wow. so let me brush the dust off of my dear blog. I’ve been so cliché-ly busy its obnoxious. and when I’m not busy all i want to do is lay around and revel in my unbusi-ness.
since being awol, I went to NY (pause. for the first time.) and Los Angeles.. bought at least 20 new books/zines/mags and have almost completed the 5th volume of four.
On a new and also unsurprising note. I’ve officially decided to head back to la with the beau. for real this time. in february.
I CANNOT WAIT.
It’s hilarious to me the way I always glamorize LA when I’m in Charlotte and I romanticize Charlotte when I’m in LA. but the truth is, Charlotte really cannot do anything for me. and when I get super close to putting my original plan into effect… I freak out as if I’m having a baby.. because maybe I’m scared of commitment or being tied down.. or that I’m throwing away the opportunity to be something amazing by staying in this finance-obsessed, same-track-mind, no-truly-original-ideas town. (going in huh.)
I went to an art event the other night that just kinda bored me to death. it was all 40+ (which there is nothing wrong with) but I just felt like it was all too stuffy. where were all the young people! the cool but still sophisticated and unique (without trying) creatives!? its like they were trying to disguise their agenda ($$) by calling it an art show. #newslaves.
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fast forward.. i was just catching up on a few of my favorite blogs and came across the most interesting (to me) interview on FvF with LA based book seller / art dealer Jonathan Brown. i always feel like the universe gives me these little nuggets when I’m in deep thought / decision making:
What made you want to move to Los Angeles?
I moved to Los Angeles primarily because New York lost its effervescence for me. The things in New York that seemed happenstance or the things that people always talk about – how interesting, exciting and varied it is – became cliché to me. My grandparents had a lingerie company in Hollywood, so I grew up coming out here. I loved Los Angeles and thought it was glamorous. I loved the balmy evenings with night blooming jasmine. I loved the majesty of California as a state. It was in direct contrast to where I grew up, which was a small, New England town.
I lived in New York for a long time too, and I loved living there. But I believe when you begin to doubt it or think you want to leave, it starts showing you the door.
I agree with that. New York can be a city of narcissists, and it can be a trap. It’s good for doing business because New Yorkers are consumers. All of the talent from all over the world goes to New York and gets consumed, but you need to leave to make your art, to go create somewhere else. A lot of the great things in New York come from different places. When you’re living there, it doesn’t wait for you to figure out what you’re doing with your life. You don’t have time to think about it or explore your options. If you don’t make up your mind, New York will make up your mind for you very quickly.
So how did you end up creating LEADAPRON?
When I was at the tail end of my career in neuroscience, I started working with booksellers in my spare time. I worked in their booths at fairs, they’d fly me to Paris and New York, and I’d help out. I found it to be very romantic. Here is a group of people who are interested in ideas – the promotion of ideas, the preservation of ideas – and they sell books. At the end of the night they go out for a wonderful meal and talk about ideas. It was a way to have that kind of lifestyle, and they were all their own bosses. It was a way to have a thoughtful life of the mind and also feel like you’re promoting culture and keeping the culture alive. That’s where the name LEADAPRON came from.
read the full interview here.
Synopsis. continue with original plan. eventually. possibly 15 years from now lol. don’t move to new york with the intention of trying to figure out what i want to do or it will spit me out.
and. go back to LA.
and i LOVE talking about ideas. like its the main reason I’m terrible at small talk because i couldn’t care less about random meaningless basic stuff. but i can go on and on about ideas with someone that also has ideas!?
sounds like a plan to me. and the booksellers. they must be my people.
What does it mean?
The idea is that everybody who wears an apron is a worker, whether they’re a craftsperson, tradesperson, a waitress, someone who works with horses, a sculptor, a newspaper delivery man, a cobbler – they’re the people that make the objects or items that furnish the culture. The people that furnish the culture drive the civilization. When we look back on ancient Egypt and hieroglyphs and the scarabs – I happen to be very interested in ancient Egypt so I’m bringing it up as a reference – when we look back at the jewels they made and how sophisticated they were, we’re really looking at those craftspeople and tradespeople. It gives us insight into a civilization, which is gone. That is the apron part.
omg. and he’s interested in ancient egypt. definitely my people.
and just to make him possibly a little bit cooler…
Was there one particular book or object that sparked it all?
I had all of Basquiat’s personal items because I used to date his last girlfriend. I had his wallet, his coat, a toaster he made. I had very unusual items, and I started getting collectors and clients. A client told me that as long as I was patient, everything would come to me. Now, I build libraries for people.
How do you think that LA’s changed since you first moved here? It seems to be getting more attention than usual lately. I’m curious as to what you think about that.
When I left New York, all of my friends said, “Why would you move to LA? It’s this barren wasteland with a bunch of vapid people…” I said, “You’ll see, in about ten years you’ll all be asking me to help find you a place out here.” In the last year or two, it seems like it’s changed dramatically. There’s a lot more industry, and it’s the new capitol of the art world. It’s still the wild, wild, west – anything goes – a place where you can create your own life. It’s still possible to create a life here based on an idea.
there you have it my friends.
anything goes. a place where you can create your own life. BASED ON AN IDEA.
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