bread & butter berlin

a pointer custom in the untitled exhibition, originally uploaded by mjane.

aside from it being something you eat on the side, it's also one of europe's biggest fashion tradeshows that takes place in the city of - not the band - berlin.

and after spending 5 days in a city which i can only describe as berlin - because of its unique history (you can see a brick trail of where the wall used to stand), wherein each night i dreamt of cuts, materials, catalogues, seasons and exchanging business cards (thus feeling like i never got any sleep), i'm pooped.

en tout cas, s'est bien passé le voyage à berlin. car c'est une ville metropolitaine, c'est plus comme chez moi - with more young people like me, good shopping, a variety of different foods (not just sausage and beer), art everywhere... in other words, a scene exists there, and that's golden for the l.a. chick that i am.

...okay, weather permitting.

plus de détails à bientôt.

winter colors

truly azur, originally uploaded by mjane.

the past week was full of colors despite the cold that has hit the south of france. as mackenzie said while he was packing for his overnight trip to lyon for the cliché video premier yesterday, "i hate cold." hear, hear!

lonely wall..., originally uploaded by mjane.

is lonely no longer, thanks to the homie "tseloot" and mackenzie, originally uploaded by mjane.

my dandy feet, originally uploaded by mjane.

i must say

you-don't-have-to-call-him-french-here fred , originally uploaded by mjane.

there is one cliché that's not so.
it's unique canary.
and bucky-wild.

2006

champagne, joints, and the boys on new year's eve, originally uploaded by mjane.

one weekend into the new year, and time is already flying! this is a good thing as the flow, yet speedy, is a soft and gentle breeze.

next week starts the soldes craze again for france. like i've mentioned before, all retail stores in france - by law - have huge sales two times a year during the months of january and july. so we're preparing for it this weekend at the shop. as we'll be open til 10pm the first few days of soldes, i'm thinking of giving it a twist. perhaps a happy hour?

enough about work. it's the weekend!

neat

Your Birthdate: January 10

Independent and dominant, you tend to be the alpha dog in most situations. You're very confident, and hardly anything ever shakes you. Mundane tasks tend to drain you - you prefer to be making great plans. You are quite original. When people don't "get" you, it bothers you a lot. Your strength: Your ability to gain respect Your weakness: Caring too much what others think Your power color: Orange-red Your power symbol: Letter X Your power month: October

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

work of art

goddamn. somebody is testing me for real.

this morning, i woke up just in time to see the sunrise. it was gorgeous. i did my morning ritual and even had time to make breakfast for when i got to the shop (but i forgot to pack a fork). i was listening to kanye for the ride over... but when i got closer, i felt some weird vibe as i saw ian, tom, romi, and the homies from concept store kicking it in front of the shop. and when i got there - as no one said anything - saw that our front door was completely busted. they hit the glass at least five times with a huge piece of cement that they left in front of the door. and i'm sure they tried to kick it in as hard as they could as the foundation of the door is completely cracked. oh buddy. good stuff.

still standing, originally uploaded by mjane.

ian painting in front of 4 wheels (on a lighter note), originally uploaded by mjane.

we gone be chill...

don't think twice, it's alright

the sunrise: the only sight of sun on xmas eve, originally uploaded by mjane.

i've been watching no direction home the past couple of days. although i don't listen to much folk music, i do listen to bob dylan often. and the documentary so far is just as i hoped - chill, gentle, stoic, and funny, just like dylan's voice, words, and guitar. anyway, there was a time in his career when he decided to hook up with a blues band and record some songs with them. the first time he performed with them was at a folk music concert, and his predecessors and some of the audience didn't take too well to the "distortion" and "electric guitar."

to them, all that electricity didn't fit their standards of folk. it was rock, it was selling out. but perhaps it was really just a matter of change for bob dylan. and wasn't that the message behind much of the folk music movement of the 60s?

i feel like that's the how the majority of France is - old. and the average reaction to change isn't altogether positive. one example, when i'm in the shop, there's always somebody who walks by, takes a look, then walks away saying something like, "oh, c'est tendance (it's trendy)," or "bon chance (good luck)," with a negative tone. maybe i'm spoiled because i come from los angeles, a place that i feel like thrives on change. but at the same time, it's in my nature not to limit myself to applying just those standards or rules or commandments to myself that have survived through the ages. i'm making my own standards, and i'm making them through my own experiences - not via some rule, let's say, written by a homie who was influenced by a life lived thousands of years ago. hey, i wore a uniform for twelve years.

happy holidays

tres abstract, tres french, originally uploaded by mjane.

2005 is gonna be in the books soon. it's been a fantastic psychedelic super puffy crazy and trippy ride this year. a lot of learning, a lot of fun, a lot of growing up (while maintaining a healthy glow), a lot of projects, and open doors. in the end, i'm happy to say that i have no regrets.

with that, imma pop that champagne bottle as i ride out the rest of the 05 this weekend. i'm starting the new year come monday. start early, finish strong. that's how i roll.


. . . and party, and bullshit, and party, and bullshit . . .

je bosse

i've been working like a dog the past couple of weeks that the holidays has slipped my mind. it's probably also due to the luck that christmas falls on a sunday - my only day off. but no worries. i like being surrounded by clothing and shoes. i just hope that some of my flavor rubs off on the joint and that people find interest in it. meet me all the way, rosanna, yeah.

my view from the bus around 7:45 am, originally uploaded by mjane.

eye candy, originally uploaded by mjane.

sounds of boards slamming, wheels rolling in front of the shop come 6pm, originally uploaded by mjane.

cedric from sugar mag and jj eating at frank's, originally uploaded by mjane.

l'ouverture

hot rod opened this weekend. it's a learn-as-you-go process. there's a lot to do, and then there's a lot more to do - and a lot i learn - after every task, every potential client. it's fun. keeps me on my toes. and i laugh almost every five minutes. i think the funniest thing to me is starting a genuine routine and hearing myself speak french. i feel like a little girl.

the spot, originally uploaded by mjane.

the vitrine was done by our friend france., originally uploaded by mjane.

little homegirl

quirina celebrated her 4th birthday on november 26th at home with friends and fam. i couldn't be there, but got to see good coverage of the romp via mark.

little sugar junkies, originally uploaded by mjane.

twenty-nine

the chill out, originally uploaded by mjane.

happy birthday, darling.

relax, i'm a professional

hide that shit, originally uploaded by mjane.

i'm working out of hot rod these days with my ibook sitting on a plank of wood being held up by two metal racks. it's good to be in here already even though we're not open to the public quite yet. after a couple of weeks of being in here, i realized that the friends of hot rod and i have something in common: we never turn down a joint that's passed to us. and somehow from that notion, the under-construction hot rod has evolved into a makeshift smoke room as well.

one day, though, the insurance dude walked through the door just as julien was breaking some shit up for a joint. a frazzled-julien put an ocb pack on top of the shit as to hide it while the insurance dude checked out our newly installed bullet-proof windows (that's right, you 06 thugs) to make sure they were within insurance standards. good thing he didn't notice the shit (even though the smoke-filled room wreaked of it) cuz insurance don't cover that shit.

waves

it was storming pretty badly on friday. rain coming down in buckets and super-strong winds. it was so windy friday night that i couldn't go to sleep for a long time because it was whistling so loudly. when i woke up the next morning, the wind was still blowing strong, but the sun was out, and there were waves! i had to stretch and rub my eyes to make sure i was seeing the view correctly. yup, those are waves alright - big, beautiful waves. all i did that whole day was stare out at the sea and watch the waves crash. the air even smelled like salt water. it reminded me of home.

the waves died down later in the evening, and mack and i couldn't resist going to texas city for our non-stop craving of mexican food and margaritas. when we got back to the apartment, we watched the miss france pageant. i was sad to see that the typical, plain blond girl from languedoc won over my favorite, miss ile de france who came in as her 1st runner-up. i predicted miss languedoc would win when they picked the final 5 even though miss ile de france was clearly the best. but perhaps the pageant didn't want a woman of color to become miss france 2 years in a row. isn't it enough that they've included the token miss tahiti for the miss france pageant?

post storm, originally uploaded by mjane.

waves, originally uploaded by mjane.

les baskets

while i was watching the re-play of the lakers/spurs game last night, canal+ (the closest thing to american hbo) aired a commercial for a movie they're showing tonight that a lot of people all over the place have been talking about... sneakers. i'm stoked. this is new for the french mainstream.

i remember when mackenzie and i first visited paris for mack's then-potential job with pony. i introduced his boss and the marketing director to fixins, and they told me that as cool as it would be to plan sneaker events for paris, the majority of french people don't regard that a sneaker culture exists. are you kidding me? this majority wears nothing but sneakers on a daily basis!

all they need is some guidance as how to identify that they're freaks themselves. all of those sneakers in your closet, that's called a collection. and so on and so forth...

smoke some weed

i'm having a bad day. and to have a bad day, especially in france, is not usually my style as i feel like i'd be conforming to their culture. in any case, today is crap. and when i feel like this, i observe all the shortcomings of this place.

basically, it boils down to this: lack of color. this is completely ironic because when the sun shines on the côte d'azur, it's a gorgeous spectrum of color. and then you got diddy in st. tropez, the cannes film festival, and the rumor that i live in monte carlo. thus the millions of tourists, ex-pat community, and so on and so forth. but with all its glitz, there's the exact opposite that is the everyday life. the banlieues (aka suburbs, aka projects), the high unemployment rate, and the eu, among other issues, seem to drain the colors out. whatever. without getting into any real topic, let's just say that this joint would be a happier spot if people understood color and knew how to integrate some color in their everyday lives. like the saying goes, color makes the world go round.

time to make this crap day a better one. you know the remedy.

hot rod has mirrors now, originally uploaded by mjane.

scenes

i went out last friday for the first time in a while. it was completely painless! we were among a more diverse crowd, a rare opportunity, in a warehouse-like atmosphere for an art showing. a band called princess cum played. they were pretty cool. i enjoyed the evening.

a wall, originally uploaded by mjane.

we're watching the band, originally uploaded by mjane.

the band: princess cum, originally uploaded by mjane.

this better be entertaining, he thinks, originally uploaded by mjane.

i love l.a.

cheers

us, originally uploaded by mjane.

mackenzie and i celebrated our first anniversary seven days ago. one year and counting...

from carrie's quandaries. . .

since birth, modern women have been told we can do and be anything we want. be an astronaut, the head of an internet company, a stay-at-home mom. there aren't any rules anymore, and the choices are endless. and apparently they can all be delivered right to your door. but is it possible that we've gotten so spoiled by choices that we've become unable to make one? ~ carrie bradshaw

idiosyncrasies

november weather, originally uploaded by mjane.

per the request of ms. mia, i'm listing my "peculiar behavioral characteristics" in this entry.

1. i don't care for small-talk. silence isn't uncomfortable for me.

2. i have a short temper.

3. i opt for wearing high heels whenever possible.

4. i always carry a camera in my purse.

5. i prefer to eat big breakfasts which almost always consists of eggs and rice.

6. i always try to smile when greeting someone.

7. i don't usually like to talk on the phone.

8. in group settings (classroom, meeting), i love to give people mental makeovers.

9. i'm constantly in a state of observing/examining people and cultures.

10. i play with my hair for no reason.

11. i have daily battles with myself regarding fitting in enough a la française and being completely me.

12. i constantly strive to make myself happy/satisfied with every single moment of my day.

13. if i have the time, i sit in front of my closet, look at all my clothes and shoes, and make mental outfits.

14. i crave socal mexican food and milk shakes on a daily basis.

15. i feel naked without earrings. my hoops, usually.

16. i'm an unintentional name-dropper.

17. i love to read the news.

there's more, i'm sure, but i just can't think of them right now.

glorious elisabeth, originally uploaded by mjane.