So, as I’ve mentioned, I’m a huge huge fan of Tristan Prettyman (you can find her awesome blog at www.icecreamisbetterwithafork.tumblr.com).  Over a year ago, I went to see her play live in Venice and was delighted to discover a new band- The Makepeace Brothers.  Since that night, I’ve probably seen them play 5 or 6 times, and every experience has been absolutely magical and inspirational.  To my understanding, the Makepeace Brothers first came into fame when they opened on tour for the phenomenal Jason Mraz and befriended his musical buddies (like Bushwalla and Jason’s now-fiancee Tristan Prettyman).

Fast-forward a bit.  My brother and I decided to move to Venice, CA in November.  We knew the Makepeace Brothers lived in the vicinity because they played a couple concerts on this block, but we were pleasantly surprised to find out that not only do they live in our building, but we also share a wall with them.  Because of this lovely twist of fate, we are often treated to some rad, albeit slightly muffled, live performances.  Last night my brother and I were fortunate enough to run into the guys in the parking lot, and they gave us a copy of their new album, “Slow Down, Feel Love”.  We went inside and listened to the entire thing at 2 am- it’s amazingly beautiful.

I really really suggest you check these guys out.  Not only are they incredibly talented, they also have amazing hearts.  They frequently perform at fundraisers and charity events and they are involved with some awesome organizations like Feeding the Soul and Free the Slaves.  Also- for you vegans- their bassist (Conor Gaffney) is vegan, and I’m told the brothers are pretty veg-conscious as well.  They play live shows pretty frequently (especially in LA and San Francisco), so if they’re coming to your town anytime soon you should absolutely go see them.  

The song I’ve posted here, “Thank You,” is a song I’ve seen them end most of their concerts with recently.  Usually they call all of the other musicians from the night’s lineup onto the stage to sing with them, and it’s always a unique performance.  I’m pretty sure I hear Tristan Prettyman, Jason Mraz, Bushwalla and maybe more chiming in on the album version, but if you want to see it live (highly recommended), see the video HERE (the music starts around 2:45).  The lyrics and spirit of this song should give you a pretty good idea of what they’re about.

For more updates about the wonderful Makepeace Brothers, like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.  And DEFINITELY check out the rest of their music (available on iTunes and I believe through their website).

If you happen to be one of my few followers who actually knows me in person (or follows me on twitter), you know that I recently moved to Venice Beach, CA.  I’ve been dreaming of living in Venice for years.  In my imagination, it was a whimsical, mystical land full of adventure, peace, progress, acceptance, art, and beauty.  In reality, it’s all of that and more.  Everyone on our block (and especially in our building) is so incredibly welcoming and genuinely curious about our lives.  If I needed a cup of sugar, I can already think of ten neighbors I could go ask- and we’ve barely been here for more than a week!  I honestly cannot think of a place more perfectly suited for my brother and I to live.  I am in heaven.  And, to top it off, every single person on the street says hello to my dog.

I’ve been fighting a cold since we moved in, but today I was finally feeling ready to take a jog around the neighborhood.  In one hour long run I managed to see so many different scenes.  Here are a few photos I snapped on the iPhone:

Adorable apartment complex down the street.  They seem to have a pretty tight knit community.

Not the most gorgeous beach photo ever taken, but it’ll do.  Can’t wait to play some beach volleyball.

Little Indian restaurant on the Venice boardwalk

Entryway to someone’s home.

Gorgeous mural on the side wall of a convenience store.

Ah, the canals…

These friendly little fellows let me get surprisingly close.  They must be able to sense my animal loving energy.

As a gesture of good faith that I’m going to get one of the Venice apartments I’m applying for, I’ve decided to start preparing my decor.  Hopefully my brother will have nothing to contribute, since I have plans for all open wall space.  So here’s a start, from left to right:

1) An oil painting I did a few months ago when unemployment was driving me insane.  I’d been saving some leftover film from college for a piece like this, and finally I bought some supplies to make it happen.  It’s supposed to symbolize my desire to improve the world using the medium of film…but also I like it because it’s hot pink :)

2) Pig “Hope” poster from the film Bold Native.  I bought it at World Fest and I’m obsessed with it.  I believe will be in the kitchen.

3) “Mermaids Welcome” sign.  I got this from the set of the film “The Details” that I worked on last summer (I’ve been working on a post about it- look for it soon!); this particular sign was hanging in Laura Linney’s character’s eccentric home.  I love it.  Maybe it will go on the front door?

4) John Lennon beach art.  My roommate bought me this from a lovely fellow on the Venice boardwalk.  Though the lyrics aren’t exactly accurate, the message is- and it’s from my absolute favorite song in the world.  (“Imagine”- in case you weren’t aware)

5) Sunflower photo.  My beautiful roommate took this photograph of my absolute favorite flower in my favorite country (Italy) and framed it for me as a gift.  I suspect there will be more sunflower related items around the house because I can’t get enough of them.

6) Oil painting of my baby, Shoof.  The aforementioned roommate’s mother painted it for me as a Christmas gift.  It captures his crazy eyes so wonderfully.  I can’t thank her enough for immortalizing my little mutt man. 

7) On the bottom of the frame, you’ll see an intricate red wall hanging.  It was made by Arab Bedouin women.  I believe I bought it in a Jerusalem market.  Anything I can do to support the local economy and cooperation (I’m lead to believe) between the Palestinian and Jewish community makes me happy.  Plus, it’s gorgeous, so I would probably buy it regardless.

This is just the beginning, but it gives me a pretty good idea of the abundant color and energy we’ll be surrounded by!  SO excited.

When I first moved to Los Angeles, about a year and a half ago, I ventured down to Venice for some exploration and people watching.  I had New Yorker friends in town and wanted to show them some touristy sights.  On the boardwalk, we came across a painter with an array of his own artwork.  I fell in love with one of his paintings and considered buying it, as it spoke to me on a personal level.  My friend stopped me, telling me not to waste my money because she could paint the exact same thing for me for free (this is the part where I should have argued that buying the painting supports local art and hungry people but I don’t have a lot of money so she won).  She never did paint the picture for me, and I’ve had the image in my head ever since.  I’ve pondered going back to Venice to track down the street artist and see if he had anymore like it.  Instead, I decided to buy my own supplies and teach myself how to paint (for the first time since elementary school).  It was a simple enough design- I was most interested in the symbolism, not the finesse.  I also remembered that I’ve been transporting this tin of expired 35mm film, leftover from college, from house to house and city to city, intending to eventually work it into a piece of art.  Here were some of my supplies:

Picking out the brushes was the most difficult part.  I had no idea what I was doing and what I was supposed to be spending.  After staring at my choices in the aisle for a good 20 minutes, I finally settled on these two guys.  I liked the green handles.  I also bought this 4x4 tiny canvas to practice on before I got into the real project.  What resulted from that experiment was this messy little gem:

It’s supposed to be this Vegan symbol but I’m not sure how well that went.  I did have fun texturing the leaf, however.  

The real project was this:

It’s a 12x18 canvas.  The background is hot pink which I’m not sure really comes through in photographs.  I considered trying to draw land masses on the peace sign, signifying global peace, but I was afraid they were going to look like leopard spots instead.  I went with leaves to represent peace with nature.  

The message of the project is that I intend to write/direct films that will help contribute to peace and progress.  I’m not sure I have a future as a painter, but I’m pretty happy with this little project, as it turned out exactly how it was in my imagination.  Thanks, Venice Beach stranger.

If you read the original Wandering Writer, you know I’ve long been on the hunt for the perfect writing locale.  Admittedly, this process can serve as a poorly disguised tool of procrastination, allowing me to dwell on finding the perfect combination of people watching, inspirational yet not distracting ambient noise, and availability of delicious, nutritious food.  Since finishing the first draft of my screenplay (yay!) and thus taking a writing break, I haven’t been looking so specifically for a writing destination, but more for an eventual living destination.  I spend a good deal of time pondering where I want to end up in Los Angeles.  I think once I’ve made my millions, Hollywood Hills are the place to be.  When I hike Runyon Canyon and look out onto the hills, I can’t imagine a more perfect place to raise a family, plant a garden, and play with my future four dogs and one pig.  That said- it’s going to take a few blockbusters to afford that style of living, which brings me to my current dilemma:

Where to spend my life until then?  Right now I’m quite happy with my lovely roommates in our beautiful Westwood home that I am fortunate to live in.  However, I’m always working on my next move in the back of my mind (you never know when my roommate/best-friend/owner-of-our-home is going to figure out how to legally get her phenomenal Bahamian boyfriend to move to LA, which could eventually prompt my homelessness).  Here are the qualities I’m seeking in a potential mate- lots of trees and/or beach (basically just real, untamed, ungroomed, wild nature), proximity to vegan restaurants, cool, artsy, smart neighbors, eclectic music scene, and most importantly, good writing atmosphere.

The two primary candidates are Silver Lake/Echo Park (I count that as one) and Venice Beach.  Opposites in many ways but twins in many others.  Until recently, the Silver Lake area was winning.  I think it’s definitely ahead in terms of food, but not by much.  There’s something indescribable I love about the atmosphere over there.  I guess I should call a spade a spade and admit that I’m a wannabe hipster (which is the worst thing to be because real hipsters can see right through that) and it’s the hipsteriest part of LA.  Which makes sense, given that it’s full of writers, artists, musicians, directors (my former boss has an adorable Echo Lake house with an unreal view of the city), and designers.  It seems like the obvious solution.  However, this weekend was a bit of a game changer.  My Momma was in town and we spent last night in a gorgeous hotel in Laguna Beach.  It’s advertised as “on the water” but it’s practically IN the water.  This was our view:

The sound of those waves crashing at night was almost enough to turn my Echo Park loving soul into a hardcore beach bum.  Imagine waking up to that beautiful music every morning.  I think that can only be good for the heart.  What if I could find a quaint little Venice apartment with a view of the beach?  I realize that can’t be an easy thing to find, but maybe not impossible.  Plus, I’m dying to learn to surf.  That could be much more difficult living in Silver/Echo, as it’s an hour-ish to the beach in traffic.  Imagine writing in a room like this with a view like this:

How could you NOT write a masterpiece with that kind of energy? 

But…the counterculture-esque vibe of Silver/Echo is still calling my name.  I’m not much closer to reaching a conclusion, but at least I have a while.

Thoughts/opinions/suggestions?

One of my biggest challenges as a writer has nothing to do with putting words to the page.  It’s waking up and deciding where to write.  About half the time I’ll find somewhere in my house, either the dining room table or the desk in my bedroom-

(don’t knock the clutter, it’s intentional and I like it)

-and the other half I’ll go out into the world and explore.  While home is convenient and its wardrobe (lack of) restrictions are appealing, it comes along with two adorable yet demanding dogs, an uncomfortable proximity to the refrigerator, lightning quick internet for hours of destraction, and a beautiful giant television.  Fortunately I’ve always found watching TV during the day to be far too depressing and I only turn it on if there’s a not-to-be-missed Oprah/Ellen coming on, but if I’m planning to write into the nighttime, the temptation is definitely there.  Thus, I’ve begun a hunt around LA for a more suitable environment.  I launched a similar quest this summer in Seattle, which proved incredibly successful upon finding Bauhaus Books & Coffee.  It was a coffee shop with a lovely wall of books to make you feel literary and cool.

(photo from Yelp)

The downstairs was a bustling coffee bar with bike riders and Seattle hipsters coming in and out, but the second floor balcony was perfection. Sunlight beaming in but not blinding, fellow writers/students at nearby tables, and just enough people watching traffic to provide inspiration when stuck in a scene.  I miss it.  I miss Seattle. Ugh.

My first venture into finding an appropriate LA spot was to hit up the Venice Beach area.  I figured, Venice is wild and artsy, maybe I could find a cute place with a good vibe to dig into the script.  I’m failing at finding the name of this place, but it was pretty perfect for a couple hours.  Open air, great vegan salad, and- my personal favorite element- pigeons wandering across the floor.  Nothing says “you’ve left Beverly Hills” like welcoming society’s most rejected bird into your shop.  Here’s the problem.  NOTHING in Venice has a public restroom.  Even for customers.  What kind of person fills you up with water, coffee, and tea, and just says “well there’s a bathroom somewhere along the boardwalk”?  I went to a few of the neighboring restaurants and shops only to find the same situation.  Not even for customers.  I was annoyed, especially because after giving up on Venice I had to drive half an hour back to Westwood.  I got about two hours of writing in, but for that kind of drive I’d rather pound through four or five.  However, I did get to explore the boardwalk for a little while, which is always insane, always memorable, and always worth a little bit of sacrifice.  When I’m homeless soon due to lack of employment, Venice Beach is where you can find me, camping out under a tree with my mutt.

Twice recently I’ve made the drive past Hollywood to the 101 Coffee Shop to bask in the diner decor, the creative ambiance, and the excellent music selection.  I went with an ulterior motive- to check out the No-Huevos Rancheros, recommended highly by my vegan guru Quarry Girl- scrambled tofu, soy sausage, black beans, guac, salsa, etc, amazingness.  It’s the most filling vegan meal I’ve even encountered.  I can eat it at 11 am and be full until dinner.  Anyway, I digress…

(photo via Quarry Girl)

The problem seems to be that there aren’t any electrical outlets in the booths or at the counter, so much like Venice, I max out at 2 hours when my computer dies.  I confess though, I might not have been looking hard enough.  Last time I had to leave due to overcrowding before my computer even lost power.  I think the best time for 101 is mid-afternoon when the lunch rush is over.  Still love that place and its too cool for school Hollywood writer vibe.

My next goal is so explore some more Silver Lake cafes. I have a sick obsession with Silver Lake, and I am determined to live there next time I move.  Suggestions are very welcome.  Westwood is lovely and safe and convenient and well groomed, but I just don’t picture myself writing my Oscar winning script in a UCLA Starbucks.  However, a real writer should be able to make the best of any environment- which is why after I close this post I will return to the script here in my bedroom.  At least until I can find someplace more like this:

(photo via inspirethisx)