Monthly Archives: June 2021

I had such a good day

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The interview with the famous music executive went ok. He has lots of great stories, but they werent really about Hollywood so i asked if i could come back next weekend and he said yes but he seemed disappointed and i would have been too if i had just talked for three hours and the stranger was all, uh

We hit it off on my levels but i cant help thinking he was somehow mad at me for not reigning him in but I Tried to. So i sent him an email with the topics i wanna talk about next time and how many minutes we should spend on it and that way we both have the same expectations.

Let’s hope what i am asking for is way easier to deliver than what he had to deal with as a manager for some notorious bands… including the Sex Pistols.

I still felt great though maybe because human contact will do that for me. Shocker. And also because I *did* impress him with my CD-i gift so that was funny.

Afterwards i went to the DTLA Ralphs for something quick to eat and their sushi section is shockingly large and i had a really good to-go thing of sushi. Then walked over to Todd Martens pad who I haven’t seen in person in like a year. We watched a few innings of the Cubs game. He was heading to the Bowl to see Flying Lotus so we took a Lyft together back to my pad.

There i watched the end of the Cubs game and i took a nap because sometimes my body is like we’re checking out, f you human, and so i told Alexa to wake me up in an hour. When i did wake up i didnt wanna but i did. Which was smart.

Then the best thing happened. I got a text from Jordan my editor. He had the first draft of my first episode done. It was soooooo gooooood. He chopped a 3 hour interview into 45 minutes. Hero! And he had all this music. And he had told me to get certain equipment, he even gave me a mic, and the sound was perfect. So professional. And i sounded like a pro. Magic! Witchcraft! Grace of God!

I feel so lucky. I feel like we really can do this. We really can compete against the massively overcrowded world of podcasting.

Then i watched tv and smiled and smiled and smiled.

It’s 513am

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Yesterday was great. Good interview with an Emmy winner who you may know.

Cubs won. I cooked well. Then for some reason started cleaning my room.

There’s this part near my tv where there was a giant ball of cords and wires and dust.

I totally organized all of it and dusted and washed and wiped and it’s gorgeous.

Then at around 3am i started studying for the person i have to interview today in 8 hours.

Turns out he’s a major record executive who… sold tickets to Woodstock when he was in college.

And chaperoned Prince around during his first big tour.

When he was 14 he met The Rolling Stones thanks to Mike Douglas.

But in the weirdest turn of events, in the ’90s he worked with Philips on a new device called the Compact Disc Interactive.

Which also happened to be my first real job after college.

I was the rep for Philips CDi in California and Nevada.

Anywhere CDi was, I went to see the display, train the staff, and make sure they had brochures and demo discs.

It was an incredible job, which he was a big part of.

As soon as i fall asleep and wake up, Imma find out how big of a part.

have i mentioned that my facebook is a miracle?

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i reached out to a few people yesterday to be on my podcast, but when something is new not every is gonna climb over themselves to be part of it.

so i went to Facebook and put up a post saying i wanted people to hook me up with their friends who either live in Hollywood or work here or… and an avalanche of good leads appeared in minutes.

while that was happening i got the courage to ask some people i know and they ALL said yes.

i do have self esteem problems but im pretty sure i can talk to people for an hour and good stories will appear. can i keep up this pace? will i be able to stay afloat before the big bucks come in?

will i be able to listen to these interviews to help out my editor and chop them down?

today is gonna be a busy day. my shrink is right in the middle of it all. but i really need to go and get a second mic. i also need to go to the post office and mail my taxes and who knows i might even have another interview later in the day.

i am very excited.

still might need to do uber delivery or something to pay the rent while i do all of this.

life is so weird and beautiful and scary and good.

how am i 109 years old and have no clue despite that incredible college education?

but i will say this: the three hour interview i did the other day was fucking great.

and part of that greatness, which was a huge surprise to me, was me.

so that gave me so much confidence.

sadly my confidence in most things are like rubbing alcohol: it evaporates quickly.

saw my tax lady today

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she opened up the office for me even though i was not going to be paying for anything. she only works on commish.

how nice was that of her!??!

we spent two hours in there and when it was over i offered to drive her home because i know she doesn’t have a car and the uber prices right now are outta control.

she said, actually i need to do this one thing that should take about 20 minutes, so no thank you.

i said, right in your parking lot is one of my favorite taquerias in all of LA, Guisados, how about i get some tacos there and when im done i will bring you back something and drive you home.

she was all, omg thank you!

she used to do the books for movie execs, a studio or two, and still has some celeb clients who i cannot mention

but one for sure is A-list, the others i forgot about because of the xbi meddling with my brain.

you know.

so i sat there and these tacos are little. but each one is an adventure all their own.

youd think youd see these at a fancy art opening or billionaire party

but you can get six of them for nine bucks, $11 after tip

i sat there and quietly moaned with each bite while watching the cubs win.

when i was finishing up this big tall guy sat near me and bit into his platter of earthly delights.

i got up and threw out my trash and said

fucking unreal, arent they?

and his serious beverly hills face lit up

and he said

sooooooooo

goooooooood

driving her home she told me that she had gotten COVID twice! once early on in January when no one knew what it was, but she had been an EMT in the great war so when she got her fever she drew a bath and soaked in it every other hour

“so i wouldn’t cook to death”

and after about 12 hours she beat the first huge fever.

i was all, you cured yourself of COVID!

she laughed. she should be retired. she has braces.

she says when she does retire she wants to do it overseas in asia somewhere.

i was all me too.

when i dropped her off she said, want my chicken soup, i didnt eat it for lunch.

i think after doing my taxes seeing how dirt poor i am she felt bad for me.

and im eating it now and it’s delicious.

cubs won.

did i do my first podcast today? yes!

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was i fucking terrific? yes!

was my guest even better? YES

we talked for three hours, america.

i hooked up the equipment, which wasn’t easy. and i think he was speaking too loudly into the mic but i think it worked, i hope it worked. im too scared to look at it.

but we got into everything that we should have, plus he told me about a secret project he’s about to launch soon. and we even got close to being emotional.

it was perfect.

now i need to listen to it and chop it down, which is gonna be work, man. shit.

i need an intern. i need help. i dont wanna revisit that world.

i dont wanna revisit things for a good 10 years afterwards.

i was reading some emails from 2010. its incredible that Gmail lets you do that.

i have had a full ass life. lemme tell you.

i had to clean up the house a bit because i did it here. so my place is clean, which is nice.

i wanna have a date.

i think im ready.

im not getting any younger.

i have zero prospects.

how is that even possible.

my neighbor told me that today was the first day she ever got flowers. it was her birthday.

do you know how many flowers ive gotten girls?

that should be part of life.

a man should not only know what flowers to get but where to get them in various parts of the city.

and then he should be generous with that knowledge.

and in a city where we have a damn Flower Mart, no girl should reach 27 without having flowers sent to her a few times

a year

 

yes i thought i would have had a basement by now

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mine woulda had carpet tho

and a lot of things on the walls

and a drum set.

i was lucky enough to grow up in a house that had a basement so maybe my basement wishes have already been met

but i always thought i would have one by now, and a fridge in the garage.

ive only had a garage twice

once in atwater village during the northridge quake with the three bad roommates

and once with the truest on clinton park in the mission.

i have had a very full life.

the more pictures i put up on my walls in this room the more i truly see how full its been

this weekend i spent some time with friends and they had a 5 year old.

she couldnt have been a sweeter child.

she was singing Drivers License to us by heart.

then Let It Go.

she tried to tell me a knock knock joke but she couldnt remember the punch line and keep saying banana

i was all

pssst ok now say orange.

youd think after all this time thered be more modern knock knock jokes.

but there sure as hell are better crayons, i did learn that.

drove to beverly hills to finish up some tax stuff

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but my lady didnt think i was coming, so it was a wasted trip in a way.

so i drove towards Venice because i havent seen Mary but she said shes working

it was also sooo overcast i decided i didnt wanna go to venice, so i turned right on 20th street got to Wilshire, turned right again and treated myself to Kanpai for lunch.

the lunch is still gonna cost you $30 but it seriously is the best sushi in town

even if youre sitting at a little table on the sidewalk with cars honking and crazy people waltzing by.

i hadnt actually driven-driven in a while. so it was nice to get out.

amber and i had a little route when we went on drives, so i made sure not to go thataway

not because of anything other than i need to do new things now

its amazing how routine things can get after four years, even the way you drive to the beach

and as much as my brain tries to tell me to only think of negative things about her, i did love her and one of the things i loved the most was she was totally cool with just hopping in the car and driving with me to anywhere and nowhere because there was no such thing as nowhere because she knew this town as good as i did

yesterday i went to my audio editors house for a tutorial on the podcast equipment

then he gave me a mic and told me where to go to get a cord and a stand. i went. it was great.

i redecorated my room a little.

tomorrow i need to clean up the living room and bathroom because i am doing my first podcast. it’s the guy who yells at the cops.

i said your place or mine he said yours! great. did not expect that, but it’s probably a good idea to have this set up for podcasts in case the guest doesnt want me at their crib.

the sushi was so good i thought about it for hours after.

when i flew to california after high school i had no friends here

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quite a change from Illinois where i had gone through kindergarten to high school knowing pretty much every single kid.

was i popular? when youre the only Black kid in your grade it helps to be popular, but for sure everyone knows you. i was also loud.

santa monica college, 1984, michele had ripped runned fish net stockings, a skirt of some sort, a raggedy sweater, converses with words written on the sides with lipstick, she had the blues eyes the blackest hair and more lipstick on her pout

i said hello to her in the outdoor arena where bands would play at lunch time.

she had a wild looking friend with blonde dredlocks and barbie head earrings.

both a bit intimidating because not one girl looked like either of them in my preppy midwest high school, but this was exactly what i wanted when i moved to LA so i said hello again

i have no idea how i got a date with her but i did and one led to 100. she lived in malibu in a neighborhood where every house is worth at least $2 million, but she was not rich, far as i could tell. maybe her dad had money since he was an engineer way down in manhattan beach but their house was modest and so full of love.

the mom, the brothers, michele, the cats, the food, the open mindedness of everyone.

when i say i have had a charmed life this is exactly what i mean. if i had picked the blonde, none of this would have been the case. but fate put michele next to me and even though we broke up three times, we got back together repeatedly and i learned that Geminis are just like that, as is the world, so just roll with it and stop taking everything so personally.

she taught me about U2 and poetry and journalism, as in that was a path one could actually take and make a living from, and it would be honorable. before her i just assumed it was created inside a hollowed out volcano somewhere and delivered by magic.

we went to foreign films and talked all night on the phone and kissed and kissed and drove and drove because i lived in inglewood which was 32 miles away. 

worth it. every time. every single time.

after a while her mom said oh tony just spend the night.

i was so catholic and so midwestern and such a virgin, i declined the first few times but you do get drowsy after smoking a little weed on zuma beach under the stars.

i forget where i read it or heard it. it was either a model or a porn star or an actress who said

guys move to california and they think they’re gonna meet some hot native californian and make out on the beach and live the life everyone sees in movies but not it’s not like that.

and i know the world famous busblog says nothing in here is true but lets pretend for this minute that sometimes things are true here

you can move to california (or wherever) and you can have whatever it is that you want

and it will not be what you expected it to be.

but it will be perfect for you.

and sometimes it will be even better than you ever dreamed of.

happy birthday michele!

heres the thing about LA that visitors are confused about

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LA is in a constant state of change.

demographics, housing, cars, fashion, drugs, music, art

it’s all building on itself, it’s moving and growing and

never stopping

so yes you can try to parachute in here from new york city

and you can see if your predetermined expectations are realized

but then you might make a wrong turn and see the most interesting thing

something that no magazine has ever written about

and then what do you do?

do you dare be original?

do you trust your bosses wont yell at you?

or do you just come straight out and say, LA is a caterpillar that is turning into a butterfly

and then a sports car

and then a train wreck

and then a forest fire

and then a drought

and then a race riot

and then a gang bang

and then Woodstock

and then and then and then?

or do you just say fuck that and pay attention to the one thing you loved

and report back on that

because aint no way youre gonna describe the past future and present of shit

not you

new yorker.

i got my tape recorder today

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and with it came a free box of fear and insecurity

both of which i will go to the Americana tomorrow and return at the Amazon store

here i had been waiting and waiting for this thing and then when it came i was all omg

how do i compete against all these famous people

how do i think of good questions, how do i make it not-too-long

how do i couple it with great social media and razzmatazz?

then i got a phone call and she said why are you scared, youre tony pierce

but im not tony pierce in the podcast world

in fact being tony pierce in that world is like being tony pierce in figure skating

so in that regard i totally wanna do this because it’s just ridiculous.

and heres another way to look at it

any breakthrough filmmaker, musician, rapper, artist, even race car driver is saying

i know all of you are more accomplished

but ive got something a little different, may i say

new

and people fucking love new