4/21/09 Getting to know my Silver Lake neighborhood...

Destination...Intellegentsia: Notes and observations.

A couple blocks away from me is what is called Sunset Junction (where Santa Monica and Sunset Blvd meet). This is one of the downtown strips in Silver Lake...my neighborhood :) On the south side of the street at this junction, there is a vintage clothes shop, and just a quirky clothes shop that I didn’t pop into, but might be connected. The owner ( I assume) of the vintage shop is a Hispanic, flamboyant, excited, flattering, salesmen. The store opens at noon and I believe is closed on Mondays. Great vintage sunglasses, parasols, and an awesome assortment of vintage dresses/shirts/blouses ranging from 25-75 as a general estimate.

Next door to that (heading east on sunset), is a Green store, called Kelly Green (?) which does environmentally friendly interior decorating, and has an assortment of in home type products…will look more at that soon.

My mission was to make it to Intellegentsia Coffee today, so I had to pass over a cool Silver Lake cheese store in order to at least get a good 50 minutes in at the coffee shop. I meant to get here much earlier but I had a hard time sleeping last night b/c my air mattress was/is not agreeing with me, and then refused to get out of bed until I’d been under its covers for at least 6.5 hours even though I was awakened by the sun at 7am. The sun pierces my eyelids around 7am everyday because my window does not currently have curtain or blinds that keep out the light. I will have to change my sleeping pattern so that I go to bed earlier so I can happily wake up with the sun….or buy blackout curtains.

But Intellegentsia…serves coffee, handmade by the cup, and I totally didn’t tip the barista today. I feel shabby about that, I should know better than this, but the cup of coffee was more than a venti star bucks latte, and the barista gave me a sort of snuff when I didn‘t write a tip on my credit card receipt.. At that point I could have gone either way…I could have dropped a dollar bill in the tip jar or walked away, and I walked away because the dude was prick-ish and out of principle, I don‘t respond to bullying tactics. I will hit them up next time though, regardless. Intellegentsia is dog friendly so the covered patio is the dog/dog owner hangout. I’ve noticed that this neighborhood and LA in general is full of well behaved dogs. They are well behaved most likely because they get enough outdoor time because the climate is great and because many owners don’t have typical 9-5 jobs and can walk them at all times of the day. In this town you see a movie on a Tuesday afternoon, or go to Intellegentsia to meet with your hipster friends, write poetry, study, sketch, type on your mini laptop, and wear statement clothes.

Just took a sip of the coffee. The Coffee is great. Great. Worth the 4 dollars???? Yes????? Should I have tipped? We shall see how well these prices agree with me once I start working at the Cheese again and am able to better gage how much money I actually have to be playing around with each week. I didn’t get a scone today because of the coffee price, but they look amazing, and are from a local bakery called Delila’s, which I’ll have to check out at some soon time.

There is hardly any indoor seating. I like that. Even though it’s 99 degrees today, the covered patio was a fine place to sit with a hot cup of coffee (I will only drink cold coffee if it reaches over 106 I think).

Just on this bitty bit of block I’ve covered today, I’ve seen so many statements of fashion. Because I have no eye for what clothing products are of high value or not I cannot tell if culture here promotes a BoHo look but of designer quality or if designer quality duds are in fact poo pooed. However, because I never really resonated with the Express or Gap or Abercrombie type look of the Midwest, I feel like this will be a fun environment for me to just explore with what I own in my closet…mix and match like I used to do back in high school when, due to not desiring to spend the money on those pricey clothing types all the kids were wearing in Mundelein……………..and I just stood up to look at some dogs playing together and realized that my legs ARE sweaty…damn….it’s ok, I’m wearing a flowy green dress I picked up at a used clothing store (can you picture it…it’s so sceney…haha, with a gold belt…and I’m wearing my bathing suit underneath) because all my clothes minus a few pieces are being sent to me in boxes that should reach me by Wednesday. Wait where was I, okay, I promise I’ll be more insightful about life and my discoveries later, but right now I just want to comment on how people look:

We got a white/blond haired mid 30s lady with dreads in a blue tank, skinny jeans with boxers sticking out and turquoise plastic sunglasses, sitting with two friends…a black died hair skinny chick with a flowy black tank and flowy black pants with a turquoise bathing suit top underneath it, smoking a cigarette, and a scraggly haired younger skinny white man with a feathered cap, plaid button up, and long jean shorts.

Next to me is a very Midwestern looking guy in his 50s, with a stripe short sleeve older looking polo, jeans, and a friendly face.
In front of me are two sets of middle aged-ish men doing business. The first set is in business attire (but vibrant attire…a purple shirt and tie for one, and a sky blue striped for the other). The other set is in t-shirts, shades, distressed jeans…talking “Industry” business.

Then there’s all these people walking in and out. A lot of handsome men in skinny jeans, shades, and t-shirts, and women ranging from beachy/teeny looks of shorts posh shades and tshirts that probably cost a bijillion per outfit TO bandanna, skirt wearing, Grecian sandaled airy chicks. There’s a lot of airiness in this neighborhood…lightly bounding people with relaxed gazes and slower paces. People are not heavy here. I don’t think this is a neighborhood of quick business types. These is not so much one fashion here, and because I don’t think I have a clear concept of what “hipster” is I’m not going to classify this neighborhood thus far as such…I can say though that this is a place overall of independent, aloof, light bounding, slow paced, subdued people. I like this neighborhood. I love it in fact, even though I know it very little so far. I wouldn’t call myself earth bound, so I fit in in that respect, but I do think I’m a bit more chipmunky than most others I see here…a bit more sprightly…bright, sunny, and quirkier?? Could that be, that I’m quirkier here because of how I feel I stick out a bit? I mean I’m making faces at my computer as I type, and I feel like faces here are more relaxed than mine. I wonder how a neighborhood might have the potential to change me…I find myself to be a chameleon in many respects…where I am true to my core or feel off if I’m not at any moment, but I come across differently pending on who I’m with and what scene I’m a part of.

On the flip side of all I describe right now, my apartment complex people (from those I’ve met so far), are a lot more clunky and dorky than those I’ve people watched here. And holy smokes that skinny, plaid wearing “man” I was commenting on before is a lady. Jealous. From profile she looked more manly and from the front is womanly. I would love to play more androgynous roles and am mentally taking note of this woman right now as a source of inspiration for future photos I’ll get, where I’d like one look to display that I can play both girly women and androgynous women. Projects projects J

But anyhow, yes, my apartment complex is like a friendly dorm, according to one neighbor, Dave, who’s according to Eric, my roommie, the complex gossip. I can’t wait to get to know my neighbors better, and to have the experience of living in a laid back dorky, friendly, complex, in a potentially trendy and loner-ey neighborhood.

Gotta get back to the apartment…carpet cleaner is waiting outside for me as I type.

Love it love it!!!!