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COUCH DIARIES issue no. 1 // spring 2019
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from the editors: About a month into our freshman year of college, we ordered the cheapest couch we could find from amazon and assembled it with our hall mates. The purpose was to serve as a place for guests and travelers to crash. We didn’t expect it to turn our room into a meeting place, a space to host all the holidays, to share new movies and music, to introduce friends and friends of friends and foster creative ideas and the wildest dreams of sleep deprived college students. Now we invite you to take a moment and join us on our couch, meet new people, share your hopes and passions, and grow with us through our Couch Diaries. Thanks for coming,
Founders and Editors-in-Chief
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Meet the Team: Editors in Chief Liv Coron Carolyn Knapp Copy Editor Sophie Ceniza Design Jesse Walk Keana Astani Carolyn Knapp Liv Coron Hunter Csathy Writing Sophie Ceniza Liv Coron Josh Greene Maia Kirkpatrick Carolyn Knapp Finn Kobler Katie Muschalik Stephen Yun 6
Photography Daisy Bell Daine Holsteen Carolyn Knapp Liv Coron Music Contributor Hunter Csathy Art Contributors Sidney Cartwright Callahan Bracken Design Consultant Lily Krausz Featured Halle Baerenstecher Vanessa Qin Cover Model Assaf Manor
Inside: Letter From the Editors
You’re My Best Friend
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PAGE 22
Thinking of a Place PAGE 8
What does “hometown mean to you?
What a Good Day Entails PAGE 13
Mixed media collage
A Comedian For Our Generation PAGE 14
A photo exploration of friendship throughout life.
Empowered Youth PAGE 28
Young people are the future. The importance of young voices and how to use them.
Vanessa Qin: Renaissance Woman of the Technological Era PAGE 30
From Vine to YouTube, Cody Ko may just be Gen-Z’s most important comedian.
Young entrepreneur Vanessa Qin talks authenticity in the age of influencers.
Ballin’ On A Budget
Horoscopes for Skeptics
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How to have fun in LA without breaking the bank.
It’s Called Fashion, Look it Up PAGE 18
Halle Baerenstecher teaches us how to shop sustainably.
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It’s Taurus season baby!
What Are We Consuming? PAGE 34
Our list of what to watch, read, and listen... Trust us, we know what’s cool.
Music Gooroo Presents: Now Playing PAGE 38
Art for Your Ears Couch Diaries – 7
THINKIN A PLACE KATIE MUSCHALIK
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NG OF
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“A
little surf town near San Diego.” “New York – the city.” “The bay.” “Chicago – well, Chicago-ish.” “Fargo.” “Where are you from?”–A frequent point of conversation in post high school life. We often speak about our hometowns with so much love and pride, yet so few months or years ago we were all so ready to leave them behind. I came to Los Angeles expecting an instant home - turns out it is a lot easier said than done. I feel pulled in two different directions because of my hometown. I want to move forward, to get on with my life, but I don’t want to forget how it felt to be in the midst of life at home. Finding an in between is hard. Whether to go to school, to work, to take a gap year or to just move out, leaving home is a collective experience shared by all young adults. Yet its rite of passage status does not make the transition any less challenging. It is difficult to completely get our hometowns back in the same way. Life there is different, most of our friends have either left or will be leaving soon. Things begin to change. I came back to Houston for winter break and felt sad to see a new hotel built across the highway and a juicery open across the street from my high school. You start to feel like you’ve been gone forever. However comfortable or “at home” you feel when you come back, you don’t really live here anymore. We glorify our hometowns in our minds, creating an idealized picture of what life was once like for us before “the rest of our lives” 10
began. Did I really like living here all that much? Probably not. The memories were not always happy,. Yet I still I think there will always be something special about the place you began to figure out who you are. At the same time, I sometimes wonder if I even have a hometown at all. I haven’t stayed in one place consecutively for more than five years for my entire life. How can I call Houston my hometown when part of me still feels like I just got there? I went to high school there, but does that make it my home or am I just waxing nostalgic about the place I lived prior to now? My sister would say that people are your hometowns. The physical place doesn’t matter but the community there does. If I were to move back to Doha today, I would feel much less at home than I did in that same place ten years ago. Almost everyone that was a part of our expatriate community has moved away. The same people wouldn’t be staying up talking in their backyards til the sun came up like they did in 2008. It could grow to be home over time, like all places do, but it would be a strange “Doha 2.0”, a Doha far removed from the one of my childhood. My mom always says that whenever you move to a new place, you have to give it six months before judging if you like it or not. Moving is hard and leaving home alone even harder. It takes time, tears, and energy. But usually, after six months your new city has started to feel like home. Maybe I am overthinking this hometown thing, then – with the right people and the right amount of time, anywhere can be your hometown.
Jesse Walk From the Home series 2019
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It’s a simple yet time intensive recipe. I recently visited photographer Sally Mann’s exhibit “A Thousand Crossings” at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston. Her photography says a lot about identity and the places we come from, something I had been considering quite a bit in the process of writing this. I was struck by a quote from her displayed next to her work: “As ephemeral as our footprints were in the sand along the river, so also were those moments of childhood caught in the photographs. And so will be our family itself, our marriage, the children who enriched it, and the love that has carried us through so much...what will last, beyond all of it, is the place.” During my high school graduation, I remember being overcome by the feeling that this ceremony has happened for so many decades before me. Students from the early 2000s or 1960s that were just like me weren’t even a blip on my radar. I didn’t know who they were, what they cared about, who they loved. The things that mattered to them. The thought made me feel so small. Most of these people have moved away, but as Sally Mann says, the place is what remains. In a lot of ways, I think it’s a beautiful idea, like you are only alive in the memories of those fated to share this time in the world with you. I’ll never know the inside jokes or nicknames of the class of 1980, but the class of 1980 will. Their hometown of Houston probably looked and felt a lot different from mine. What was everything to them is unknown to me. The physical place is exactly the same, yet the experience of life nothing alike. The people in 12
their community were what made their hometown their hometown, and this is constantly changing. I see this today with my father who grew up in Houston. There is a large community of adults that have come back to their hometown, and I can see the little differences between my experience of Houston versus theirs through their interactions with the city. What is now X was once a grocery store. Part of me feels overwhelmed by the thought of of these hometowns filled “ghosts” who once spent their formative years there. A conveyor belt of life. I am always questioning what I am supposed to do with my hometowns. What do I do with these places I can never truly go back to? If we are always growing and changing, then one could say that our hometowns will always grow and change too. It is nice to think that over the years we will have multiple hometowns. Austin may be the place where you discovered what you wanted out of life but maybe Los Angeles is the place where you made that happen. Portland where you learned to heal a broken heart and London where you started a family and Boston where you changed your mind and Tokyo where you made the world a better place and Seattle where you found a community and Tel Aviv where you figured it all out. I can’t predict the future, but I’m hoping that I’ll look back on my life in Los Angeles with the same nostalgia and rose-colored glasses as I do with my many hometowns. Collage by Sidney Cartwright
It’s okay
to
be lost.
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Carrying the torch of the comedic past into a highly digital future, 28-year-old Cody Ko just might be the most important comedian of Generation Z. by Finn Kobler Gen Z-ers have had front row tickets to the major shift in comedy entertainment, watching it become increasingly experimental over the last decade. Comedians have gained power and popularity via methods that were virtually unheard of in our parents’ generation with the availability of streaming platforms like YouTube, Netflix, and Hulu. No longer do artists need to enter the stand-up circuit or a powerhouse writers’ room to become significant characters: reaction comedy, tweets, 6-second videos have all proven to be viable mediums in entering the mainstream sphere of influence. This revolution has made us equal parts excited and skeptical. While celebrating the stylistic and tonal risks that are being taken among comedy programming — from the deliciously succinct “An Emmy For Megan” to the sharply melancholy “BoJack Horseman” -- audiences are equally frustrated. As this new niche-dominated comedic landscape doesn’t require nearly the same content vetting, it permits unprofessional stars or dangerously destructive messages to reach the masses (YouTuber Logan Paul and his exploitation of a dead body being a strong example of both). One comedian, though, has managed to effortlessly speak all the languages of our new comedic era while also subtly promoting messages that are universally relatable and constructive. His domination of web comedy has made him a household name 14 14
among bottom-level millennials while the way he presents his comedy maintains a universality, a relatability that echoes the talk show stars our parents grew up on. Carrying the torch of the comedic past into a highly digital future, 28-yearold Cody Ko just might be the most important comedian of Generation Z. “Most Important Comedian” is a title with big shoes to fill. What makes Ko so capable of filling it? The reasoning is two-fold. One: Cody Ko has gained status as an upper-echelon comic exclusively through forums that represent the values of Generation Z. He was one of the first popular viners, a medium that peaked and ended over the span of five years (essentially Gen Z exclusive), and translated that into a YouTube career. His reaction comedy has earned him a total of over 2 million subscribers. Some of the inside jokes within his comedic reaction videos inspired him to make two podcasts: Insanely Chill, and Tiny Meat Gang which have 14.9 thousand SoundCloud listeners and 7000+ monthly Patreon patrons respectively. He’s also amounted over 1 million Twitter followers for his sardonic one-liners. He and regular co-star Noel Miller have nearly 250,000 monthly Spotify listeners for their parody rap duo and, before all of this, he was a Duke University graduate and software engineer who made the meme-heavy app
I’d Cap That which charted high on the iTunes App Store in the spring of 2012. Viral marketing is an incredibly tough field to find massive success in. Ko’s mastery on six different sites demonstrates a level of skill so unique to the new era of entertainment that many comics of yesteryear can’t figure it out. Jack Black, Ashton Kutcher, Rainn Wilson, all far more seasoned than Ko, have all tried to succeed on YouTube or in the podcast world. But Generation Z has, at the least, a strange, twisted sense of humor if not an altogether different way of communicating. Self-deprecation and “shitpost culture” have a nuance that requires years of code cracking. While many network sitcom greats have stumbled through the syntax, Ko’s range has demonstrated a facile fluency in this language. Gen Z will likely go down in history books as the first culture that worked in tandem with the internet. It’s entertainers will need to be pioneers that follow this paradigm lockstep. Ko is one of the few that truly fits this bill. Two: Cody Ko’s comedy still reflects values of Generation Z. There are already very few who have shown the same range in comedic success through the internet, but those who have done so all have heavy amounts of haters. In a market of clicks, the egregious, the shocking, or the deeply controversial is usually what it takes to get famous. What stirs the conversation is what gets clicked on. Thus, the Paul Brothers are able to make millions by simply increasing the stakes of their day-to-day life and channels like iDubbz are able to corral fans through shock value comedy. Shane Dawson has had multiple recent scandals that reflect this feat. He got a lot of attention for making inappropriate sexual jokes about children and animals… but has it been positive attention? Ko, on the other hand, has an impressively high like-to-dislike ratio on each of his videos and his reaction comedy is always critiquing the very content that does go viral in the Internet Age. His reaction to a video from “Girl Defined Ministries” provoked a conversation about the power of using religion to shame young girls and
women for natural sexual attraction. His video “THAT’S CRINGE’ Vape Hotbox” (which is responsible for the hit catchphrase among many -“Yo whaddup! It’s Matty FUCKING Smokes”) affectionately laughed at the absurdity of the vaping epidemic among teenagers. In a generation that’s both sex-positive and health-oriented, Ko doesn’t back away from discussing the merit of these beliefs. I’ve heard Cody Ko talked about by high school friends, speech and debate captains, and frat brothers. He’s liked by everyone. Check his Instagram. It’s likely you have at least a dozen friends who follow him and therefore wouldn’t object to his representation as the comedian of our generation. Ko manages to avoid all the tripwires in a highly politicized era of comedy. His subtlety at getting his messages across is done through humor. It’s never soapbox preaching. It’s laughing at someone making mistakes on the internet, hoping you don’t make the same ones. His rhetoric is unpretentious and unalienating which make a wide audience willing to listen. His mastery of internet marketing and political morality make him a sort of Renaissance comic -- the perfect conglomerate of what Generation Z will be remembered for. And, so far, he seems to be the only one by a large margin.
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Ballin’ On by Josh Greene, Liv Coron, and Couch Diaries staff
Life is radical, living in the city. These days, Los Angeles is as strange as ever. One thing is for certain; from sun to moon, LA provides benevolent experiences to obtain.
Coming from a peaceful, quiet hillside to a bustling, urban environment, I wasn’t sure how my mind and body were going to react. Industrialization often feels confining, especially for those like me who yearn for the free outdoors. I worried that I would lose my balance. Until I found that Los Angeles really retains a compromise between nature and city. Although not known for its public transportation, traveling via Metro allows passengers to observe society through the passing window, a surreal experience throughout the various sections of the city. Each stop will take you to a diverse cultural enclave, such as Little Tokyo, Thai Town, or Little Armenia. The city of dreams certainly plays like one as we live our lives like a movie. As film students, it’s been incredible stumbling through the streets of Hollywood talking like we’re the next big thing. Los Angeles holds a record number of historic cinema palaces, where viewers can take in a classic, or witness a premiere. Still, eventually, the sun sets. We return to the comfort of our homes, apartments, and dorm rooms. Los Angeles is a place to live until you feel the need to break free from it. That time may vary person to person. For now, I will stay. If you decide to stay as well, here are some things to do as a broke student:
Zine Festival May 26, 2019 Culver City
L.A. Zine Fest 2019 will be hosting its annual event at the Helms Bakery in Culver City. With over 200 vendors, guest speakers and workshops, there’s something for anyone interested in exploring the underground world of Zines. Admission is free. 16
Downtown LA Art Walk
Free Concerts Located in Downtown LA’s Historic Core District, The Around LA Second Thursday of Every Month Downtown LA
Art Walk is a self guided tour of local galleries and emerging artists. Free art walks 2nd Thursday of each month 6-10pm. Stop by the Last Bookstore for a printed map to guide you through the galleries.
Mondays are a popular night for free music in LA. Discover the next big thing at the Satellite in Silver Lake, the Echo on Sunset, or the Bootleg Theater in Filipinotown. Every Monday, always free.
Movies at the Cemetary
May 11-26, 2019 Hollywood
Cinespia’s Hollywood Forever Cemetery Movie Screenings on the lawn offers so much to enjoy. In addition to classic films like The Matrix and Legally Blonde to be screened this year, there will also be pre-show DJ’s and themed photo booths.
A Budget Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power 1963-1983 Through August 29th Dowtown LA
Located at The Broad, Soul of a Nation features art from some of the most influential African American artists of Los Angeles between 1963-83. More than a celebration of art, this exhibit is a look into the history of the civil rights movement and activism in America. Free Thursdays 5-8pm. Free admission ends August 29th.
Rose Bowl Flea Market
Second Sunday of Every Month Pasadena Begin your sustainable shopping practice at this enormous market! We love second hand shopping to find items that are both cheap and unique. Open the second Sunday of every month from 9am -3pm at The Rose Bowl in Pasadena. $9 admission fee at the door.
Hike to a Waterfall
Waterfalls in LA? Who would have guessed. The drought is over and the waterfalls are flowing. Take the time to get out into nature and escape the constant smog of Los Angeles. Maybe hiking will become your new Core Power. Here’s where to find them: Solstice Canyon, Malibu. Paradise Falls, Thousand Oaks. Eaton Canyon Falls, Altadena. Santa Ynez Falls, Pacific Palisades. Happy Hiking!
Contact High: A Visual History of Hip-Hop Through August 18th Century City
Visit the Annenberg Space for Photography to check out some early, never before seen, photos of some of the biggest names in hip hop: Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West and more. Free Admission, closes August 18th. Couch Diaries – 17
It’s Called Fashion, Look It Up. No really, look it up. Sustainable shopping just takes research.
Written by Liv Coron Photos by Daine Holsteen
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alle Baerenstecher is a student, designer, entrepreneur, advocate of sustainable practices, and all-around innovator. Her denim company, Upcycled Denim, works to repurpose used jeans into new, fashion forward pairs. She is currently fighting consumeristic “fast fashion” companies by encouraging buyers to focus on keeping clothes in their closets and on buying less. She sat down with us to talk about her business, the ethics of fashion, and how we, step by step, can work towards a more sustainable future. How did Upcycled Denim come to be? What made you decide that this was something you wanted to take on? It was a long process. I used to be into couture and hand done everything pretty much. But once I got more into denim and the effects of fast fashion, I realized that I needed to step away from couture and think about how I could change every day clothes, while still bringing personality and a sustainable aspect to them. I did a summer program at Parsons and then I also interned with Joe’s Jeans, and I would say both of those experiences really led me to focus on sustainability and denim. Then, once I started high school, I was reworking my own jeans and jeans for friends, and I realized “oh I could actually ask people to pay me for this”, and so I decided to turn it into a business. Touching a little bit more on ‘fast fashion’, could you explain what that is, and why you think we as consumers like it?
Fast Fashion is mass produced, inexpensive clothing that is constantly being manufactured. Fashion companies used to release collections every season, now they are every week for fast fashion companies. I actually spend a lot of times researching the brands I shop from, but most people just don’t do that and would rather just buy what’s cheap. Price is just a huge influence nowadays. It is complicated to explain all the facets that are a part of fast fashion, but it can start as early as growing the plant to create the fabric.
sometimes. We have to start from a young age, I think that’s the only way to influence people really. I ultimately want to create a sustainable, biodegradable textile, because I don’t think – sadly – that the majority of America will make the right choice. You have to feed them the right choice. They just don’t care enough? Yeah.
So what made you believe that you alone could make a differHow, in your mind, should we ence? re-educate people on the effects of fast fashion? It all started from a really emotional point, I would reflect on so many I think it’s really cool that some things that I had bought and realize brands like Reformation and Ev- that I didn’t feel comfortable buyerlane have used their campaigns ing or wearing them. I was really to educate other people along with introspective on everything I did the promotion of their clothes. But from an environmental standpoint. also, the most ideal thing for me is Not everyone has that reaction obif we could actually integrate it into viously. For me, I was just really school systems. I think it should be emotionally moved by the contaught along with information on al- sequence of my choices. I look at cohol, puberty, and all those things what the fashion industry does, and because I think it is so essential. if we don’t start making a difference Since environmental consequences now, then what are we going to do? are so long term, I think people just Clothes actually make up a largerdon’t want to focus on them right centage of landfills I’ve collected now. I think if more people were lots of jeans from people who wetaught about the consequences tre just going to throw them away. I they would make the right choice. don’t want to be a hoarder, but I think Until I was a sophomore in high that there are possibilities to repurschool, I didn’t know. From an pose every piece. If you just think ethical and environmental point of about something for a little while, view, it’s just wrong. You know, you can find a way to reimagine it. someone on the other end is dying to make your clothes. Which just Do you think that a ‘regular peis insane to me. It’s just as bad as son’ could make a difference? Is diamonds, oil, and all these differ- it even possible to shop sustainent issues. It’s not just about your ably in an affordable way? cute outfit for Friday night, which is really hard to remember that Couch Diaries – 19
I think that yes it is. It will usually be more expensive, but most of the time – not every time unfortunately – the production will also be more ethical. It just comes down to time and research. If you take the time to just find 10 brands that you can shop from that are more acceptable, then I think that that could make a huge difference. I also encourage thrifting. A lot of people think that as adults they can’t buy thrifted clothes because they’re dirty. I think because of the ease and low price of fast fashion people don’t think that they need to thrift anymore. And with new things coming in every week of the year people can get what they want for cheap, so [they think] why even work to thrift to find something that’s sustainable? There’s a stigma around thrifting, when there should be a stigma around fast fashion. So this (what I’m going to call) “need for new” that we all feel, do you think that is part of human nature? Yeah, I do. I mean it’s always been there in a way, in wanting to be more popular, or of a higher class, or having better living arrangements. Since the market is oversaturated with “new” there’s just so much choice. It’s a direct parallel to Apple and their phone batteries dying and people getting a new phone every two years. It’s the same with clothes. Is it the company’s right to keep you coming back? Because that’s the real way they make a profit. From a capitalist standpoint, I think that’s their goal. But you’re really not getting anything from them, because you’re getting something disposable. A Zara shirt 20
only lasts 11 washes on average. clothes are made or where, but never take the next step and actually see it. So, something sustainable would There are a lot of serious diseases be how many washes? and health defects that come from the chemicals involved in clothing Endless. production. Many of the communities that larger companies outThere are companies that make source to don’t have the resourcclothes that are supposed to last 300 es to treat disease like these. So years, an entire lifetime. That’s the in my opinion, these people are meaning of a lifetime guarantee. A sacrificing their whole quality of company like Patagonia will pay life for their work. Their whole to fix clothes with lifetime guar- lives are affected so that you can antees. The company [whatever it have a $50 pair of shoes or a shirt. is] just needs to have that mission. Where would you, realistically, imagine the fashion industry 10 years from now?
“That’s what upcycling is. It creates a garment that can be worn for a lifetime that changes and adapts with you.”
My professors have questioned whether [Upcycled Denim] is even a profitable thing. I personally think it is, especially with jeans. Because the style of jeans is constantly going from high rise to low rise to flare to no flare. The way I see it, someone could come to me with their favorite pair of jeans and I could rework that same pair maybe five times. That’s what upcycling is. It creates a garment that can be worn for a lifetime that changes and adapts with you.
I don’t think a ton is going to change in the next ten years. There are some people, however, trying to integrate recycled plastics into fabrics. You can essentially break down the weave of fabrics and re-weave new fabrics. It’s more expensive and takes more energy than just making a new shirt which is the problem. So the question is, do we just create more waste? Or do we use more energy? I think there’s not really a win in that situation. I don’t know what’s better, honestly, I don’t. You’ve started to touch on it, but where would you like the fashion industry move in the near future?
My whole goal in my life is biodegradable fabrics. Or fabric that could charge your phone, fabric that could be creating energy. There are so many things that arCan you speak a little bit to the en’t used in clothes [but could be]. ethics of the fashion industry? I There are undiscovered fibers and feel like a lot of people – myself things that can be found through included – are just uneducated studying biomimetics. There’s on what’s actually happening. been so much research like this, I think people wonder how their it just needs to be applied to fash-
I hope to be in New York or Paris. I have two possible routes right now. Either I’m going to go to grad school and do textile chemistry, or, right after college I’ll go work for fashion companies and study their business models and products so that I can see their approach to things. I want to just take in everything I can to learn and grow. I don’t think I can do it right unless I see a lot of other people’s experiences of what works and what doesn’t work. I hope that after that I can actually have something that I can be proud of and that works. I want to create a sustainable model that others can adapt to. I don’t want to be the only one. The biggest thing for me is industry change overall, not necessarily my own personal development or gain. t ion. We just need to bridge the gap between science and fashion. And I think that in 10 years if children could be learning about this issue, if parents could be smarter, if schools could smarter, that’s how we make a difference. Just to get people to think twice while they’re shopping would be great. Education is the only way to stop the environmental crises that are happening today.
beautiful. At the moment, Reformation does the best job of keeping their clothes trendy and sustainable at the same time. They use dead stock fabric, so they purchase left over fabric that might otherwise be thrown away. I love that, I would ideally have that be done in every company. I wish I had more things to recommend, but in truth it’s so hard to find somewhere that Just to wind down, If you could does everything right. Honestonly wear one brand for the rest ly my best recommendation is of your life, what would you just not to buy clothes that often. wear? If you don’t want to do the research just buy less. Buy less ofWell, my fashion idol is Iris Van ten, and buy things that last longer. Herpen. She’s one of the most inspirational people to me. She Where do you see yourself in 10 doesn’t make everyday clothes, years? Or where would you like though. Her work is art, it’s to be?
So, what you’re saying about yourself is the same thing you said about buying clothes, you have to put in the time and the research to be successful. Whether that’s in shopping or your personal life or your career. Nothing comes easy. I don’t think that I’m the best shopper. Sustainability is hard. That’s why I’m so motivated to take action right now. I mean, I get irritated when I look at my closet and think “why do I even have this?” “Why do I even have so many clothes?” I don’t think that I have everything figured out, but I’m going to try to do something in the right direction and I think that that’s the mentality that everyone should have. If everyone takes one little step it could help us be in a better place.
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You ’
M y e r
Be 22
est Friend by Carolyn Knapp
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Empowered Youth: A Voice for Change
The Youth of Today Are Shaping the World to Come. by Sophie Ceniza
More than ever before, the world is seeing a growing interest of youth in politics. While historically the youth vote (ages 18-24) represented the smallest group of the voting population, it’s numbers are growing, with even more representation through youth led movements like March for Our Lives. Although not necessarily a partisan issue, young people’s ideologies are diverse while many are still determining who they are politically. This cultural shift for younger generations prompts new questions regarding a young person’s involvement and political identity: What do I believe in? And what do I envision for my future? While it is easy to shy away from both controversy and action by believing that a young person’s voice lacks the legitimacy of an older generation, the young are just as capable of leading and catalysing change. The empow28
erment of youth, to both find their own voice and participate in today’s politics, will bring new solutions to pervasive problems and ultimately transform American politics and beyond. The youth vote has the power to enact major change and move elections. In a 2017 Gubernatorial election in Virginia, the youth vote rose by 8 percent higher than in 2013, with over 70 percent of the vote going towards the winning candidate, Governor Ralph Northam. However, post-election polling from the 2016 election found that the youngest voters nationwide did not believe that public officials cared about what they thought. Further efforts can be made to decrease the sense of insecurity felt by young people, although the youth vote has been utilized to enact some change. It is import-
ant for young people to actively seek out opportunities to become informed. However, these efforts can be made on levels that aren’t only pertaining to politics on the national level. Numerous local organizations exist that invite political dialogue; from high school clubs to college chapters to local interest groups. Most colleges and universities offer clubs representing all partisan groups, which can link students to information and volunteer opportunities with local campaigns. These groups can encourage young people to find a sense of civic duty early on, and become empowered to use their voice. Young people ought to seek out these organizations that allow them to become more informed, as part of coming-of-age and transitioning into adulthood is finding a sense of an individual voice. They should feel encouraged to seek out opinions and ideologies different than what they would have been exposed to when growing up. While some may have an opinion and sense of political identity while young, it is not until you move out of the home and begin adulthood that you are really given the freedom to explore values and ideas different than those of your parents and families. The feelings of insecurity about the youth voice may be connected to the stigma associated with use of social media. Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube are the platforms for the youth voice, however they are often looked down upon by older generations. Inevitably controversial, social media has become the dominant format for the dissemination of information today, and should be taken advantage of by young people to become more informed, speak their opin-
ions, and engage in political conversations. Current movements led by young people today are providing hope for further youth engagement in the future. March for Our Lives, a student led demonstration, led their protest in March 2018, and had a estimated turnout of two million people in Washington D.C. (not to mention the 880 other sibling marches that took place in both the United States and around the world), making it one of the largest protests in U.S. history. In the past midterm elections cycle, twenty-nineyear-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez became the youngest member of Congress in U.S. history. She defeated ten-term incumbent Joe Crowley in what is regarded as one of the largest upsets in the 2018 midterm elections. While young people’s voice is not seemingly significant, we have both the power and authority to forge social change and transform the current political climate in the U.S. However, it is crucial that young people step up to these opportunities with an informed mind and sense of the world. Leaning into the tough questions, getting involved, seeking diverse opinions, and demonstrating interest all help to legitimize the youth cause and enforce the validity that is our voice. Rather than shying away from chances to enact change and relying on older generations to set it up for us, young people have both the right and the responsibility to provide our say as well. The privilege of democracy grants us with the opportunity to determine the course of our future – but only those who choose to participate will truly decide the direction we go. Couch Diaries – 29
Vanessa Qin:
A RENAISSANCE WOMAN OF THE TECHNOLOGICAL ERA Written by Carolyn Knapp Photos by Daisy Bell
The University of Southern California undergraduate currently studying in the Iovine and Young Academy of Arts, Technology and Business Innovation grew up in South Bay to a family of engineers and small business owners. Although her dreams ranged from artist to fashion designer, she never imagined that she would work in technology until applying to college. Vanessa runs the lifestyle Instagram account, @vqeu, which now boasts over 14,000 followers, but prefers to devote her time to school and product design. Her resume includes empire apps like Tinder, Twitter, and now Raya, which she describes as “an anti social-media, social-media to get you out of your house and hanging out with people who you should have already met.” I recently sat down with Vanessa to discuss her journey through online social platforms, the Los Angeles influencer community, and the future of social technology.
wanted to be a fashion blogger. At the time, in 2011, I didn’t even know that there was any kind of fashion community on Instagram. There were really only a few large influencers that ran the community, whereas now there are millions of influencers for literally anything. I guess in high school, I was always the kind of person that wanted to be very individual and very unique, so finding people who had the same interests as me, outside of school, was so inspirational and empowering for me. I was like oh my gosh these are people’s jobs, I can inspire people, I want to do this! Through your experiences in the industry, did your opinions on social media as a career change?
After a while it just did start to feel like a job in a way that I didn’t want it to. It really started to feel like a chore when I wasn’t doing it for fun anymore, and this was when I was in high school. I had deadlines and sometimes I had to post about a certain thing even if I didn’t really love it, so that kind of made me feel Could you walk me through your journey of work- more hesitant towards what I was doing. Then I came ing in social media? to college and got so busy with other things. At that point Instagram really became a side outlet. There was I started my Instagram account when I was in high definitely a time in high school where I really cared school solely for documenting my personal style, I about the numbers, like I would be constantly thinking
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“I want my account to grow more.” Eventually I just kind of stopped caring about that because it wasn’t the intention that I originally had, which was an outlet to meet new people and to inspire others. In what ways did moving to Los Angeles impact how you view the social media community? When I moved to LA for school, I got really into the scene because I was meeting all these girls who were basically my idols and role models, which was really wild. But after my first semester in college, I realized that the community wasn’t super inspiring to me, it was very superficial. Some of my friends who I’m still close with now I have met through Instagram, but for the most part, the girls were more or less the same and not very interesting outside of the Internet. It just wasn’t very fulfilling for me. But the experiences that I have had on Instagram helped me realize that I really do value making social connections online. After I worked at Tinder, I found that what I really want to do is product design for online social communities. Being on the other side of Instagram, I had identified all of these problems with the interface that I wanted to fix and I felt like the best way to do that was through product design.
I don’t know if this is true or not, but I’ve seen things shifting to be more authentic – I’ve also seen the term authentic used a lot more lately, which is cool but I’m afraid that it will lose it’s meaning. I do feel like the power of marketing has definitely shifted to influencers and away from celebrities, which I think is pretty dope because influencers are a lot more relatable if they are genuine people. I think people who are genuine have more of a loyal following which is awesome.
Do you or have you ever tried to project a certain image or non image on social media? At the beginning of this year, I kind of decided to revive my account and come at it from a different angle. It really bothers me when people use Instagram to highlight these unreal moments in their life, which I guess is literally what Instagram is for. But people will post these kitchy captions and it’s like oh my life is so perfect and I’m so clever, but I feel like there is so much more you can do with the platform. So I wanted to take this angle of what it’s like to be a student and a designer and all the other things I am trying to balance. I feel like social media is so much more bitchwork than people realize, like anyone can become a large account if you do the right things. It’s all about growth hacking and algorithms and that’s just not what interests me. I’m here for the creative outlet, not so much so that I can spend hours figuring out the right hashtags Outside of yourself, do you have any thoughts on where the future of social technology is heading? What about social media celebrities?
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There’s this one youtuber I’ve been watching lately, @bestdressed, her name is Ashley she goes to UCLA. Her account totally took off this year and she’s super down to earth and super real and I really admire that she doesn’t only post unrealistic nice pictures of herself, she’ll make posts talking about periods and sex. I hope that more of social media will become like that where people use it as a platform to talk about things that are taboo or just things that need to be spoken about and less of stuff that really doesn’t matter. There’s also the whole concept of AI influencers. Have you heard of @lilmiquela? No, I haven’t. So there’s this company called Brud and they make CGI influencers on Instagram that are completely computer generated and have hundreds of thousands of followers. I’m pretty sure @lilmiquela has a million or two million followers. Literally everything she does is made by a computer but people low-key think she’s a real person. I actually had a coffee chat with the guys who started the company because they were looking for people to join their team and I didn’t know what they were doing when I went into the talk. Afterwards I was just so unsettled by it. Their concept of the company is that in the future influencers will all be these computer generated things and you can make them do whatever you want to appeal to an audience which I just think is fucked up. Wow, that’s really the opposite of what you were saying on authenticity. Yeah, it’s like the whole other direction. I don’t know man. I think it’s a dope art form but I wouldn’t want my kids following it, necessarily. Has being female and a person of color impacted your entrepreneurial career?
I’ve had a really positive experience in everything I’ve done. I feel like in most of the communities I’ve been a part of it has been very encouraged to be a female and I surround myself with a lot of Asian American people so it is very empowering. At Raya where I work now, it is very male dominant. It’s a small company, there’s like 20 of us and there are four women including myself. None of our high level leadership are women or people of color which is kind of hard sometimes because I work super closely with our executives on a day to day basis. I’ll be in a meeting with them for hours at a time and it’s just me and four white dudes. They’re very inclusive though and they really value my opinion so personally I’ve had good experiences. There was this one time though, not even at work. I was at a party making small talk with this dude. He was a mechanical engineering major and I feel like usually engineering majors kind of understand what I do, and he was like “So what do you actually do? What is an example of a job you could get?” And when I mentioned that I worked at Twitter his eyes just opened up and he was suddenly super interested in the conversation and he said “I bet you only got that job because you’re a girl.” And when he said that I was genuinely so furious because I feel like I’ve never experienced something like that where someone so blatantly disrespected me and my work. I didn’t even say anything in the moment. Yeah, I mean I would not even know how to respond to that. I wish I could have just thrown all of these statistics at him like how much harder it is to get a job as a woman – especially being young, being in school, being a first generation Asian American. It does inspire me to always work harder because there are so many odds that I want to defy. Also, if you see one person in a company who you can identify with, whether your ethnicity or gender or something else, it definitely paves the way for other people. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Oh my god I have no fucking idea. I hope somewhere dope. How old will I be, 26? I don’t know, but I want to be happy.
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HOROSCOPES TAURUS SEASON
APRIL 21- MAY 21
Greetings, celestial beings and readers of Couch Diaries! Welcome to my first astrology column! This edition is for our Taurus friends, because the release date of this magazine just so happens to coincide with their astrological reign of the stars. Taurus season is going to be particularly troublesome for the bulls this year. Taurus needs personal time for self-reflection right now. Maybe it’s a friendship, a relationship, or something that’s been brewing within for a while, but it’s important for Taurus to give themselves the appropriate time during these next few weeks to examine what’s going on. Even more important in this time is for the rest of us to respect that and say “Hey, I get it, take your time and figure it out. I’ll be waiting.” In terms of year-long trends, 2019 is going to be a big year for Taurus in terms of personal success, and that journey begins today. April and May will bring many opportunities into the life of Taurus and it is critical to take these opportunities as they come, because they will yield financial success in the long run (somewhere in the September-December time frame) And it’s good to keep this in mind, given that there is so much self-reflection going on anyways. Perhaps it’s time to make some sacrifices and cut ties with the things (or people) holding you back. Maybe it’s time to finally close one door so that you can open another. Whatever you do, follow your gut; big change is coming and you’re going to want to be on your A-game for when it does. Interestingly enough, love is also in the air for our Taurus friends this year. Their intimacy is in Jupiter for the 2019 cycle, meaning that things are getting ~saucy~ for the bulls. If you’re already in a relationship, expect some major one-on-one connection this year with your partner. If you’re not in a relationship, now is the time to get out there and explore. Especially if that baggage we talked about earlier is an ex or a toxic situation. Put your heart first.
At the end of the day, astrology is up to the individual interpretation of each being. If you don’t believe in it, that’s ay-okay. To be honest, I don’t believe in it most of the time, either. But sometimes a horoscope will tell you what you need to hear when no one else will. If this applied to you in anyway, I hope that you were able to take something away from it and make the appropriate changes for a better and happier you.
Until next time,
Art by Callahan Bracken
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What Are We
Consuming?
From film, to literature, to music, here is what Couch Diaries is consuming now:
by Maia Kirkpatrick
LEAVING NEVERLAND
In early March, HBO premiered a two part documentary detailing the alleged accounts of sexual assault against the late pop legend, Michael Jackson. The documentary sparked controversy amongst devoted fans as well as the Jackson estate. Many people were quick to criticize the two men who came forward, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, saying that these accusations were false and only ways to make money. While watching the film, I was horrified and saddened by what these men had to deal with in their childhood and how it has carried over into their adult life. But, I was also fascinated by the way it shed light on our celebrity obsessed society. It calls into question if we are able to separate the artists from their work. There is no denying that Michael Jackson churned out some of the greatest songs of all time, but this documentary forces us to ask ourselves if we are ever 34
able to listen to a Michael Jackson song the same way again. I also found myself wondering how so many of these young boys were left in situations alone with Jackson himself. Nobody seemed to question it because why wouldn’t anyone want to spend intimate, one on one time with the “King of Pop”? Trust is easily given to influential figures, but enables exploitation and the potential abuse of power. Though the film has caused some controversy, it serves as a medium to start conversations about sexual assault and the toxic culture of celebrity.
BLUE NIGHTS By
JOAN DIDION
Though this novel was released nearly a decade ago, I recently picked it up and finished it in nearly a day. Didion is known to write candidly, to not sugarcoat the messiness of life, and as a result is able to explore some of the most horrific events of her life in the most authentic way. She looks back on her past while simultaneously remaining present. Blue Nights was a sort of coping mechanism for Didion after the loss of her daughter, Quintana Roo Dunne, in 2005 just a short 20 months after she lost her husband, John Gregory Dunne. The novel jumps from present day reflection, to moments of the past as Didion reconciles her indescribable loss.
My favorite aspect of this book was the fact that Didion did not portray herself as the perfect parent. Instead she wrote about the memories she had with her daughter, the good and the bad. As much as the novel is about her daughter, it is also about Didion and how she “maintains momentum” while dealing with the loss of her husband and daughter. Although the book details a specific aspect of Didion’s life, I found that the messages of remembering and cherishing those we love the most to be applicable to all people at all stages of their life.
THE ACT A Hulu
ORIGINAL The new Hulu show, which debuted on March 20th, chronicles the true story of Dee Dee (Patricia Arquette) and Gypsy Rose Blanchard (Joey King). Dee Dee suffered from munchausens by proxy disorder, a mental illness in which a caregiver makes up an illness in another person, typically a child, in order to feel needed. Patricia Arquette and Joey King’s acting is incredible, portraying these characters in the most sympathetic way. I was most captivated by King’s portrayal of the dark and mysterious character of a daughter prisoner in her own body. King is most commonly known for more “juvenile” rolls such as The Kissing
Booth and Beezus and Ramona, but in The Act, she completely departs from the label of a “child actor.” What is exciting about this series is that Hulu decided to release the episodes weekly, rather than all at once, preventing the oh so detrimental “binge” of streamable television. With the rise of streaming platforms, we lose the excitement and anticipation of waiting an entire week to find out what will happen on the next episode. But with The Act, the viewer is able to process the story more slowly and be fully present in each episode.
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PURL In early 2019, Pixar released a new short, Purl, as a part of their “SparkShorts” program. The program seeks to “discover new storytellers, explore new storytelling techniques, and experiment with new production workflows.” Purl tells the story of a ball of yarn, newly employed at “B.R.O. Inc,” struggling to fit into an office that is overflowing with toxic masculinity. Purl realises the only way to do so is to conform to the norm by changing her appearance and cracking borderline misogynistic jokes in the break room. She becomes popular amongst her coworkers and is reaping those benefits when a new ball of yarn shows up and is immediate36
ly handed the same treatment as Purl when she first arrived. For a brief moment, Purl considers perpetuating that treatment, but then decides against it, including her in the office banter. The short then flash forwards to an office filled with an equal amount of balls of yarn to men in suits. I was assigned to watch this short for a businesses of Pixar and DreamWorks animation course. When talking about Pixar, we discussed the reputation of a “boys club” they uphold and how difficult it is for women to work there, especially amid the sexual assault allegations against former chief creative officer, John Las-
seter. I grew up watching nearly every Pixar film the day it came out in theaters, so learning about the toxic work environment was especially upsetting. Though the short may be over simplifying the solution to gender disparity in the workplace, I found the message incredibly uplifting. Purl doesn’t necessarily have to only apply to an office environment, but rather serves as a representation of the treatment of marginalised groups and the way we can work to overcome that.
BOOKENDS BY SIMON AND GARFUNKEL
This semester, on a whim, I signed up for a class about the history of rock music in the 60’s and 70’s. The class meets only once a week but so far we have learned about dozens of the most prominent bands and musicians and listened to over 100 classic rock songs from the 1960’s and 70’s. My favorite day of class was spent learning about Simon and Garfunkel, probably one of my favorite bands of all time.
My favorite Simon and Garfunkel album has always been Bookends. I used to listen to it on repeat in high school as I drove to school, but I hadn’t thought about it until recently. Booksends is a concept album, meaning it tells a story from start to finish, mimicking the “bookends” of life. The most famous song on the album is probably “Mrs. Robinson,” a song Paul Simon wrote for the 1967 film The Graduate. I learned that this song was actually recycled when they were asked to write music for the film. Originally, Mrs Robinson was “Mrs. Roosevelt,” after Eleanor Roosevelt.
when Zooey Deschanel tells Frances McDormand she’s leaving home to become a stewardess. But my favorite song might be “Old Friends,” which contains the lyric inspiring the title of the album; “old friends, sat on their park bench like bookends.” The song tells the story of two old friends reflecting back on their life together and coming to terms with aging, perfectly fitting in with the themes of the whole album, chronicling the “bookends” of life.
I love a lot of songs from this album. “Mrs. Robinson” is classic, a song I first heard when my older brother drove me to school. “A Hazy Shade of Winter” has an infection tempo that makes me want to sing at the top of my lungs. “America” always makes me think of that scene from Almost Famous Couch Diaries – 37
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