This is an actual, legitimate question: Do people still use Tumblr? Is it, like, what the cool fifteen-year-olds use nowadays because it's #retro, or has it gone the way of MySpace (sidenote: I HIGHLY recommend figuring out how to login to your old MySpace page; it's like visiting a Museum of Shame, but in the very most entertaining of ways).
Illesteva sunglasses-turned-prescription glasses
It's always funny to me when this site suddenly becomes a little digital hub for something completely and totally random. For example: At present, a solid 5% of Ramshackle Glam's daily traffic comes from people in search of information on the glasses that Ali Wong wears in Baby Cobra. This makes sense to me both because they are fantastic glasses, and also because they're not actually glasses. They're sunglasses. That either Ali Wong or her stylist had made into prescription glasses. Which means that searching for them online is a bit trickier than you might imagine (enter: Ramshackle Glam!).
Which brings me to this little life hack.
This is Sweet Bu: a shoebox-sized candy shop tucked into a corner of Trancas County Market, within throwing distance of Malibu Beach. It's maybe 200 square feet, but you can easily lose an hour in there, as I did yesterday when I stopped in in search of some gummy sushi (yes) for my daughter's fifth birthday.
The shop is a full-on Wonka paradise, packed from floor to ceiling with everything from sweet retro favorites (Bubble Tape! Abba Zabba!) to candy-themed toys and gifts to bespoke, surfboard-shaped dog biscuits packed into mason jars and tied with jaunty ribbons (this is Malibu, remember). In the weeks before she opened the doors last year, the owner (and my friend), Melissa Smith, took her two children around to local antique shops, stocking up on vintage signs and old-school gumball machines to give the store the vibe of the beloved neighborhood hangout that it's since become.
A shot of my lovely friend from our off-the-cuff collaboration yesterday
You may have noticed that when Francesca and I get together, we frequently do little photo shoots. Not for any especially good reason; just because we enjoy them - putting together a concept, finding a location, picking the right time of day for the lighting effect we're after. I enjoy the whole process; unlike creating photos for this site, our shoots in no way feel like "work." You may also have noticed that over the years, I have appeared in these shoots - or any shoots, for that matter - less, and less, and less.
I wonder sometimes whether it's from insecurity - and of course it is, I suppose, more than I'd like to admit - but it's also that my interests with regards to photography, and "aesthetics" more generally, have undergone a fairly dramatic shift these past few years.
For those of you who've been following on my IG, you may be aware that I've been going through it a bit (ok, a lot) these past few days. I'm currently in San Jose because K has the kids for the next couple of days, and being with my girls seemed like a better idea than being alone. I know I'm being opaque, but it's simply because I'm not ready to write about what's been going on. I will when I can, though.
