Christine, Joseph, and MySpace
I met two of my best friends on MySpace. This was back in 2004 when it was just taking off. Before people were inundated with social media it was far more acceptable to reach out and forge bonds with strangers. Nowadays people tend to add as a contact on LinkedIn or Facebook only those people they've met in real life. So, even though I lived in a different city than them at the time, Christine and Joseph, who were roommates, stumbled upon me and reached out on account of my professed interests in electronic music, body modification, and the Soviet Union. We grew close over the next few years and we're still friends. I visited each of them in their respective domiciles as recently as this summer.
Ford Seven and Girl Talk
Christine and Joseph eventually connected me to a place called Ford Seven. Just a sprawling apartment in an old building in Cleveland—sprawling enough to roller skate! The place was known for its antics and events. This is where the mashup artist Girl Talk played some of his first shows, and he took off from there. Another character who was a part of that scene was Antonio. He's a gifted hairstylist by all accounts, so gifted he was even Courtney Love's personal stylist. Well, at least for a few weeks. I never got the full story on what happened there.
The Fund and Street Fight Radio
The Fund (aka the Fund for Public Interest Research) recruits young idealistic (and/or desperate) people to fundraise for nonprofits, either door-to-door or by accosting people on the street. I worked there each summer in college, and Zack was my boss two of those summers. He went on to become the potato salad guy. He also ended up spending time working on the same farm in France as my friend Natasha, who used to live at Ford Seven.
In college I made good friends with a certain Lauren. And while I was at the Fund, I worked with Ljubica, who now hosts Cold Pizza Party. Ljubica has collaborated with Street Fight Radio, and one of the hosts of that was Lauren's first boyfriend.
Reality TV
Katie, who I met through Lauren, worked at a dry cleaner's in high school. She used to let her friend Akashia sleep on the couch in the shop. Akashia went on to compete in the first season of RuPaul's Drag Race, but not before stealing from the cash register. I coincidentally gave Akashia a Tarot card reading once when I was in high school. A kid I was on the cross country team and in art class with went on to compete in Project Runway, and Katie's friend Irina ended up in the same writing program at Bard College as Christine.
I met two of my best friends on MySpace. This was back in 2004 when it was just taking off. Before people were inundated with social media it was far more acceptable to reach out and forge bonds with strangers. Nowadays people tend to add as a contact on LinkedIn or Facebook only those people they've met in real life. So, even though I lived in a different city than them at the time, Christine and Joseph, who were roommates, stumbled upon me and reached out on account of my professed interests in electronic music, body modification, and the Soviet Union. We grew close over the next few years and we're still friends. I visited each of them in their respective domiciles as recently as this summer.
Ford Seven and Girl Talk
Christine and Joseph eventually connected me to a place called Ford Seven. Just a sprawling apartment in an old building in Cleveland—sprawling enough to roller skate! The place was known for its antics and events. This is where the mashup artist Girl Talk played some of his first shows, and he took off from there. Another character who was a part of that scene was Antonio. He's a gifted hairstylist by all accounts, so gifted he was even Courtney Love's personal stylist. Well, at least for a few weeks. I never got the full story on what happened there.
The Fund and Street Fight Radio
The Fund (aka the Fund for Public Interest Research) recruits young idealistic (and/or desperate) people to fundraise for nonprofits, either door-to-door or by accosting people on the street. I worked there each summer in college, and Zack was my boss two of those summers. He went on to become the potato salad guy. He also ended up spending time working on the same farm in France as my friend Natasha, who used to live at Ford Seven.
In college I made good friends with a certain Lauren. And while I was at the Fund, I worked with Ljubica, who now hosts Cold Pizza Party. Ljubica has collaborated with Street Fight Radio, and one of the hosts of that was Lauren's first boyfriend.
Reality TV
Katie, who I met through Lauren, worked at a dry cleaner's in high school. She used to let her friend Akashia sleep on the couch in the shop. Akashia went on to compete in the first season of RuPaul's Drag Race, but not before stealing from the cash register. I coincidentally gave Akashia a Tarot card reading once when I was in high school. A kid I was on the cross country team and in art class with went on to compete in Project Runway, and Katie's friend Irina ended up in the same writing program at Bard College as Christine.
No comments:
Post a Comment