P008 → Los Angeles
In October 2024, I travelled to San Francisco, Oakland. Albany and Berkeley. I stayed at UC Berkeley for the first couple of days with my friend, Isaiah Blake, getting his PhD in geography. From UC we road-tripped to Los Angeles. The journey spanned 9 hours, with several pit stops for food and the washroom. Halfway through our Californian dream journey, I tried In and Out for the first time in East Fresno, an amazing fast-food joint. I ordered a cheeseburger with french fries(not animal-style fries, unfortunately) with a vanilla shake. After trying In and Out, I can understand why people make it a personality trait. The restaurant has the gimmicky essence of a retro diner, with their workers wearing white paper hats. In a world that prioritizes grey and beige and steel and glass, it’s refreshing to be in a space that fully embodies the vibe of the food they sell--it was the best blast of the past, inevitably In and Out will always be nostalgic to me. 5 hours from Fresno is the city of Angels. The city swallows you whole and likes the taste of you. It consumes you, and the lifestyle is addictive to outsiders. Like New York, LA breeds opportunism in its citizens. I met lots of amazing stylists, artists and creatives. The city is sparse and flat, everything is half an hour away from each other, and you need a car to survive LA--We luckily rented a car for the trip.
Ravyn Lanae
In 2019, my first ever Tiktok was a dancing compilation of “Free Room” by Ravyn Lanae. I remember the video getting around 600 likes in under 2 hours, which prompted me to delete that video; it got way more attention than I intended. Ravyn Lanae’s music was my coming-of-age soundtrack, I was in grade 9, speeding through the halls and blasting her music in my raggedy Beats headphones. Her, Solange, Chloe X Halle and countless acts defined my early high school years. Attending an all-boys catholic school, my music taste was alienating; I wasn’t listening to anything my friends enjoyed, I had an alternative flair to music listening at the time. I lived 30 minutes away from high school. My mom would drop me off at Steeles and Don Mills, and I would continue my journey to Steeles to get to school. On the car ride, Ravyn’s music would hum while I tried to collect as many sleeping particles as possible before being booted out of the car to head to school.
Three years later, in May 2022, Ravyn Lanae released her debut album Hypnos and I was brought back to 2019. This time, I can drive and I’m heading south on the 404, to Woodbine Beach for Victoria Day. I had the windows down, music blasting, one arm on the wheel making my way downtown. At Woodbine Beach was the unofficial official firework duelling event: everyone would come equipped with thunder flower dolls, air bombs and TNT annihilators ready to blast whoever, whenever.
In October 2024, I had the privilege of seeing her live, reawakening my love for her artistry. She played at the Fonda Theatre on Hollywood Blvd. The show was fabulous, she performed songs from her recent album “HYPNOS”, and had the crowd swooning over her operatic vocals and suave mannerisms. The setlist also consisted of earlier songs from her EP: Sticky, Closer, Free Room—All the bangers. After the show, I was able to meet her backstage and introduce myself. I spent most of it talking about Moon Shoes EP and how much that body of work meant to me growing up. The experience is something I’ll never forget, for so long, the music I listened to was being reflected in the world I interacted with. I almost felt like Ravyn Lanae’s music was mine to covet, being there in October made me realize how huge this atmosphere is. Her discography is a goldmine of rich production and subversive vocal techniques, to the ear, it’s a “free room” to envelop.
Erewhon: Hailey Bieber Smoothie
Erewhon Market is an upscale grocery store in Los Angeles, the chain has all 10 locations in the city and is well known for its organic goods and expensive smoothies. The grocery store is also recognised for being a popular spot frequented by entertainment figures, as reported in celebrity gossip and lifestyle publications. Being in Los Angeles, naturally, I had to experience this grocery store for myself. Tiktok for months were dissecting the ethics of the Erewhon smoothie--specifically the Hailey Bieber smoothie. LA has a distinct health culture; it's the land of Peloton and flat tummy tea ads geared towards the masses and pop culture as a whole. Apparently, Hailey Bieber’s smoothie promoted healthier skin with ingredients traditionally seen in face serums. At a staggering $20 USD($28 CAD), the smoothie contained Malk organic almond Milk, Organic Banana, organic strawberries, organic avocado, organic dates, organic maple syrup, vital proteins vanilla collagen, vanilla stevia, sea moss, Zuma valley organic coconut cream, Driscoll's organic strawberry glaze and most bizarrely--glycolic acid.
I’m not a health-head—shoot—it’s hard for me to follow any diet but I enjoyed the smoothie. Considering I was on vacation, I had more money to spend; I couldn’t imagine spending 28 dollars on a smoothie, the equivalent of 2 hours of minimum wage work in Canada. Like Erewhon, this smoothie is for a different tax bracket. I imagine that the people who shop at Erewhon either have personal chefs or stock up on groceries to decorate their fridges. Though the store exudes an everyday experience, the store isn’t marketed towards everyday people. I recommend everyone visiting LA to visit Erewhon and experience it for themselves, the store brings the wondrous joy of shopping at a supermarket with no restraint--like a child in a candy store, but instead, the candy is sea moss itself. It feels like an enchanted laboratory, with its sleek beige interior, full of luscious greenery hung over each aisle. There are 4 fridges dedicated to sea moss products. As you read labelled peculiars mixes of vitamins and minerals you think to yourself: Maybe I should focus on my health more, Am I doing enough? Who knows maybe this will fix my tiredness throughout the day. Maybe this will help to lean down. 28 dollars is way too expensive for a smoothie, how do I make this my lifestyle? Overall, I loved Erewhon, I left the confines of my financial reality and explored each aisle with bliss. I bought some cabinet medications with my smoothie, I had to maximize my health and continue my vicarious journey of Los Angeles. This is nowhere near the world I live in, but it was fun cosplaying as such.
Anyway, here’s more of Los Angeles: