm SOOOO STOKED!! it's called "the music scene" and set for a summer release. as most know, blockhead is one of my fave fave favorites, he's a fucking genius and i have yet to meet anyone who doesn't dig his tunes. you can check him out on myspace, the bulletin says he's gonna be putting tracks up on his page so you can get a sneak pic of the next LP. enjoy!

boys on wheels

johnny and i were sposed to go riding together but it was cold and icy so whatever. he sent me a video though and i love it so much it motivated a new blog section, boys on wheels (you have to sing it to the tune of duran duran's girls on film)

the meat and the berries

rollin' with the homies

so much to write, too much to write, not wanting to get started writing wholesale complex run-on sentences, here is a list:

-i left new york. not forever, just for a "while" [sabbatical with options, 6 months to a year]
-i'm in los angeles. highland park to be specific. staying with will and margeaux. they're wonderful and they make me really happy, not only by keeping a roof over by head but also by being awesome artists and really good friends and in general, hilarious people.

no caption needed

-i started a photoblog likeashotgun.blogspot.com. don't go to it yet 'cause there's nothing there, i'm still working out some HTML kinks and stuff but i'm gonna debut it on the next post.
-i'm on twitter now. fun fun. jessicaelainew is my username...that's my username pretty much everywhere...whatever...stalk me if you wanna. i'll stalk you back, i'm into stalking.

um, what else...i dunno man, i spent my last two months in new york waiting to get the hell out of new york. i'm not anti, certainly, but the moment had passed and i was sure ready to get on to some other stuff. i spent much of february on dawn and sof's couch watching daytime television and watching the sun move through the sky. garland did me the awesome favor of bringing some of my stuff up from bamatown and leaving it on the street in front of jesswiss' condo. while it kinda sucked to arrive to find my shit left on the street, it was nice to not have to see garland 'cause i never want to see him again so, garland, thanks for bringing my things and sparing me your presence! i've hardly ever been so excited to not see someone...then i packed 1/2 my stuff in the basement at jess's place and the other half into a little storage space in the navy yard and then i GTFO! i didn't really get to say goodbye to anyone but keeks and dawn 'cause they were around right before i got in the car to the airport but whatever, i hate goodbyes anyway and i'll be back. i always come back.

since i've been in town, i've been helping my mom with her court case, working with annie and the other interns at THE COMPANY to get the new space packed in and organized, hanging out with my brother and sister in long beach and hanging out with will, margeaux and their awesome, beautiful los angeles style friends, really enjoying myself. i get lots of good sleep, i'm practicing my french and studying philosophy everyday and taking buttloads of pictures. i highjacked my dad's nikon 'cause he kept saying things like "i don't ever pick it up" and to me, that sounds like "take this camera", which i did. that means that next post, you'll be seeing jessica elaine's works on film, the first shots i've done on 35mm in 8 years.

dad's nikon which i've taken to calling 'baby d', natch

it's been fun getting back into the swing of being an art bum and a californian. it takes mad long to get anywhere 'cause things are so spread out and i have to take the bus or the train everywhere; dad lives in long beach, mom lives in west LA and i'm out in highland park...i still gotta get out to palmdale to see my grandparents and cousins and up to nocal to see my other grandparents and cousins but it feels good to be "home" and it's nice to be able to wear shorts and flip flops every day, even if it is a teeny bit chillier and rainier on some days than i was hoping for. that said, i'm gonna call this a post and head off to put the finishing touches on the photo blog so that next post i can officially debut GOZEN which is already my pride and joy, even though at the moment it's an html clusterfuck. oh wait, i have to do my shoutouts:

TO ALL THE PEOPLE WHO HELPED ME OUT IN NEW YORK: marissa, jimmy and stiffany (and dom and bella), dawn and sofia, jennikid, marisha, jesswiss, keeks, phil, miki, miguel, nucomme, muonja and rich, geeta and geni

thanks for the couches, beds, meals, shoulders to lean on, plane tickets, keys to your places, places to store my stuff, spliffs, wine, cigarettes and everything else that may have been left out. i was ready to get out, but certainly not because i was lacking in friends by any means. i miss you guys already.

special thanks to mjz for taking time out of his busy schedule to make stains with me