How to Quit Everything

by Jessica Brookman in ,


FACT: What you do with your life matters. The world needs you to quit everything that doesn't make sense until you are somewhere that you don't want to leave. 

This is a story about why I am retiring from social media. Kinda.

 It is also a story about hedge funds, blogging, and being an unreasonable bastard (even if you're a woman, especially if you're a woman). Also, Bobcat Goldthwait makes an appearance. 

There's a chance I may be black-bagged for writing this. Here we go! 

xo. Jessa.

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How to Settle Down

by Jessica Brookman in


FACT: ​Recognizing what you want and getting what you want are basically the same thing. Get on that. 

This is a story about making a place for yourself in the world and tiny houses. But first, I need to tell you a story about an LSD trip, Instagram, and making the best of a bad (plumbing) situation.

While this story starts with cat piss and a bunch of broken pipes, it ends in the Silverlake Hills. All's well that ends well, yeah? Cheers!

Jessa.

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How to Be in Love in Los Angeles

by Jessica Brookman in ,


FACT: ​NOTHING LASTS FOREVER. HAVE A GOOD FUCKING TIME ANYWAY. 

Hey assholes, remember when Tennyson wrote that it was better to have loved and crashed and burned than to have been a pussy all along alone in your studio apartment? I might have paraphrased some of that. For that, I am sorry. But I refuse ​to apologize for the sentiment. 

A few days ago, I was trolling YouTube for some audiovisual inspiration and I stumbled on this short film produced by Oliver Peoples set to Brindo by Devendra Banhart. It served its purpose, but as I realized where it was filmed -- John Lautner's Rainbow House in Nichols Canyon -- it also triggered a surge of nostalgia. Or oxytocin. 

As the first in two etymology lessons today, the word brindo is spanish for toast, as in the kind you make with champagne. The following is a story about living in Los Angeles. It is a story about french new wave film, mid-century modern architecture, and the hollywood hills. It's a story about the warm, golden light of long afternoons. 

Needless to say, it's also a story about love.​ 

xoxo, Jessa

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How to Grow a Bush and Change your Name

by Jessica Brookman in ,


​FACT: How you see yourself is one of the most important indicators in how you see and interact with the world. This is a story about how I grew a bush and decided to change my name. 

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