Hello motherfuckers, hey, hi, how you doing?
Welp, I hope March has treated y’all nicely. As for me, I’ve been going through it. It seem’s like every other year I have some sort of insecurity-powered mental breakdown and after a week of doom and gloom, I come out the other side accepting that I’m just a lost little puppy in this big ole stupid world. Tax season didn’t help this downward spiral either. Why the fuck do I have to give the government MORE of my money? Like y’all broke? SMH, that’s scrub behavior and no, I don’t want no scrubs. Speaking of scubs, because of my current line of work I am in a union and although I don’t quite understand anything I joined the bargaining team. The team’s purpose is to renegotiate worker’s contracts and you know, it couldn’t be more perfect for me. As y’all know I am VERY vocal about my grievances, so this is an eye opening experience to what our big bad capitalistic bosses think we deserve as their employees. Isn’t it crazy how LA is one of the most expensive cities in the world and yet, no one want’s anyone to have a living wage??? Shit is crazy. Anyway, Let’s get into this newsletter.
HEAR: a music segment
Did y’all enjoy AURORA by Ateez? I ask this to my two readers, lmfao, but whatever. I had a lot of songs to choose from to write about and although I would have liked to choose one, my maximalist tendencies have forbidden me from doing that today so below is a list of songs that I think should be in your playlists.
GROWING UP IS ____ by Ruel. Ruel is this young Australian dude who makes pop adjacent music and I’ve been obsessed with him for a year or so. The way he writes lyrics is the way I write my own poetry so there was an instant connection. They way Ruel approaches his lyrics is by dramatizing his experience. In his own words, that’s the best way to write a song
LOVE ME OR HATE ME by Lady Sovereign. Ok, so this song is just a complete fucking throwback and one of the songs I used to get litty to. It’s absurd and fun and perfect for a pregame. Do we even do that anymore tho? Who goes out anymore? SMH
MAN by JOJO. If you don’t know JoJo has made her glorious return to the public after a shitty few years and she came back with a fucking mission. Her last two albums have quite literally been works of art. Go fucking listen to this.
WORST (I ASSUME) by JOJO. See above.
GOOD LUCK by MABEL with JAX JONES & GALANTIS. Oh my God, Mabel is a top-tier gworl in my book. Entering the UK music scene with the groove and vibes of R&B, she made a gradual shift into house music, which isn’t a problem to me cause the two genre’s tend to bleed into each other. Not to mention she’s also got a new stylist and has been looking bangin’.
MANIAC by Stray Kids. TBH, Stray Kids wasn’t really in my Kpop rotation until recently and thank god I came to the light. There newest mini album starts with four dubstep tracks that are HARD AF. The album does end on a wack note with the last three songs, but the first four, MANIAC included, is straight heat.
Side Note: music is my saving grace. When I’m having the hardest times in my life, it’s the only friend that can truly lift me back up. If your talents lie in music, to say I’m jealous is an understatement.
SEE: a visual segment
I got knuckle tatts. Yeah, it’s true. I’m hard af now. Don’t mess with me, my dad owns a gun. I’m joking, kinda, but yeah these knuckle tattoos were a mission! I knew what I wanted them too say but never knew the style that I wanted them in. That was, until, I’ saw Victor’s work. You can find him on Instagram at @badluck_777 and his work is phenomenal. Coming from Spain, Victor tattoos out of a studio in DTLA and is so good at what he does. When I saw some knuckle tatts her did a while back, I IMMEDIATELY messaged him. I had found a style that worked for me. What drew me to this bone typography was the detail and skill that was clearly evident and also there’s a campiness to it that I feel all my tattoos have. As the cherry on top, he added some white highlight, which just really made the whole piece pop. I’m obsessed.
TASTE: a culinary segment
I’ll keep it simple. ALL DAY BABY has a killer corn dog on their happy hour menu and paired with their michelada, it’s the perfect match. omg, I’m still drooling over how crunchy the breading was and how juicy the hot dog was. Man, lemme get at that! Oh, also GAM TU BOP in Glendale serves up some Ongiri, or rice balls. They’re so fucking delicious and so fucking cheap, that I debate everyday whether I should get my ass over there to grab a few. No pictures unfortunately, I wanted to, but when I looked down all the food was gone…