Introducing Madam Lee…

I met this foxy young woman on the set of my friends music video and her laughter and sarcasm revealed to me that she and I would make great friends. She arrived at my place yesterday with a bag full of fabulous clothing and the same personality that attracted me to her in the first place. I hope my readers will see more of her.

Drop another coin in the slot and I will tell you more.

I am not a religious person however on the rare occasion this pointless universe hands me something of value I take notice. Yesterday in an old saloon I stumbled upon one of those antique fortune-telling machines, you know the ones that spit cards out as useless as your actual life. Now it could’ve been the cocktail of beer and xanax or the interior of the building however this machine called to me, it also could’ve been that as me being a Piscean I am forever drawn to things that don’t exist. The old clay woman from within the booth gave me the following fortune:


Be careful and always look before you leap. Things right now are not as rosy as you anticipate. Make sure you have an absolute thorough understanding of the life you lead. You are naturally too liberal and often times get the worst of it, but you are so broad-minded that, rather then cause hard feelings with anybody, you will stand for abuse and say nothing. Remember that people will always have their best interest in mind and these interests are not your own. Your life is marked with loneliness and despair from the actions of others and though you struggle to make sense of this, failure seems deliberate. You must learn to use your creativity to adjust to such things and will eventually understand that disappointment and isolation will occur often. Drop another coin in the slot and I will tell you more.

I thought better of it and kept my dime, rather then gain additional insight into this life that has turned out to be entirely too long.

Who cant love a good class war?

Watch this new film from Brave New Films:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8RsFwsODzE&eurl=http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/20619-fight-the-war-on-greed-and-you-could-be-in-our-next-video

My comment:
I have my college degree in Social Work. I owe $55,000 in student loans, Henry’s hourly wage. I work for $9.50 an hour. I earn an annual income of $23,000 a year. I live in a 500 square foot apartment, which takes more then half my monthly income. I work in a chronically homeless shelter in Los Angeles, assisting people who on average collect $221 a month on general relief. All are mentally ill with substance abuse problems. They live at the shelter, each in their sprawling 9x9 square foot cubicle complete with desk lamp, bed, and dresser drawer. At the flick of a dial they see rushing water in the shower, sometimes hot, and three times a day they retreat to their opulent dining hall where they enjoy hot meals, then after they have had their fill of mostly beans and rice, they retire to relax on their eleven year old couch, complete with lice outbreaks, to watch a television that receives over three channels. Like Henry’s estate, the shelter contains a master library where one can relax while sitting on milk crates reading paperback books from the 1970’s. And also like Henry many of the clients own a vacation property they can escape to when they need to relax. Some have private storage facilities where they retreat to when they need to get away or for others it’s under the pier in Santa Monica where there are free showers and other homeless single families they can mingle with. Oh but that’s not all. Like Henry our clients feel the need to play, one of them played the California lottery and won $1,000, his earnings however were not paid out. Rather they were collected by the state of California to cover his general relief costs which states there can be no other income while collecting the exorbitant amount of $221 a month.
At present it is such an exclusive lifestyle that only 90,000 people in the county of Los Angeles who qualify as homeless can live in our opulent shelter mansion. I am sorry to inform you that you don’t meet our criteria. Ah Henry your mansions could house all of these people. However, I don’t think they would feel comfortable living your life, as they are used to having to pay taxes, even though their incomes are less then $9,000 a year even though this income comes from full time employment, go minimum wage! In addition, they are also accustomed to doing for themselves in order to survive; I don’t think you would fit in here.
So cheers to you good sir, may you sleep well tonight, regardless of which of the 47 king size beds you lay down in. Perhaps one day our paths will cross, as I will be first in line for the class war that will redistribute wealth, nothing personal.

Black Friday

Today’s LA Times Opinion page features a brilliant chart of corporate greed and where we stand as consumers; to buy or not to buy, to think twice before you spend money and be a responsible consumer. This year when you stockpile carts to prove to people that you love them, think twice about where you spend your money and what corporate interest you are supporting. I too like giving gifts however have come to understand, as have most of my gift recipients that the best gifts cannot be purchased. My feelings of appreciation toward those I love is not based on how long I have stood in line for them or how much money I spend, rather it is based on a thoughtful commitment to making their lives better and making them laugh. Shop on!

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-barnbrook23nov23,0,1633991.story?coll=la-opinion-rightrail

Homeless Walk

Today in Exposition Park about four thousand people gathered together to raise awareness about the 90,000 homeless people who live in Los Angeles County. The event has raised almost $800,000 thus far, thanks to those who sponsored me, and I also completed the 5k, my fat ass completed a 5k! I was honored to be among like-minded people who demonstrate such compassion for people most of our country ignores. The basic conversation among us was that homelessness is not an epidemic that is to be solved through free meals and emergency beds rather through housing, permanent affordable housing. It was an awesome day and gave me a much needed renewal of my goals and confirmation that there are others out there who are concerned about our homeless population as much as I.


My fellow co-workers and clients before the walk.

There are thousands of us; rest assured we will never give up!