I feel like everything about this photo captures that unique period of time - the covid masks, the protest signs, the boarded windows, the national guard.
I look at it now and I still feel glimmers of the hope I felt in that moment, when the rigid and all encompassing oppressive and systemic ruts of society felt like they were becoming more plastic and might even come undone. However, in retrospect, I am of course also hit with the ultimate disappointment, betrayal, and futility of it all.
So in that sense, it really captures that hovering sense of disillusionment and hope that I'm perpetually caught between within my day to day life.
Mar 30, 2024
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The car simps in political leadership and the enemies of a vibrant, sociable spaces have decided to do away with outdoor dining structures in favor of street parking. There are plenty of reasons to love these ad hoc hovels, designed and built to support once-struggling restaurants and cafes, ranging from the ramshackle to the wonderfully inventive. These photos are an endearing testament to our fellow humans' creative resilience. I'm sad for NYC and disappointed in our leaders for regressing to the status quo instead of embracing communal spaces.
Apr 4, 2024
I've been in Los Angeles the last couple of weeks on my annual jaunt out west and every visit reaffirms just how fucking bizarre this city is. I'm not even talking about the Hollywood Babylon of it all, or the cults, or the content houses or the general patina of decay that lays over the entire county-- no, I'm more focused on Culver City. For all intents and purposes CC is like any other Los Angeles enclave. Strip malls, movie studios, Coffee Beans. But CC is also home to some of the weirdest and most wonderful institutions LA has to offer, and that I believe are extremely representative of the best parts of the city (and frankly, America!): The Museum of Jurassic Technology and The Center For Land Use Interpretation. Both deserve their own recommendation but today we'll speak only to the latter. CLUI as a physical space is a small, unassuming room off Venice Blvd. nestled between the even weirder Museum of Jurassic Technology and around the corner from the Hare Krishna cafe. It's an organization that primarily exists online-- the website boasts amazing digital archives of the CLUI newsletter and various photo collections labeled things like "Rules" and "Utility Sheds" composed of photos taken by CLUI members of those very things across the country. They host art shows and information shows about how land is being used, controlled and engaged with in America and it's always informative and always very moving. For any America-heads (not in a scary way) or land art-heads or urban planning-heads-- CLUI is a must. In addition to the actual work of the organization being impressive, it's also so wonderful and rare that something so ephemeral and cerebral can survive anymore. It feels distinctly LA to me-- there's more space and preservation and appreciation of obsessive weirdos and their hobbies here than any other major American city. And that's something to be extremely in awe of.
Mar 27, 2025
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a strange little wordpress site chronicling all of the businesses that have closed in my hometown, but it could really be about anyone's hometown. call me crazy but scrolling the posts is always a weirdly emotional experience... it's the failed promise of the american dream laid bare, a time capsule of suburban decay. it makes me wonder what it means for one guy to spend 15 years religiously documenting these closures.
some of the photos are just unbelievable. the "need money now?" shadow cast on the wall of an empty payday loan store. the desiccated plant still in it's pot at the dry cleaners (a sign that reads "fresh as a flower" barely visible in the background).
very heady stuff.
Dec 8, 2023
Top Recs from @ruffianbandwidth
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I don't know how well this actually answers your initial question, I think it's more of a counterpoint to some of the stuff people have already said, but here it goes.
In the past (prior to social media or search engines) specific styles, specialized knowledge, and niche awareness actually took effort. You had to go out into the world and find a scene, be accepted, participate in it, contribute to it, and learn from others with specific knowledge within the specific sub- or counter-cultural scene. It took time, effort, and experience to craft an identity. Nowadays people cycle through various identities and trends like commodities because it takes no effort (they're sold to them by social media algorithms, influencers, brand accounts, etc.). It comes to you in your phone without you ever even having to leave the house or put in the time to discover it or participate in it (you just follow specific people or subscribe). You can be a passive observer or consumer, not an active contributor. As a result, you're not invested or tied down and committed to that core identity. You can cosplay depending on your mood or who you want to momentarily convey yourself as, because it's easy. Essentially, being a poser has become normalized. An identity is now something to be momentarily consumed and affected, rather than grown, built, and developed over time.
Granted, it's always been different in regards to "mass" culture and popular trends (both in the past and now). Those are impossible to miss and were always monopolized by specific trend setting institutions, but always by the time it gets to that point, the actual initial counter- or sub-culture that inspired it has already been coopted and has started to disintegrate under the weight and attention of mass consumption.
Feb 18, 2024
It's an action deserving of its own nickname. My cat's name is Gomez, but when he crosses his paws like this, he turns into Hodgkins Plumpersocks.
Feb 2, 2024
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Turns out I am infinitely more likely to check out whatever esoteric goodness you're hawking if you grant me a convenient little digital portal.
Feb 20, 2024