today is also my first california gf’s bday

not michele i dont care if no one thinks she looks like the chick in arcade fire. i think she does.

when i first moved to LA there were quite a few things i wanted to do. i wanted to surf, i wanted to skateboard, and i wanted to date punk rock chicks.

michele was so punk rock she actually frightened me when i first met her. all of her clothes were torn, her lipstick was bright red and messy, her hair was knotted, the madonna one shoulder layered look was happening so she had that going. later her friend would try to diss her by calling it The Just Raped Look, but it was so accurate it was actually funny.

even though she was only a few months older than me, she knew everything and i knew nothing. the only things we were equals about were foreign films, so we went to a lot of those and held hands and talked about the movies all night in my cadillac.

id put my hand on her leg and shed say why is everything always about sex

and id say smart girls turn me on

and shed say you mean smart Women

and id say yeah whatever

and shed say no, not whatever, women have been oppressed for two long by men who

and id say baby im black dont tell me about oppression

and shed say its exactly those who have been oppressed who should be the first to rectify their errors

now if you think i had moved my hand off her leg then youve obviously never argued with me while on a date with me

after a long night of watching gerard depardu work his magic

three years we dated before we ever consummated the love we had.

thats how good she kissed.

today is my one year anniversary at LAist

i know my job there is a happy thing to everyone except the readers of the busblog, but it is my dream job, it has made me very very very content, it has given me unbelievable opportunities (like being able to drive around the country to meet some of you), and i have done some pretty cool things over there.

in a year we’ve tripled the size of the staff and quadrupled the hits. all at a minimal amount of financial expense. and magically the ads have multiplied in price and number of sponsors.

the only loser in the mix has been the busblog, my true love.

but sometimes you have to sacrifice your foreskin to prove that youre part of the team.

and then slice off the foreskins of your enemies.

which ive gladly done.

and will present to you next year at this time.

in the meantime heres a super long interview that i just did with former LAist editor Carolyn who grills me about my year, the busblog, and my schedule