Rumor Has It, This Place Is Magic!

It's been a week since the greatest weekend out of the year, and I can still smell the familiar stench of grass and anticipation. I close my eyes, and I can still see the mountains and the palm trees encircling the desert oasis around me. My lips still tingle with the sweet taste of boxed-red wine and I can still hear thousands of whoops and hollers coming from the all over the polo fields. There is nowhere else quite like it and no other place that can make a troubled heart feel whole- Coachella.

Once a year, Goldenvoice puts on this miraculous 3-Day music festival at the Empire Polo Fields in Indio, California and pack it full of a wide variety of artists from indie and hip hop to electro and punk. Coachella consists of 2 outdoor stages, 3 tent stages, and 2 smaller nonstop dance stages. Not only is Coachella an honorable place for musicians to perform, it is also a premier location for visual artists to showcase their work. I have seen some amazing artists and some incredible shows at Coachella. This year alone I had the  privilege to see performances by Explosions in the Sky, Swedish House Mafia, Flying Lotus, Radiohead, Childish Gambino, Santigold, and Dr. Dre with Snoop Dogg (to name a few). Artists go all out for Coachella, bringing in special guests and showing off their best moves to impress the festival goers. I cannot imagine a better weekend than being surrounded by incredible music, jaw-dropping art, and amazing friends.

This past year was my fifth year at Coachella. Each year is different; full of new music, art, and crazy stories. Each year I use this weekend off to reflect on my life over the past year. I give myself enough alone time to digest exactly what happened last year, what is happening this year, and who/what really matters in my life. As I watched the orange and red colors of Saturday morning's sunrise paint the sky over the Coachella Valley and above the ferris wheel, I could not help but wish everyone I loved was with me watching in awe as God gave the campers His best light show. I sat and thought about my sister, who has gone to Coachella twice before, and imagined she was next to me. I would have told her how happy I was that she was able to make it and how I think Coachella is the best thing that ever happened to her. I would tell her how happy and proud of her I am and how I could not think of anyone better to spend that sunrise with. Even in my memory of that early morning, I still see her right beside me.

As much as I wanted my big sister next to me during my favorite weekend out of the year, it is still encouraging to know that she has been to Coachella before and has therefor grown and discovered herself in ways that only Coachella can teach a person. I believe that everybody should experience Coachella, at least once. My first year was such a learning experience and I feel like I gained knowledge about society, culture, and myself that I would never have learned without the help of the communal bonds and kindness of Coachella strangers. I want everyone to know that exact feeling. Year after year, I pray for two of my best, lifelong friends to magically come up with tickets and to camp along side of me while we run and play in the grass and listen to music that makes our soul weep with joy. For one those friends, Coachella would be a home away from home; for the other, a life-changing weekend and a surprise love-affair for everything Coachella stands for. It is my vow to get these friends to Coachella. Mark my words: it's gonna happen.

Coachella is more than just a music festival, it's a state of mind. Coachella is helping a stranger hold their campsite together during high winds, it's offering a beer to a complete stranger because they wished you a "Happy Coachella," it's getting together with old friends and new friends and making old friends feel new again while making new friends feel old. Coachella is both what the world should be like and what the world will never be. It is about strangers coming together with the common goal of making it the best weekend of the year, and it never seems to fail. Every year I claim that this will be my last year and every year I depart Monday morning with a tear in my eye and a soft whisper: "see you next year."

*Thank you, Eric Hankins for your wonderful photo-art! You're amazing!*

Fear of Living

In a little tiny house
by a great big window
Sat a little tiny woman
in a big comfy chair.

Each day she looked out
and pondered each ponder
And questioned the matter
of what went on out there.

"Perhaps there's a world
less transparent than this pane?
A world that lets me live
rather than just look and stare?"

But though her curiosity
she never stepped outside.
The comfort that she knew
simply never let her share.

"I can try again tomorrow,"
she said after each sunset
Knowing that in her heart
she would never even dare.

So day in and day out
she soared in her thoughts
Of how lovely life would be
without relentless fear.



*a poem by Emily Street*

If Last Night Never Happened

If last night never happened

Then why am I so scared,

To look down and see the damage

Of my tights completely teared?

If last night never happened

Why do I feel remorse,

For the things I cannot remember

And everything that was forced?

If last night never happened

Then why do I weep so much,

About what I could have done

Had I not have been so lush?

If last night never happened

Would I still feel the way I do?

Would I think the victim a coward

Because she decided not to sue?

If last night never happened

Then perhaps I could still trust,

That every look that I receive

Is not a look of lust.

If last night never happened

Then tomorrow would not be

Another day to get over

The self-image that I see.

I would be well-rested in the morning,

And each emotion would be captioned.

But all of that is gone,

Because last night really happened.

*a poem by Emily Street*

Escaping Fear and Letting Reality Take Hold

When I first started this blog, I was so excited to have my own space to write about something I love, even if that something is as simple as putting tape to my lips and peeling it off. I had all these ideas about story lines and pictures to post. I had visions of wearing my heart on my online network of a sleeve. I wanted to use this blank canvas to get used to seeing my work in a public area. I was going to let go of my fear of being publicly criticized and say whatever I want to say because I want to say it. From the moment I opened this account, it was as if every thought that went through my mind had to go through 4 or 5 censor stations and the ending product ended up not being my original thought at all. Writing was so much easier when I didn't make it my life's calling. 

Even sitting here right now, I can't help but tell myself how dumb that sounds and how I shouldn't care about other people's thoughts or if anyone is going to read this at all. "This is yours. Make this yours!" But all is easier said than done. In fact, it's easier to give that advice than it is to take it. There's always going to be that overwhelming fear that I'm not doing this right or that there isn't a real theme to my blog, but that doesn't mean that I should give up! No, what I have to say really isn't that important or even necessary to read. Yes, I could just as easily write this in my private journal and feel just as accomplished about a discovery through my personal journey; but maybe there is just one person who randomly stumbles upon my page and identifies with it. Maybe my uncensored words will be exactly what that person needs to hear. Maybe the purpose of life is to make yourself happy and fulfilling that selfish need, in turn, makes other people happy.

I think about writing all day. I'm obsessed with it. I always have been. I have about 50 different story ideas in my head; all complete with character analysis, plot lines, supporting plots, and most of them have some sort of a riveting twist. I don't write any of them down because as soon as I do, they're real. My stories have life to them and are right there, for the whole world to see. My newly acquired goal for 2012 is to write down at least 3 of my stories. They will be publicized on my blog for anybody and nobody to see. I am going to face one of my greatest fears and I will not let criticism bring me down. In the end, this is mine and I will do with it as I please.

and I will end this piece with a picture of me with tape on my face, because some things should never change. :)

E[mily's]! Tru Hollywood Story: Scotty McTape

Scotch Tape originated in 1930 and was used to help grocery store clerks and butchers secure their customer's packages and provided families with make-shift household repairs during the Great Depression. In 1944, Scotch adopted Scotty McTape as their mascot. Scotch began airing Scotty's commercials bringing the beloved Scottish boy not only into our homes, but into our hearts. 


By 1955, 67% of American homes had television sets, making Scotty's popularity grow more and more. By 1960, Scotty McTape was a household name.


"Scotty was a great guy! He knew how to seal and mend, and it was true, he would be your very best friend..."  [interview with the Krispies brothers; Snap, Crackle, and Pop]


Scotty's cheerful advertising techniques helped to sell Scotch Tape to housewives for sewing, children for homework, and dads for the office!

But soon the limelight became too much for our friend-in-plaid; Scotty began hanging out with the wrong crowd. 


"We used to have so much fun together! We taught each other so much, and even when our ads hit the big time, Scotty was always the glue...er, tape that held us together!" [interview with Bert S. Cross; CEO of Scotch Tape 1966-1970]


As Scotty's fame grew, so did his addictions. Scotty started hanging out with other mascots. He would do lines with the Ajax Pixies, smoking cigarettes with Willie the Kool Penguin, and lifting-up the town with the Frito Bandito. 

By 1974, Scotty McTape's advertising was no longer able to uphold the same ratings. Scotch Tape tossed their once-loved mascot like a torn music sheet, unable to play again. So what has become of our cheerful, Scottish friend? Scotty's moved back to his homeland of Scotland where he lives on a quiet farm with his scotty-dog, Max. He mends to himself now, but if you listen carefully in the foggy, quiet morns deep in the hills of Scotland, you can still hear him singing his jingle: "The tape with the plaid is the best to be had so stick with Scotch, my friend!"

*Scotch is a registered trademark of 3M. © 3M 2011. All rights reserved.

The Best Things in Life

I don't know how to start this off and I sure as heck don't know how to finish it. This blog has nothing to do with anything, which is what is pretty much on my mind at all times. I suppose it can only go up from here :)  If there are any topics you want to hear about, please let me know!

The Best Things in Life
I have learned that the best things in life are not things. Things come and go, get broken, or get lost. Experiences, however, are never out of place. I have been fortunate enough to go to many shows, meet many people, and see things in my life that I could not possibly make up in my own head. Some things I have learned along the way are:

Making new friends is just as important as keeping the old ones.

Never be afraid to be yourself...people might be yourself with you!

Finding that one person that loves you no matter what is the greatest feeling in the world.

<3

Security is always on your side.

Best Friends will always be there for you.

"I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see."  -John Burroughs

Always Random

Welcome to my first post of my first blog! As you may have figured, my name is Emily and I love tape...on my face...all the time. It's kinda this crazy quirk I have.  :-P  So I've created this blog to post about my random nothings, but mostly my love of tape! :) So to start this blog off, here are some awesome tape-sculptures that would be awesome to make!

urban-carousel :)

best.giraffe.ever.

Ring! Ring! Ring!

"Hello! Tape-phone! How may I help you?"