Iggy Motherfucking Pop

I never published this draft for some reasons, so here it is now, two years later! Xoxox:

On June 8th, one of my long-cherished dreams, one of those pinnacle moments of my adulthood arrived, and I saw one of my icons in concert.  Iggy Pop.  It's been a long time coming.

I originally got introduced to Iggy Pop by the roundabout way of glam-rock homage Velvet Goldmine.  I was super-obsessed with that movie in high school.  A lot of the music that, to this day, is a corner-stone of my musical taste, originates from discovery of that movie.  But let's be honest, this helped a lot too:

CURT WILD

Curt Wild is the character in Velvet Goldmine who's based (mostly) on Iggy Pop, played by Ewan MacGregor, and I was SO hot for him.  Watching a the scene in which he sings TV Eye, I now recognize that Iggy is FAR superior, but nevertheless, there's a part of my soul that's starry-eyed teenaged girl, hoping to see Curt Wild up there on stage, jacking glitter into the crowd.  

Throughout college I spent a lot of time listening to eighties music, David Bowie, and early punk/new wave.  My taste always leaned towards something a little more grungy than poppy, a little more dark and disonant, and, well, raw.  I spent a lot of my time in New Orleans in grungy dive bars with great juke boxes drinking cheap, strong gin and tonics.  That's where I rediscovered Iggy Pop.  

Now, to be clear, I'm no expert.  I've never been great with knowing albums back to front, A to Z, etc.  Although I can be really anal about some things, with music I tend to follow what I like and not worry about song titles.  By that I mean I'm no expert on Iggy Pop.  I've listened most to his (I think) solo stuff as Iggy Pop, but his band was (is) called The Stooges.  You should ask my friend Neil (he guest posted that great thing about hipsters!) if you want to know the ins and outs of what albums came out when, how many times the band broke up and who was in which iteration.  I don't know the history.  I just love the music and the aesthetic. 

And I think Iggy Pop is one cool motherfucker.  He hung out with David Bowie and Lou Reed and made awesome music and is so unashamedly himself.  It's awesome.  The man is the definition of rock star.  

The man is 66 years old and he still has it.  The show kicked ass.

A big week for getting hired

I just got hired at Horsethief BBQ.  It's a new restaurant opening in downtown LA at the Grand Central Market.

  My feelings are mixed about returning to the food service industry.  When I left Parkway in October I felt pretty sure that I never wanted to work in a restaurant again. (I've said that before, and look where it got me.)  I wanted to be only an artist, and to pursue creative jobs.

I feel a little differently now though.  I wouldn't change the past eight months in any way; leaving Parkway Grill was absolutely the right choice.  Taking the space to experiment, explore, and turn my energy whichever way my fancy led was one of the best decisions of my life.  I've had a ball, and I've done a lot!  I got started in the world of art modeling, I filmed two shorts (Chugging Gone Wrong made it into a festival, and Chatty Cathy Goes to Yoga is still being edited), and I worked as an art director on an indie feature called The Frontier, among other things.  All that stuff is wonderful, and some of it pays well, but I miss a steady paycheck.

Don't worry!  I'm not turning my back on art for the sake of money!  I'm not giving up!  I'm being honest with myself.  I was lucky enough to have a cushion to lean on all this time, but I don't want to get to a point where there's no cushion left.  I have to be honest with myself and recognize that I'm a better artist when I'm not worried about money all the time.  Working on The Frontier for the past month and a half I've had a regular paycheck, and it's been a huge weight off.  Admittedly, I had no time to create anything, but I had a different sort of mental freedom.

And this job feels different.  For one thing, I am bringing in money doing things I'm passionate about, like modeling and art directing and acting.  (I actually just got hired on Monday to start working at Otis College of Art and Design to model for fashion illustration!)  That gives me the luxury of wanting and asking for part-time hours at Horsethief.  And also: these guys  opening this restaurant are like me!  They're new to what they're doing and they're excited.  They're young and passionate and they have a vision.  They're building something and they asked me to be part of it.  

I suppose I'm the thing that has changed.  Or maybe I'm always changing; that may be the only truly constant factor in life.  All I know is that sometimes I introduce myself as an actor, and sometimes it's model.  Sometimes I call myself an art director, or a figure model, or lately an art model.  Sometimes I'm a street artist, or a designer of tee-shirts.  And much of the time, in my head, it's simply: artist.  Will adding server back onto that list be such a bad thing?  I don't think so.  (Maybe I should call myself a BBQ artist.)  And what have I got to lose?  Nothing.  

Coming soon!  My adventures at the Iggy Pop show with Neil!