That’s Stella

When I moved to New York last year, I wrote a top five list of musicians I wanted to see whilst I was here (because the chances of catching them in Perth are often limited or if that, you’re forced to see them at festivals like the Big Day Out, where you don’t really get to fully experience/appreciate).

Here’s my list:
1. Lou Reed
2. Broken Social Scene
3. Explosions in the Sky
4. Sufjan Stevens
5. Radiohead

So far I have crossed from the list Lou Reed, Explosions in the Sky (who I’ve seen twice now) and Radiohead (one of the best experiences in my life). I was super excited to hear Sufjan Stevens was playing four shows in the next 2 months. Considering how much I want to see him, I can’t believe I went online 4 hours after tickets went on sale, only to find they were sold out. SOLD OUT. I kid you not!! I was devastated. DEVASTATED. I also recently missed out on tickets for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Phoenix. I’m kinda confident I can score YYY and Phoenix tickets from scalpers, but Sufjan promoters have made it impossible for people to sell tickets. Firstly there was only a 2 ticket limit per person and everyone has to go to the venue to pick up their tickets on the night of the show. Super bummed I won’t be crossing that one off the list.

My bio needed updating since 2005… a lot has changed.

I am Stella. I am a 20-something year old girl who grew up in Perth and has been living in New York for the past 1.5 years.

When I was in my early teens, I earned money being on children television shows. A couple years later I posed as an 18 year old (when in actual fact I was very under age) and got a job as a DJ on a radio show. I scored press passes to concerts and after parties and met famous musicians. I was mischievous and brazen and it was some of the best years of my life.

When I was 20, I worked for a magazine publication in New York. Ever read The Devil Wears Prada? Minus the handsome suitors, it was a story I could relate to. The publishing world is harsh.

Today I work for one of the biggest advertising agencies in the world. But after only 4 years of being in this industry, I have decided I have had enough. I want to pursue a life in film production – like a million other people do.

I love life in New York. If I didn’t have my parents or friends living in Perth, I wonder sometimes if there would be any reason to return.

Whilst living in New York I have:
1. Learnt to cook
2. Become a literary junkie
3. Made friends with people I REALLY “click” with
4. Not only saw Lou Reed in a small and intimate concert but also went to a party he attended (and got royally trashed)
5. Learnt to appreciate summer - NY winters are harsh
6. Not had any major heart break - I don’t know if this is a good or bad thing…
7. Last but not least, I have seen my favorite Picasso painting 7 times this year and that is special.

Ok seriously… this is why you should never ever believe what’s said in gossip magazines or gossip blogs.

On Monday afternoon, just for fun, we googled Gerry and our Saturday night destination, wondering if anyone had commented on catching him make out with my bestie.

(You can do it yourself. Google his name and “The Jane”)

As you can see, trashy magazines like People Mag have completely stolen my friends thunder, and made up some blatant lies about him making out or as they love to put it, “canoodling” with HER!!! Lies!!

Frankly, my friend was really happy she wasn’t mentioned. She’s a super private person and the type of chick who is happier to have their birthday slip by without anyone knowing so she’s not the center of attention. But still… fuck that. I know I should laugh about it (trust me, we all did) but gossip mags are a little fucking ridiculous! Could you imagine if you were actually in a relationship with someone in the public eye and having them at the scrutiny of gossip mags? You could go crazy with paranoia.

I was going to tell you about this new guy I went on a date with on Thursday night - seriously, this guy is so amazingly beautiful/handsome, I want to make his facebook profile pic my desktop so I can remind myself how lucky I was to kiss the guy, but that stays between us, and I am joking anyway… but kinda not - but now this all seems boring and irrelevant after what happened last night.

I would love to tell you all the details, but I probably shouldn’t.
The short story is…my girlfriends and I went out last night. This actress was there. So was this funny man. This place we went to is literally a 3 minute walk from my apartment so it was kind of strange to have a Hollywood infestation so close to home. Anyway, my best friend here, who happens to be gorgeous and doesn’t know it (one of her best qualities) pashes THIS guy!!!.

They exchange numbers but he was super paranoid about leaving with her because as he says it “I’m kinda famous”. I don’t want to make him sound like a dick, because he was a really great guy. But anyway we are buzzed from the whole night and end up at my besties apartment just drinking. At 4am she gets a message from him asking if she’s awake… and later asking her to “Come say hello” at his apartment at 5:30am. Judge me all you want, but I was encouraging. I told her to go for it and she wanted to, but the rest of the girls made her feel really bad about the whole situation (hello jealousy) and she ended up not going.

This afternoon, imagine this… 6 girls all gathered around my bestie, spending 3 hours crafting a text back to him. We discussed winks and smiles. We fought over the grammer and punctuation. There was plenty of back and forth over the content. We called male friends for their opinion. If only you could hear our conversation - we all couldn’t believe we were women in our mid-20’s discussing this like we were solving the worlds problems! Haha. After 3-4 hours we came up with a one liner…. that sounded a little desperate - but of course we only realized this AFTER we sent it. Funny.

I love New York.

Is anyone out there to hear my NY love stories? Please say hello. I am feeling lonely.

Just as I was commenting that New York turns into a ghost town during summer, it seems New York Mag has also picked up on the emptier than usual hustling bustling city. Check out their story here.

I have been living in New York for just over 1.5 years now so whilst I can’t compare New York to perhaps 5 years ago, I can definitely say that compared to last year, there are definitely more “For Rent” signs plastered around the city, as well as “Open House” flyers posted on every corner during the weekend. The past year has also claimed so many restaurants who couldn’t survive the financial downfall.

I recently met a new male friend who I’ve been hanging out with recently. Last night after watching a disappointing Animal Collective show, he told me he was moving back to his home town, Massachusetts, to live in his parents house (whilst his parents traveled the world). He’s writing his 2-year thesis and said it was a struggle in New York these days. I was heartbroken. Ignore the fact that he’s started becoming a good guy to hang out with and makes me feel like I’m the best thing since sliced bread, but I was disappointed that our city was losing talent. He’s an overall super smartie pants and culturalist and gets flown out to festivals like SXSW and film festivals to comment on the talent and happenings, but he also writes on topics of politics and the shitty public health system here and the environment. He thrives of New York City - this city suits him so well, so to hear him leave was sad. I’ve had a few other friends leave this year to move to places like Berlin (a thriving art scene) and Paris and Los Angeles all for the sake of their careers/dreams/ambitions.

I can name a million reasons why I love this city, but one of the reasons is the huge population of talented folks (of every field) that inspire me to be just as great as they are.

I miss Perth beaches.