Denver Bound?

Last month when I originally plotted out this post, I was seriously considering moving to Denver in May. I was wildly unhappy here (still not great, but I think we can remove the "wild" now), and the rent there is outrageously cheap! We're talking 850 for a one bedroom with fireplace, private deck, and utilities included within walking distance of my favourite bookstore for 850/mo. What the eff, right? Why would I ever stay in dirty, smelly, doesn't-appreciate-me-anyway Los Angeles?

"THE COLD, THE COLD!" you yell, if you know me at all. "You'll hate the cold and be miserable in Denver." Well, yes. And no. I do hate the cold. I hate it with a passion usually reserved for religious fundamentalists and puppy killers. Drop the temperature below 60 and my mood plummets with it. But I might make an exception for Denver because I love snow. And Denver is one of those places where it actually snows decently when it gets cold, thus offering winter some sort of redemption. Plus, I was moving there in May, remember? At least 3 or 4 months before the cold weather sets in.

Everything else about Denver is great, too. It's fairly cosmopolitan, certainly as much as I need in a city. It's pretty and clean and nature-filled. There's lots of awesome hiking and SNOWBOARDING in the winter. YAY!

What it lacks is a strong media industry. But it's so freakin' cheap, I could be a barista and pay all my bills. Who needs to pursue their career passion when they can snowboard every day in the winter and have a fireplace in their house and breathe clean air?

But when it came right down to it, I really do love Los Angeles. I hear a lot of my friends complain and say they would leave if they could do their work elsewhere, and I just don't understand. Despite the crippling personal and professional year I've had, I still love L.A.

It's truly an amazing city. All the things I hate about it I simultaneously love (except traffic). Even the rampant elitism and legions of unleashed socialites can be endearing if I'm in the right mood. I like living in Hollywood (where I just signed a lease, putting off Denver for at least another year); the grime and grit make me feel a bit more authentic. Yeah, I'm strolling on the renowned Walk of Fame to get to the farmer's market. I know it's touristy, but on the other hand, there's a homeless guy with no legs over there polishing one of the stars. It ain't all glitz and glamour, ok? But the juxtaposition (5 points for using that in a sentence) of those two elements, the glamour and dreams versus the dirt and heartbreak are what attract me to the city and inspire me every day. Seriously, confine me to the Westside (sanitized places like Beverly Hills, etc) and I'd split inside of two months.

And don't get me started on the number and variety of concerts that play here every day!...Seriously, that would take forever to fully discuss. Let's just say I go to about 3-4 shows a months, from indie to Radiohead at the Hollywood Bowl and, as far as I can tell, besides New York, no other city in the country can offer that to me.

On balance, I'd say I'm pretty happy to be staying. Denver is a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. Not yet, anyway.

Fortune-less Friday

Forgot to charge the iPod for the last few days. It finally quit last night on my way home from work. So today will be devoid of any fortune-telling. Apologies.

Most important thing that's happened so far today: My friend is selling his tickets to the Leonard Cohen concert tonight. Might be going with my friend Lightning; possible EPIC concert on the horizon!

HA!

So, Script Frenzy. I'm supposed to have 24 pages by the time I go to sleep tonight. Know how many I have? That's right! As of 11 AM, none. Zero, zip, nada, nothing at all.

Go me.

Overheard

At work, woman on phone with client: "That's great, hon, but I really do have to pee. I'll call you later today."

Fortune Friday

These were the songs that played on my iPod on the way to work this morning.

Keep It Amazed - French Kicks
Banquet - Bloc Party
You and Whose Army? - Radiohead
The Bunker - Beirut
What World - Human Highway
Sleepwalking - Ben Lee
Where is My Mind? - The Pixies
Subterranean Homesick Alien - Radiohead
How to Disappear Completely - Radiohead

It looks like I'll have an awesome, somewhat apocalyptic weekend. Which is strangely fitting, as that's what my new screenplay's about.

I'm doing something called Script Frenzy which is writing a 100 page screenplay in the month of April. I just jettisoned my original 5 pages, so I need to get about 10 done today to keep up.

Eerily enough, it seems like my iPod knows what's going down.

Amazing Art #1 - Justine Lai

This link is pretty much as NSFW (that's "not safe for work" if you haven't visited the internet lately) as you can get without being actual porn. But oh ho ho is it AMAZING.

Justine Lai's mission statement, straight from her website: "In Join Or Die, I paint myself having sex with the Presidents of the United States in chronological order [emphasis mine]. I am interested in humanizing and demythologizing the Presidents by addressing their public legacies and private lives. The presidency itself is a seemingly immortal and impenetrable institution; by inserting myself in its timeline, I attempt to locate something intimate and mortal. I use this intimacy to subvert authority, but it demands that I make myself vulnerable along with the Presidents. A power lies in rendering these patriarchal figures the possible object of shame, ridicule and desire, but it is a power that is constantly negotiated. I approach the spectacle of sex and politics with a certain playfulness. It would be easy to let the images slide into territory that's strictly pornographic—the lurid and hardcore, the predictably "controversial." One could also imagine a series preoccupied with wearing its "Fuck the Man" symbolism on its sleeve. But I wish to move beyond these things and make something playful and tender and maybe a little ambiguous, but exuberantly so. This, I feel, is the most humanizing act I can do. March 2009"

Check it out: http://bit.ly/16c0g

Where the Wild Things Are made me cry even harder this time.

I got to see this in the theatre yesterday in front of Monsters Vs. Aliens (funny, but not worth my 14 dollars; thanks, L.A.) and with the extra volume and the huge screen, you are just so much more in it. It was AMAZING!

I'm already listing it as one of my favorite movies.

Also coming out, UP! which looks absolutely adorable and the preview is freaking hilarious! This is the first I've heard of the talking dog.

He's Just Not That Into Me

I want to take you all back in time with me to last Thursday. I was in my local Target looking for some boots to wear to my concert outing with Sparky, when I wandered past the book section. Lo and behold, what was on the most prominent display rack, but He's Just Not That Into You, that bestselling book that so recently got made into an excrucaiting movie-watching experience.

But I'm a girl. And if you offer me insight into men or love, I'm going to be curious, even if your screenplay made me cringe non-stop for an hour and a half.

So I picked it up and flipped to the Table of Contents - just the Cliffsnotes, please.

The first 5 chapters, with regard to Sparky the Love Dog?

1 He's Just Not That Into You If He's Not Asking You Out - half-check
2 He's Just Not That Into You If He's Not Calling You - half-check
3 He's Just Not That Into You If He's Not Dating You - BIG OLE CHECK!
4 He's Just Not That Into You If He's Not Having Sex with You - only anomaly
5 He's Just Not That Into You If He's Having Sex with Someone Else - BIGGEST CHECK IN THE HISTORY OF THE FUCKING UNIVERSE SINCE THE DAWN OF TIME

Sometimes, it's really nice to have your conclusions confirmed by a New York Times Bestseller.

Amendment

"No Spark" just doesn't roll off the tongue like I was hoping. He'll be called "Sparky" from now on.

(See below if you have no idea what I'm talking about.)

Today's Prognosis

My brilliant bloggy friend, Pearl, uses her ipod to predict her weekend. It's hilarious and quite revealing (she listens to The Raconteurs, just like me!). I'm jacking her idea and turning it into a daily morning ritual.

So, without further ado, here is the Great Apple's prediction for my Friday:

Begin by Ben Lee

Don't be Skew by Peter, Bjorn, and John

Such Great Heights by The Postal Service

Paris 2004 by Peter, Bjorn, and John

Failing and Passing by Peter, Bjorn, and John

The Big Picture by Bright Eyes

Rebellion (Lies) by The Arcade Fire

Today I feel like breaking it down and analyzing how accurate I feel each song is.

1. Begin - All about a guy wanting a girl to just take the plunge romantically and just see what happens. NOT HAPPENING tonight. Going out with someone I've already plunged with. No dice.

2. Don't Be Skew - I've never heard this before. Can't remember what it was about. Title is good advice.

3. Such Great Heights - May the evening take me there!

4. Paris 2004 - "I'm all about you. You're all about me. We're all about each other." Well, half true. Sadly, he is not all about me...

5. Failing and Passing - Again, new song. Lots of Peter, Bjorn, and John today, though. Title makes it sound like today won't be a total wash.

6. The Big Picture - Don't sweat the small stuff.

7. Rebellion (Lies) - A top favorite of mine. "Sleeping is giving in, no matter what the time is. Sleeping is giving in, so lift those heavy eyelids."

Sounds like I've got quite an evening in store. Going to the Cold War Kids concert with No Spark (as he will henceforth be called; more on that story another time). I love CWK and I love live music. Tonight will be good no matter what!