drewyoon

My friend, sit down and rest your weary bones.
*hands you glass of wine and peels open a fresh pack of cigarettes*
You're looking well, how are things with you?

I've been good and busy. The 9-6, freelance, photography, and trying to stay healthy (smoking aside). My salsa game has been steadily improving. I've been full of longing these days. For what? I'm not entirely sure...

Music: Spoon, Deerhoof, Arctic Monkeys, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.
Movies: Life is Beautiful, 1/2 of Breathless, Team America, Sickox3, The Pursuit of Happyness

I've moved into a large loft/warehouse space over in downtown LA, right next to Little Tokyo. The place is still somewhat raw, but it's really come along from when I've first moved in. The 2 roommates are very DIY and have built everything from the rooms to the kitchen to the dining table. The place definitely has its charm. The breeze that passes through around dusk is like a million bucks.

Also, I live in close proximity to crackheads, uber hippies / wife beaters, and plenty of other interesting folk.

Here are a few anecdotes:
Saturday ~10am. We all wake to the sounds of our neighbor yelling at his lady.
"YOU FUCKINGGGG BITCH! YOU FUCKING CUNT! YOU DARK CUNT! GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HOME AND OUT OF MY LIFE. YOU DARK CUNT!!!" This goes on for about an hour, then we just hear him blasting death metal for the rest of the day, aggroing out. This is really hilarious because the guy's a total pothead and really into spirituality and is generally a very mellowed out person. Maybe she disturbed his zen Buddhism meditation.

Picture this. 8 or so salty artist types in our apartment sitting around our kitchen island (see Lumi's photo below). A Hasidic Jew, yarmulke and all, saunters in and joins us. He's a linguistics major living with one of the artists nearby. So one of my roommates starts poking at him.

Eric: I hear there are 40-something different names for God in Judasim, ranked from most holy to least holy.
Jew: Yes, this is true.
Eric: Can you say the most holy one for us?
Jew: *face gets very serious* I do not want to put your physical and meta-physical well-being in peril. Nor do I want to be burdened with having to fix things. (people have paused their conversations at this point)
Eric: Aw c'mon. If you don't tell me, I'm just going to look it up on wikipedia (whips out his blackberry).
Jew: Ok, how about this, I'll say the 3rd holiest name for you. But it must be very silent here.
(8 salty dudes get quiet)
Jew closes his eyes, starts thrusting his pelvis back and forth, and sings a beautiful 20 second hymn-like song.

This totally blew my mind. It was one of the most beautiful (and surreal) things I've ever experienced.

Other interesting conversations that took place:
A guy that claims to have a crystal that can have energy channeled into to it, then channeled back out and can cook a chicken. Uh huh.
A guy that does video editing for a magician. This magician makes large objects, like the Statue of Liberty, disappear. Except there is no audience in the video. He makes it disappear through video editing!!!

Just last weekend, late at night, I was having a cigarette on the fire escape and talking on the phone.
Suddenly, a spot this heavyset dude in his 40's darting around the street, dragging a shopping cart on a rope... doing laps around the loading docks.
The very next day, around 3am, I'm doing the same thing, and I look down, and he's in the middle of the street with his shirt off, with an oversized american flag, doing complex cheerleading routines with it... twirling it around his back and what have you.

Welcome to my neighborhood!
I suppose it's all fun until I'm implicated in the madness. I carry pepper spray.

Here's some recent work I've done:


Last week's WZW. Zoetica and the amazingly accidental wall she discovered.


Lumi at my kitchen.


Maxi at the Jesus Wall Kitchen doing her Twinkie tribute


Maxi sitting on my window.


Mitsuko in my neighbors loft, in sauna like temperatures.


"It's never over, all my blood, for the sweetness of her laughter."