Update

I haven't been blogging as often as I'd like, but thems exciting times!

I've been elbows deep in work the past week, and it's just the beginning of school. The Daily Sundial is keeping me busy. I wrote a teeth-gnashing piece on the passing of the NDAA and have been assigned the student government beat. However, I've also been given the privilege of having my own column on food issues in addition to submitting a healthy recipe a week for the Arts & Life section. I'm insanely occupied, but I'm looking forward to the opportunity to get some more published clips out there.

I'm also leaving tomorrow to cover Five and Diamond, a San Francisco brick and mortar shop for Auxiliary Magazine. I have a short deadline, so I'll be hiking up to the bay area and turning around the next day to hammer out the photos and copy. I'm also in talks with the editor about interviewing Lacuna Coil on their recent album release.

I'm also producing a documentary project over the course of the next few months. I'm going to follow Flip Cassidy, an LA artist and his involvement with East Jesus, the small artist space within Slab City, a desert community near the Mexico-California border. East Jesus is like nowhere I've been. So colorful and surreal. In the middle of nowhere, it's an oasis of culture.

There are also a few potential modeling gigs coming up, so stay tuned!

Photo by Matt Derrick

Slab City, Salvation Mountain and East Jesus

Took a trip today to Slab City  for the first time. Man, what a trip. It's Mad Max-hillbilly-hippie-artist destitute community. Wow, I love it.

We went over to visit Salvation Mountain, a three-story tall man-made structure that's been kept up by a man, Leonard Knight for over three decades. One of the most bizarre places I've been to. 

Lastly, we made a stop at East Jesus, an evolving sculpture garden. I've never seen anything like this before.

January 5, 2012 Slab City, Calif.- One of the many art cars found in East Jesus, Calif. This one's adorned in whippets if you look closely.

January 5, 2012 Slab City, Calif.- Flip Cassidy, frontman of Flip Cassidy & the Junkyard Gospel, photographer and artist poses in front of the late mayor of East Jesus, Charlie Russel's memorial in Slab City, Calif.

January 5, 2012 Slab City, Calif.- An installation at the esteemed art collective, East Jesus in Slab City, Calif.

Rosie Neuharth stands in the doorway of Slab City's welcome booth on January 5, 2012.

January 5, 2012 Slab City, Calif.- Salvation Mountain, a man-made three-story structure that spans the length of a football field. Leonard Knight worked on creating and maintaining this piece of art for over three decades. You can walk through it and explore different rooms. Truly a sight to see.

January 5, 2012 Slab City, Calif.- Salvation Mountain, a man-made three-story structure that spans the length of a football field. Leonard Knight worked on creating and maintaining this piece of art for over three decades. You can walk through it and explore different rooms. Truly a sight to see.

January 5, 2012 Slab City, Calif.- A couple embraces on top of Salvation Mountain in Slab City, Calif.

January 5, 2012 Slab City, Calif.- The local church found in Slab City, Calif.

January 5, 2012 Slab City, Calif.- A couple running a "yard sale" in Salb City, Calif. live part-time in this off-the-grid haven to escape the MidWest.

January 5, 2012 Slab City, Calif.- Randy, a resident of Slab City posed for the camera at a yard sale on the side of the road.

January 5, 2012 Slab City, Calif.- A tree on the side of the road in Slab City decorated with shoes.

The Salton Sea's Bombay Beach Community

So, I went on a morbid adventure with my girlfriend, Rosie today.

We took off to the Salton Sea and stopped in the Bombay Beach neighborhood.

If you don't know about the Salton Sea, it's disgusting. An accident with an aqueduct from the Colorado River busting into this valley resulted in one of the largest man-made lakes in the world.

What residents are left have a post-apocalyptic vibe to them that makes your skin crawl. The air is rancid with the stench of rotting flesh, nothing living can survive in its waters, as its salinity is uninhabitable and it's terribly polluted.

The "sand" isn't actually sand, but the bones of thousands of deceased waterfowl and fish.

Enjoy!

Pirates Invade Studio City and 29 Palms New Years Day Photos

Moi! Photo by Chrix Lanier- No make up and rugged after two days of camping in Joshua Tree

Pardon the shameless self-promotion in the shot above.

Below are some samples I took from the Studio City farmers market of December 18, 2011 and some snap shots of my boyfriend in 29 Palms on New Years Day.

Chrix Lanier- New Years Day in 29 Palms, Calif.

Chrix Lanier- New Years Day in 29 Palms, Calif.

Chrix Lanier- New Years Day in 29 Palms, Calif.

Pirate invading the Studio City, Calif. farmers market December 18, 2011

Pirate invading the Studio City, Calif. farmers market December 18, 2011

Enjoy!