LOST ANGELES.

So it's set in officially that I once again live in the greater Los Angeles area. Unfortunately last night it hit me like a ton of bricks and I was less than amused. The whole up and move shennanigans just went down so fast, I could hardly think about it... just had to act. Act now, think later. Always the best policy. I do advise to try it. No, but f'reals... I have come to the "place of acceptance" that I made the right decision. My job is going really well and I think I'm doing a good job. I see a good future for me here. There's a lot of connections. Almost everyday the PR person here posts a couple new publications that mention or show stuff we've done. (See examples below......)






...Things are great here. This company is a total leader in manufacturing and private label. I've always wanted to work for a place that was well established and where I could be learning from then, not IMPLEMENTING everything myself from the ground up. And as an added bonus, I've found yet another job (3 for 3 now) in the fashion industry where I can dress however I want to work, don't hide a single tattoo and don't hesitate to get any more! It's great. And on that note, again I think this job is a huge benefit for my future endeavors. The head people in charge here know EVERYONE in the industry. If I get a good name here, I'm solid. All is good. Except I'm still eating Ramen. Actually I don't even have that.

Last night I was really missing San Francisco. It's just so much prettier,... it's so interesting. The surroundings there totally inspired me. People inspired me. I love it. I absolutely did. But I guess this is one of the times I have to be a big girl and bite the bullet and do what's right for my future, if that's what's important to me.

So things like THIS make living back here in the city of angels a little more tolerable............



YEEHAW!!!

Barbie takes over....everything?

So there's been signs up in my neighborhood advertising some kind of Barbie festival. A friend of mine explained to me that a new gallery shop owner on our street is putting on this street fair, to market his new gallery and because his partner is the head designer for Barbie (by Matel). My friend is participating in this Barbie design contest... you get a Barbie and make her into anything you want.... So I decided to participate as well. Ideas have been flying through my mind, yesterday I decided I was going to flake out, today I'm back in,... etc. etc. I was doing some online investigation, and I saw this story which I found very interesting.

Tattoo Barbie, Pregnant Barbie, Trashy Barbie-Ban Barbie Once and For All

Tattoo Barbie? But of course there’s now a tattoo Barbie! Totally Pierced Barbie is sure to be next on Mattel’s list of upcoming toys coming soon to a toy store near you! It was just a matter of time before Barbie doll maker Mattel would introduce Totally Stylin’ Tattoo Nikki, Barbie’s brunette friend and counterpart, as part of their new spring line of Barbie dolls. Mattel’s excuse for marketing a doll that comes with tattoo stickers is to just help girls “express themselves and be creative” and to “keep up with the changing times” we’re living in.

Tattoo Barbie comes supplied with tattoo stickers for herself and 40 temporary tattoos for Barbie-loving kids to put on themselves, with the help of a water gun for easy application of the tattoos to children’s skin. But wait! This isn’t the first time Mattel has marketed a tattoo Barbie doll, and it’s not the first time there has been a Barbie doll controversy brewing, that leaves parents wondering if this nonsense will ever end.

Back in 1999, Mattel introduced its first tattoo Barbie by the name of “Butterfly Art Barbie”, with a large butterfly tattoo covering her mid-drift area, which also came with tattoos for children. Butterfly Art Barbie was yanked from toy store shelves after four months due to a storm of controversy by outraged parents.

The Sexualization of Children

Mattel is either not paying attention or doesn’t care about the growing concern over the sexualization of children in today’s society, and how their continued efforts to market inappropriate toys to children is harming kids. This new Barbie with all her tattoos is a big hit amongst clueless parents, with some stores being completely sold out of the tattoo-stamped doll, while informed parents are furious and demanding that Barbie be banned.

It wasn’t long ago that “Pregnant Barbie” was banned and removed from store shelves, although that doll was Barbie’s married friend Midge, pregnant with her second child. Pregnant Barbie came with a detachable tummy where the doll’s baby should be, and this doll also become a big hit amongst little girls, and parents were all too willing to buy into the targeted marketing of inappropriate toys for their children.

Media efforts to sexualize children and turn young girls into little Lolita’s is very real in our society, and toy makers and marketers continue to target young girls and boys with their ideas of fun toys for kids, regardless of the harmful effects brought on by inappropriate clothes and toys made for children.

Parents, if you really want your daughter to grow up dressing and acting like a two-cent skank, keep on buying your little girls street-walker Bratz dolls, push-up bras, thongs, “eye candy” panties, mini or micro-mini skirts, sequined crop-tops and other hooker-style “fashionable” outfits, and the trouble you’re having with your daughter will be unlike anything you could have imagined.

Go ahead, turn a blind eye and claim that Tattoo Barbie, Pregnant Barbie, Bratz dolls and the inappropriate clothes and toys you’re buying for your kids, or the trashy stuff you’re allowing others to give your kids, doesn’t have any effect on the clothes teens and adults choose to wear as they get older or how your kids turn out. But then again, even very young children as young as three or four years old are being allowed to wear these types of clothes. Be forewarned: You shall reap what you sow.

At least some of us are paying close attention to the crap manufacturers and marketers are constantly trying to shove down our throats, while they continue to line their own pockets with your hard-earned money, while at the same time your kids are suffering the harmful effects of the sexualization of children in society today.

Similar Posts:

The Sexualization of Children and Adolescents Epidemic
Miley Cyrus AKA Hanna Montana Going Topless For Vanity Fair
So Sexy, So Soon: The Sexualization of Childhood in Commercial Culture
Will Christmas Be Ruined For Children This Year?
Beyonce’s House of Dereon: Sexualizing Children


...Fuck. Pretty serious. After seeing this article, I was inspired to read some of the similar posts. Miley Cirus (age 15), topless in Vanity Fair... totally ridic. Reading all of this definitely makes me think about what my stance would be as a parent, or what my stance is now just as a responsible adult... and I guess as a fashion industry professional. Its all pretty trippy.

Regardless... this Barbie project is an ADULT ART EXPRESSION, not to be seriouslly marketed. My themes (which will go unspoken until project completion!) will be purely for entertainment and thought prevoking reasons only... my plan is to be clever and well executed, nothing more. But still a very interesting topic to spawn otu of simply Googling "Barbie".

mush mush gush gush.

...and it was. It is the weirdest but greatest most painful and most beautiful thing. It is so odd when you didn't think you had it in you to care so much about something or someone that it actually hurts your heart...... then you feel what that feels like.

So THATS how you run a successful business.

Just thought I'd post some pics of some celebs wearing shit from the company I call my new job. Obviously the owners here have their heads on straight and are doin' somethin' right. Enjoi.

We're STILL talking about this?

Check out an interesting article I stumbled upon today.... Read up and see what you think. I just can't believe we're all still so hung up on skin color, not to mention bagging on hipsters. Who gives a fuck. ITS FASHION, ASSHOLES. Get over it.
Read on.

By: Dayo Olopade
As seen on www.theroot.com


Hipsters. They’re everywhere. You’ve seen them on skateboards, in the mall and at the club. You’ve seen them shrugging dismissively in Oakland, Calif., Willamsburg, Brooklyn and Austin, Tx. And, suddenly, in Barack Obama’s Washington, too. Recently, I encountered Hector, a teenager skateboarding with friends outside a McDonald’s in downtown D.C. He’s wearing a neon T-shirt, impossibly skinny jeans, and a bored expression. So, are you a hipster or what? “Man, no,” he says. He does not care much for labels. Can he have a cigarette?

Hector is black. And these days, if you spend enough time in Union Square in New York City, Gallery Place in Washington or even Brick Lane in London, you know that there are thousands more kids just like him—black, white and brown. What gives?

By now, the traits of hipsterism are easily recognizable to culture vultures: Hipsters are white, urban, occasionally privileged, attitudinally earnest and functionally alternative. They live life at the intersection of Pabst Blue Ribbon and day-glo leggings—worn with irony, or maybe not. They listen to indie darlings like Pavement, or anthem rockers like Arcade Fire. Maybe even a little Wu-Tang. Everything obscure is good; a headband on some longhair of a man; a waifish girl sporting several thick gold chains.

The hipster—torn between ironic, “who cares if I’m wearing a tracksuit” detachment and the exhibitionism required to perform the trend—is complicating traditional ideas of identity and sexuality. And this lifestyle is all the more striking when the kids mixing white-boy silhouettes and post-punk swagger are already culturally conspicuous—when they are black.

So just what is a black hipster—a “blipster” or “alt-black”? Like many recent cultural trends, this one straddles race, politics, fashion and art. For the purposes of discussion, we’ll stick with men (though I have seen some Flock of Seagulls-looking black females out and about of late). As Lauren Cooper, a Howard University graduate who admits to an indie lifestyle, puts it, “It’s probably easier to pick out a black male ‘blipster’ than a female.”

Simply put: The racial archetypes that had defined the last 15 years of masculine street style have given way to a radically new aesthetic. Gone are the extra-long T-shirts, saggy jeans and Timbs long favored by young black men. They haven’t swapped them for the mopey, emo tees once favored by young whites. Rather, urban youth of all colors now rock snug pants, bright, oversized graphic tees, spotless vanity sneakers and hats with brims flatter than Kansas.

And a skateboard, too, if you can hack it. More than anything, these black hipsters are the “Kick, Push” generation. Just as “swagga” has gone mainstream, the racially ambiguous fashion statements of Lupe Fiasco, Pharrell Williams of N.E.R.D. or black skateboarder Steve Williams have become a prominent urban aesthetic, from mallrats in San Diego to grown men in Chicago.

Part of the blipster look is born of utility. “You can’t really wear sagging jeans without being embarrassed on your skateboard,” says Himanshu Kumar of the band Das Racist. So pin-thin pants have joined the “Spitfire shirts and SB Dunks” named by Fiasco in his now-classic skateboarding rap as markers of the new style.


And then there are the hybrid social and cultural cues American teenagers pick up every day that translate into hipster fashion and art.

Take the 19-year-old blipster I met recently on the D.C. metro rail. He wore acid-washed skinny jeans, a Boston Red Sox cap that looked like he’d ironed it and a Middle Eastern kaffiyeh around his neck. He and a friend hung off the pole inside the subway car like bananas on a hook.

Where did you get that scarf? I inquire.

“H&M,” he says.

Remembering the kaffiyeh’s significance as a symbol of Palestinian solidarity, I ask: Do you know what that means.

“Yeah, it's Muslim,” he replies, with scorn. “I wouldn't wear it if I didn't know what it meant.”

Hmm. If he seems confused, he’s not alone. New York magazine has been trying desperately to separate the genuine trappings of hipsterism—Pabst Blue Ribbon, cowboy boots on men—from the insanities that populate sites like lookatthisfuckinghipster.com.

It's a hard line to negotiate—especially when it comes to black men. Take some recent controversy regarding entertainer Kanye West, who often pushes the envelope on both sound and fashion, sporting bright green trousers and nerd goggles or pairing with Louis Vuitton to design a white sneaker which one writer panned as “a deck shoe combined with an Air Force One.” Does Kanye West Dress Too Gay? ran a breathless headline on the Daily Beast. Marcyliena Morgan, a professor who manages the Harvard Hip-Hop Archive, concluded that West is a pioneer: “While people may not adopt these looks fully, they will inevitably serve to soften the boundaries around black-male fashion.”

And, of course, there are those who hate the “blipster” label—even if they are supposedly in on the joke. “The first time I had ever heard the term used, I got pretty pissed off about it,” says Cooper. “It’s ‘Oh, you skateboard? Oh, you listen to indie music? You're such a blipster.’ Yeah, I listen to Cut Copy and Lykke Li, but I don't think those things negate blackness or require a classification."

But, as with any budding social scene, it can be hard to tell who’s in and who’s out.



Asher Roth, a white rapper who favors a preppy look, became a YouTube sensation with his hit “I Love College.” Does he count? While he’s spat rhymes for Jay-Z and inked a deal with Def Jam Records, he’s also gotten into trouble for talking about “nappy headed hoes” in reference to the Rutgers University women’s basketball team, and proclaiming that “the world’s gone mad / when blacks wear plaid.” But, to look at the shoes, jackets and fitted flannels you can find in the closets of many young, black people today, perhaps it has.


Das Racist, a hipsterish band comprised of Queens-born Kumar and San Francisco-born Victor Vazquez, matches hyphy dance beats with lyrics about “the combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell” that could speak for the ‘hood or the nearest gated community. And why choose? “A lot of this all [comes] from a resurgence of ‘80s culture into the boring modern day; across races—tight jeans and bright clothing aren't distinctly un-hip-hop, so to speak,” Kumar says.

Still other blipster musical acts embrace the hip and downplay the black. One such artist is ninjasonik, a persona who insists that he’s “a band, not a rapper.” Fair enough—the hook from one of his indie hits is “I’m a tight pants wearing ass n****.” One Williamsburg-dwelling friend describes the live ninjasonik experience: “At least 100 people on stage, half of them nerdy white hipsters, half of them ‘hood hipsters, all totally getting along—it was so surreal,” he says. “Post-racial, post-sexist; it was mad crazy.”

The hipster tendency to turn social difference into spectacle seems odd for blacks who are already, by virtue of their minority status, very visible. But this speaks to another, broader trend—which is that this culture is about total liberation. Allin Bond, the black president of Happy Hour Clothing, which sells bright graphic T-shirts and other blipster-friendly attire, notes that “we are in kind of a mash-up culture. Rap is cool; smart rap is real cool; the ‘80s came back hard,” he says. “And part of being a hipster is not having any rules.”

So kids punch out the lenses of 3-D movie goggles to use them as nerd frames reminiscent of Elvis Costello; and Steve Williams, whose line of skatewear is sponsored by the mega-corporate Reebok, lists his favorite movies as both Wall Street—the '80s flick featuring Michael Douglas chanting “greed is good”—and Belly, the ‘hood drama starring troubled rapper DMX.

Say what you will about the blipsters and their crazy tastes—but we should have seen it coming. Black folks have had plenty of role models when it comes to edgy style. Dwayne Wayne, a character on A Different World and one of the earliest templates for today’s blipsters, wore flip-up sunglasses without irony. Black rockers like Prince laid the track for musicians such as Brooklyn-based TV on the Radio, singer Kelis, who famously “screamed on a track” or even hip-hopper Jim Jones, who’s partnered with fairy-funk act MGMT and once declared himself “too fat to fit into those skinny pants.” And don’t forget the sheets, diapers and hot pants worn by Parliament Funkadelic and Earth, Wind and Fire.

In short, blipsters are proof that everything old is new again.

Dayo Olopade is Washington Reporter for The Root.

TOM DID IT AGAIN.

I've been at this new job for three weeks and a lot of the other girls in product devlopment haven't spoken to me really at all. I guess it's kinda awkward... they all know each other... they've been working here for years... I'm the new girl here,... and they might be kind of intimidated of me.... but the most MUTE of them all broke the silence today.....



......commenting on my TOMS wrap boots.

OF COURSE.

Good one, Slick.

God I'm special.
So I just started this job about two weeks ago and occasionally I have to run out and pick something up, drop something off, etc. So I've gone a few times this week to this near by vendor to do just that. The desk girl is kinda "puffy" emo-ish girl who is generally nice to me, and showed me how to get in and out of this stupid ass door with two door knobs that you have to turn simultaneously. Rough sauce. Total grounds for looking like an idiot. I go by this afternoon and try the maneuver several times ending in failure. She sees me struggling and comes out to let me in. As she is turning the knobs, Ms. Brilliant over here says "Am I a total tard or is it locked?" She kinda laughs and says "It's tough". I respond with "...so I'm a tard". She laughs and I notice under her emo swept hairstyle that her eyes are a little slanted and I think she might be a little bit Downs Syndrome-esque. I am a FUCKER. Waita go, Champ.

In other self-criticism, I find myself doing nothing but taking, wanting, complaining and the like lately. On the daily I am neck deep in thoughts of all the things I want in my apartment, all the things I want/need to buy, how much I want my boyfriend here, how I want to change my body, all the want want want want want. I really need to change my perspective. I am two weeks deep on a great new job. I just got my paycheck handed to me and I'm fully confident it was clear. I didn't even have to verbally abuse or get into a confrontation with my supervisor to get my check. I have a great apartment, a host of friends, a boyfriend I love, a family that does everything and more....

I gotta get my mind in order, asap.

I met my heart in San Francisco.

.........And it's really difficult living day to day without your heart.

AND THE BATTLE RAGES ON.

If you've spent ANY time in the bay area, you will QUICKLY catch on to the overwhelming feeling of HATRED most have towards LA. I went to the Punchline comedy club last week with my boyfriend and a comedian who is originally from SF gave a little shpeal about this whole rivalry. He pointed out that while the majority of the bay area young people spend their time HATING LA, people in LA are generally too busy LIVING, WORKING, SUCCEEDING to have time to hate on the bay, or even realize that they're hated by the bay.

Sounds about right to me now that I think about it. Get over it.

So I've seen both sides of the spectrum at this point. And my final word: San Francisco's an amazing place. Beautiful. Full of life, full of art, full of culture, beautiful scenery, inspiring architecture, a great place to be a drunk, a great place to be sober, a great place to stay within it's confines and never leave or even possibly forget that there is life outside of the city limits. I would stay much longer if I could. I would stay forever if I could. A great place for fashion industry endeavors? Negative. Unfortunate, but true.

So the countdown begins,... I'm up and outta the city a week from today. I will miss a lot of people and a lot of things, but SF's not going anywhere. And I'll be back.

In the meantime, read my blog. It's not goin' anywhere.

PEACCCCCE. <3

NEW TATTY?

Just goes to show that the most creative minds are generally the biggest FREAKS. Check out Marc Jacob's tattoo choices. Love him.

UNFORTUNATE.

Ah, some children are just awkward as shit.

Rad jacket though. Gotta rock the Gucci, especially if you're missing a tooth..... Compensate for physical maladies with over the top sportswear. My new credo.

SIDE WORK.

So I walked across the street on my lunch break to sneak into the taqueria and steal a plastic fork to aid in my plans of eating my delicious lunch of ramen noodles (livin the dream). I paused waiting for traffic to pass, when a young black boy on a bicycle rode up close to me and shouted "How much homey".

Mmmm. Well times are tough, son, how much ya got? My puppy needs some new wardrobing options. COME ON. I can be honest, I was wearing a denim skirt that was kinda on the hookerish side today, but it's been UNGODLY hot for SF lately. Agh. Rough. At least there's always the promise of young ignorant boys looking to pay for ass and put the pup through obedient training.

SIIIKE.

City of Sin.

Stoked. Only a little over a week and I get to be with all of my favorite people in the world at the same time in the same place. So grateful.

MY CAREER ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN SF.

You're cordially invited to take a quick glimpse into my hard work over the last 7 months at my job in SF. Hold on tight.... major accomplishments. A general day of workin hard'/hardly workin'....

















Bustin' out of here in two weeks. I will miss SF. I will miss a lot of people. It's been a fabulous experience. If I never told you or never get to, if I had any run ins at all I appreciate it. Thanks for the experience. I'm off to greener pastures with paychecks that clear.

Explosions in the Sky.

Right now is ROUGH AS FUCK. And I feel like I can't talk about it. There is so much going on in my head. I feel like all I do is complain and I feel awful about that.. but I can't help it. It's how I feel. Most of the time,.. at least in the last week. I have ZERO DOLLARS. I have about 9 parking tickets I owe money for. I make no money. I have bills and tons of shit to pay. Its just piling up and piling up. I go to a job everyday that takes up all of my day, that I completely hate and make peanuts at, if I get paid at all. I don't feel like I have a very comfortable place to retreat to. My life might completely change in less than two weeks but I don't know for sure yet. It's driving me fucking nutts. I feel completely unstable right now in my life, and that alone makes me feel like I'm bringing down everyone around me. I can't talk to people I love about it because it just makes it worse it seems. In turn I'm driving them away. I feel like i haven't accomplished anything at all since moving here to SF, which really isn't true, but it's all I can see right now. Since RIGHT NOW isn't the greatest time for me, I feel like everything is completely awful and always has been. I'm such an alcy. That is straight up alcy brain weirdness. I just wish that I could get a free pass for the week and not have this crazy thought stuff held against me forever.... because I'm pretty sure it's gettin' written in the books. I just want to be creative and productive and inspired and feel accomplished, which i am currently involved in none of those things and it makes me CRAZY.

The Competition.

Much improvement has come in the recent weeks, of my mothering skills, of Pip McGee's pee and pooing outside skills,... Boyfriend bought Pippy a bitchin' gangster parka, and a skateboard ...



Got the parka part down. Big dog/small jacket. I'm planning to write a folk song on the topic. Skateboarding--- we're working on it. I think the goal is to make him WANT to skateboard... I mean, haven't you seen the classic case of mothers forcing their children to be ballerinas, gymnasts, football stars, only to get in return a Marilyn Manson worshiping, eyeliner wearing unruly and disgruntled delinquent? I've seen enough Maury Povich in my day to know better. On another note, my pup's become somewhat of a local celeb. It's inevitable, really. He's the cutest pup that's ever graced 24th street, I'm sure,... Until I spotted THIS character who seems to draw quite the crowd.





Barbados, the sheep on a leash that cruises my neighborhood. Really? Really. I guess I gotta get my ferret Boots all prepped and we're gonna have to start rockin' the ferret riding on the back of a tiny bulldog. I gotta take the cake in the weirdness factor of the neighborhood. It's my calling.

PRAISE ALA

After nearly 4 months of my bank account being on FROZEN status (Frozen aka inaccessible, "LOCKED UP", unusable, bad standing, etc.) as a result of my employers multiple faulty paychecks, my bank account is FINALLY BACK IN GOOD STANDING! It's a miracle.




Don't spend that whole ten bucks in one place. Mama needs a new pair of shoes.

LAYED OUT.

I missed out on the being born part... I think that took place in some average hospital in scenic Visalia, CA,.... but to anyone who reads this, consider this a partial spin off section of my will. God forbid something happen to me, I'd like to be kept on life support for a bit o' time at this lovely institution, just for the photo opps if nothing else. Check it.


"The 30-bed Hau Sheng Hospital in Yuanlin in central Taiwan claims to be the only institution of its kind authorized by the popular cartoon cat's parent company Sanrio Co Ltd.
Newborns get everything Hello Kitty but a set of whiskers, including pink or blue receiving blankets, nurses dressed in pink uniforms with cat-themed aprons, cot linen and room decor."