It’s been five years since I landed in LA, land of the waxed and tanned. Coming from Portland, Oregon, warnings and scoldings were plentiful.
“Do you know what people are like in Los Angeles?”
“Have you actually ever been to LA?”
“Don’t let it change you.”
Laughing off these Northwest admonitions, I arrived in my new city, ready to take the streets by storm. (Insert sarcastic snicker here.) I found work quickly, connected with friends old and new, and gradually, it happened. Things began coming out of my mouth I could not deny as true nor fully comprehend.
“You seem a little drunk. Be careful driving home.”
“I have meetings at eleven and two. Can you do a lunch at Katsuya?”
“I don’t want to be late. I’ll give myself an extra hour in traffic.”
Yes, I had transformed into an LA Person. My hair turned blonde, my nails seemed to grow a layer of bling, and I couldn’t spend less that $100 on any piece of clothing.
Just as Portland had turned my skeptical Chicago self into a yoga-posing, organic-eating, mixologist foodie, Los Angeles had turned me into a celebrity-knowing, meetings-taking supertan consultant in high heels. I’m not ashamed of my transition. Like sea creatures evolve to flourish in their environments, I mutated appropriately for the SoCal scene.
But this change had to be documented. The comparisons between Los Angeles and everywhere else needed to be logged.
So I started the Only OK in LA series. A collection of drawings and captions printed as postcards, these missives are meant to be sent from LA zipcodes to cities across the globe. My Twitter feed keeps it real-time.
The series struck a nerve. People wanted prints!
So I’m selling packs of 14 postcards for only $5 each. The entire series is currently on display at the Clubhouse’s Comedy In Art show (located on Vermont and Hollywood). Each postcard is 5.5 x 8” and printed in black and white.
You’ll get a free @OnlyOKinLA sticker with your order, and the satisfaction of knowing you’re one of us. An LA person. Welcome to the fold, baby. Let’s lunch soon.
xo
suzymae
