~ the revelation that i am no longer allergic to bananas was premature, to say the least…

~ an entire week has unravelled, and there is little that i have to account for it. at some point, i think it was wednesday, i was up until 7am, then went to sleep until 11am, then woke until 7pm, then slept until 9pm, then woke until 5am, and on and on until now, when i am just waking up as everyone else goes home, or out, for the weekend

~ one of them: ‘oh, you drink coffee?’
  me: ‘always’
  one of them: ‘but i thought you were vegan’
  me: ‘always’
  i wonder why they don’t understand, but then i remember that every time i am caught eating an apple or potatoes, i get: ‘i thought you only ate birdseed’, and i know exactly why they don’t understand…

~ speaking of birdseed, i finally got around to the venice co-op for some (vegan) flour, so i could churn up a batch of cornbread, the delicious likes of which los angeles has never known.

~ today, a classmate told me this: ‘it’s graduate school, who cares? everyone’s here to do their own thing’.

~ sometimes, i just don’t know about this city. i woke up far from home this morning; my press was nowhere near me, so i had to go out for the day’s first coffee. i am already shocked that a decent cup can’t be found anywhere on the westside after midnight, but i don’t think that it is too irrational to expect a cafe in a place such as los angeles to be open at 10.30am on a sunday morning. p*tt*rson’s was closed. *rth was closed. d*rkwater was gone. i had to go to t*nner’s… freaking t*nner’s!..

~ at about three o’clock this morning, we was passing the newest furniture store on robertson when we saw a man pulling the door open with one hand and point a gun into the store with the other. we pulled into the alley behind a car wash and returned to see was was happening. by the time we arrived, no one was to be seen.

~ today has to be the most beautiful day in our los angeles history. cruising down pico, we was content to feel the air, unable to find the usual urge to run from the city as soon as possible. at a store in los feliz, the cashier commented on the sun, saying that days like today are why we live in this city. we agreed with her, until the hour’s worth of traffic from hollywood to the 10 reminded me of why we hate this city.

~ to help with her architectural studies, my roommate purchased the book, the oxford companion to food, in which the definition of coffee contains this 1599 quote by anthony sherley: ‘damned infidels drinking a certain liquor, which they do call coffe’

~ nostalgia week continues. first, los angeles’s first week of rain in six months reminds me that sometimes the weather can change. then, while working on a ‘conceptual model‘ i pull out a pair of greasy pliers that smell of the childhood days i spent in the garage, watching my father rebuilding british automobiles. now, i am finally eating bananas again, after a series of smoothies took me to the brink this summer.

~ today, i shared a tour of a rainy west hollywood with the class…

~ i wish i hadn’t…

~ i spent a few hours in la jolla last month; recently there has appeared on my desk a picture from that trip. just as recently, mr. rotondi gave a little speech about what it is to approach the institute; when a classmate saw the picture, she launched into ridicule about me following his lead by searching out a picture that – if it could inspire him – would surely inspire me. i explained the situation about the trip, and, more importantly, i informed her that i am anything but inspired by the institute. it only makes me feel inadequate and hopeless; it is a reminder that i can never reach such an achievement. she screwed up her face and mocked, ‘that makes you feel inadequate?’ i guess she didn’t look closely enough.

~ since focusing and structuring my dietary habits, i have forfeited the privilege that most take for granted: the ability to consume whatever is conveniently in front of them, without forethought or concern. as the 24-hour studio situation, however, almost demands this type of freedom, i managed to find an item which i believe to be the worst a food can be while still fitting my ethical requirements.

~ finally, the sun

~ i have been in a sleepless haze since the last update, and the days were equally full of rainy skies. everything runs together, but i remember that each day i spent too much time in the car.

~ thursday, i had to drive from the marina to santa monica to downtown to the marina to downtown to chevoit hills to the marina to chevoit hills.

~ friday, i had to drive from the westside to the valley to the marina. the route from the valley used to take me by fast times at ridgemont high‘s galleria, but now it’s gone.

~ saturday, with friday night spent on a studio couch, after wasting three wee morning hours burning cds/crashing macs, i had to drive from the marina to chevoit hills to manhattan beach via lax and sepulveda to the marina to chevoit hills.

~ sunday, i had to drive from the west side, then all over west hollywood, then to the marina via beverly hills.