Right and Wrong.

It is my current belief that it is incontrovertibly wrong to perform acts that attempt to negate another human's being.
Murder, Rape, Slavery, and Exploitation are prime examples.

As for everything else...I got nothin'.

Life.

Been contemplating for the past few days what motivates people to be mean to one another.
Seems so pointless.
I don't want to be mean to ANYONE in life, ever.
I am trying to accept the fact that not everyone is like me and not everyone will understand me.
I hope I can become a strong enough person that I won't feel compelled to be rude to people just because of some perceived slight.
I have some work to do.
But I think I can do it.

Alicia Silverstone u fucking creep.

I think the reason so many people got so grossed out by the thing Alicia Silverstone did is because she was actually SPITTING into another human's mouth. A human with no say in the matter, no less. And she looked so smugly amused while doing it.

Well, I can't speak for any of those dumb fucks. But to me it just seemed kinda perverse and unnecessary. Almost abusive. No right-thinking human wants to get their mouth spat into by another person (unless...y'know), but a child has no say and it's JUST NOT RIGHT.

If she'd chewed the shit up and put it in a bowl and then fed it to the kid I would have no problem with that and it seems like that would be just as effective.

"MY PROGRESSIVE LIFESTYLE FREAKS OUT ALL THE SQUARES! HEHE" - ALICIA SILVERSTONE

Shut up, Alicia Silverstone.

Friends.

This is an example of a recent and commonplace txt conversation between myself, Colleen Green, and my friend Kayla.

Me: 

Kayla: That sure is a lil donkey friend!

Me: Sure is.

Miscellaneous Romance.

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/msr/2947825001.html

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/msr/2925076897.html

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/msr/2929530219.html

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sgv/msr/2939635636.html

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/msr/2945417362.html

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/msr/2946070768.html


DARKNET.

Today I:

-Woke up.
-Smoked weed.
-Went outside to get coffee.
-Saw some guy at the coffee shop that I have seen there before and last time, he approached me and attempted conversation! (Oh god...I hope he isn't reading this now.)
-Wondered if that guy remembered me and if he was gonna do it again either way (he did not).
-Came home and ate an English muffin and drank coffee and stared at the TV.
-Washed a bunch of towels.
-Washed a bunch of clothes.
-Walked to the real laundromat with one big blanket and one lil blanket to use the big-ass washer. It cost $4!!!
-Took a shower and listened to a mix CD I made for my boyfriend (so good).
-Listened to Devo wicked loud, danced around in my undies to it, and went on the internet.
-Noted that P4K had reviewed "Milo Goes to Compton". Felt rad.
-Sent txts to and received txts from my boyfriend.
-Drank a can of Pepsi Throwback that my friends B. Clark and Kat left at my house. (nice)
-Smoked weed
-Ate Chef Boy R U Dum's ABCs and 123s with Meatballs (please).
-Mailed a CG shirt to my friend Jay.
-Sent a package to my boyfriend with a buncha stuff he left in L.A.
-Every time I go to the laundry room to complete a new task, I ALWAYS forget at least one crucial item. Every time!
-Folded laundry while listening to Devo again wicked loud.
-Went on internet more. Noted that Superchunk mentioned me on TWTR. FELT RAD!
-Ate half of a banana with nutella.
-Asked myself "wtf?" while watching "Love and Other Drugs" for 5 mins.
-Made this list.
-Scraped my bowl.
-Took a picture of an apple in my driveway.
-Tried to think about stuff to write about for my blog. I was watching TV at the time though so I have no idea what I came up with. Stuff about life, probably.
-Ate cereal (Oats 'N' More).
-My blankets smell SO GOOD now.
-Sent txts to and received txts from Mario.
-Sent txts to and received txts from Blarry.
-Walked to grocery store.
-Bought bread, cheese, fruit, milk, and granola.
-I kinda wanna become a fruitarian. I'd still eat meat though and whatever else.
-Made banana bread.
-Saw a bunch of really cute dogs in some big guy's car and wanted to take a picture but did not have my phone.
-Ate fried eggs with banana bread, strawberries, and apples for dinner.
-Exclaimed "yes!" when I turned on my TV and realized that "The Proposal" was on.
-Watched less than 5 mins of "The Proposal".
-Witnessed Mike Tyson speaking on some WWE Hall of Fame shit. I think he was roasting himself?
-Played guitar a little and practiced some covers.
-Listened to Prince.
-Watched "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives" which I thinkkkkk I am over.
-Typed this long ass entry.
-Prepared to watch "Mallrats" and drift off into dreamworld.

That's IT!
What a wonderful day.

NOTE: Events are not necessarily in chronological order.

Kapital Ink.

When I planned to meet Colleen Green before her show at the Middle East's ZuZu on August 23, I was smacked with a sinking realization - I don't know what she looks like.

Yes, I'd been to her Myspace and her Facebook page. I'd watched live footage and listened to her limited-edition cassette. But the youtube videos were darkly lit and showed her in sunglasses. And the image on her Facebook profile and her cassette was a simple cartoon drawing (also with sunglasses, natch). I'd have to wait until after her set to approach her.

Taking things back a step, the songs I'd heard on her tape, "Milo Goes to Compton", and her CD-R, "4 Loko 2 Kayla", were sparkling soundscapes brimming with hip grit and bubble gum pep - like Bratmobile going on a joy ride with The Jesus and Mary Chain, smoking a blunt with Veronica Mars in the back seat while blasting a bootleg soundtrack to the Fabulous Stains. Green's tunes are densely layered, irresistibly catchy, and - here's the clincher - surprisingly, refreshingly, completely unpretentious.

When Green takes the stage, she's got her signature shades on, and announces bewilderedly like an un-ironic 7th grader (and she does in fact look much younger than her real 25), "It's dark as fuck in here." She keeps the fake Ray-Bans on for the full performance.

The performance itself is incredible, and yet totally different from the recordings. Gone are the lush layers and ethereal harmonies. In a mint-green tank top (sans iron maiden), she stares straight ahead (at least I think she does - I can't quite follow her likely dilated eyeballs), jacks up the drum machine, and sings along unaffectedly, with her equally straight-ahead, fuzzed-out guitar strumming. It is unadulterated '70s PUNK. And it fucking rules.

The eclipse of recorded + live demonstrations then causes me to realize how brilliant of a rarity I have standing 3 feet in front of me. She is the equivalent of a sonic unicorn - a hip youngster who isn't a trendy poser and isn't doing something totally dumbheadedly off-kilter for the sake of seeming cool. For Colleen Green, what's cool is simply what's cool to her, and you're invited to smoke a bowl and love it along with her.

Afterward, I think more about how Green is such an anti-pop-icon marketeer. Would fellow Californian Katy Perry dare release her music without her big-boobed likeness affixed? Green is cute as a button and smart as a whip, but she doesn't give a flying fuck about pasting her hot self on her products. She works from the gut and does whatever she fancies, keeping it real - to sometimes hilarious logic. And it all works.

The CD-R she sells at her shows is not intended as a vehicle for her music - she made it partly as a physical means to distribute her indie comic tucked inside (and, btw, her comics are DOPE, so check out more on her Facebook page). The CD itself is not even a promo item for herself. It's dedicated to her best friend Kayla - a personal shout out to friendship and sisterhood; an unsappy BFF necklace of which we all get to keep half.

The stand-out is her killer cover of "Leaving it Up to You" (the cheesetastic 1963 Dale and Grace song later covered by Donnie & Marie Osmond, among others). Listening to her EP for the first time, this was the track that caused me to take notice, that caused my near still-beating indie heart to flutter 'gain. It was achingly beautiful and completely sincere. I'd try to make a humorous analogy, but it seems disrespectful.

Given how masterfully she tackles covers, I was tempted to suggest other songs to process through the Green Machine (From Bubblegum to Sky's "Hello Hello Hi", pleez?). When we met up so I could interview her for this article, I thought of making outright suggestions, then considered sending youtube links as a subtler approach. Finally, I realized that tampering with her artistic purity would be presumptuous. I must just trust Green to do as she will. And I do.

Fortunately, others (with money and power) also maintain this faith. Hardly Art (the Sub Pop spin-off label) recently contacted Green with a contract.

The fact that someone completely doing her own thing, almost in defiance of "the machine", can get recognized and supported is enough to make me believe in something, ANYTHING, again. After years of jaded cynicism about my generation and the state of American art, I feel like maybe, possibly, talent CAN exist - and be rewarded.

I can't wait til one of her songs gets picked up for a "90210" promo and she makes a million bucks.


-Allison Tanenhaus