Beach Sloth

Online Goes Offline

               When several online entities really care about each other they meet offline. Offline is a magical place filled with trees, flowers, and kittens. I think offline can be a bit sad. The simultaneous distance and proximity of the internet is its greatest attribute. Online means I can see people without chipping in for ‘gas money’ or ‘bus tickets’. But when online presences grow big it becomes impossible to share internet <3 with one another. You have to move the internet <3 to IRL <3.

                That’s what’s happening in Los Angeles. Los Angeles may not have nature, greenery or even a navigable public transportation system but it does have one very special thing: swag. Swag is the instant cheese whiz of culture. Spray that on and presto, culture that tastes vaguely reminiscent of cheddar-flavored whippets. 

                A select few are moving from the online to the offline, to truly bring relevancy to this city. I notice Los Angeles has some bloggers but not nearly enough given its size. The alt lit scene there is quite small. Sure there are some wonderful people, Pancho Espinoza for one, but the group needs our help. I like them as hard as I can. Even liking may not be enough. Do your part and if you’re in the Los Angeles area see them live.

                ‘Who’ you might ask? I’m going to tell you. They are the bastions of relevancy in a sea of lamestreamers. I’m talking ‘Thought Catalog’ quality. Now that I have been published a whopping two times on Thought Catalog, I want to support the site. Help them help me help others. That’s the way boosting works. One day you’re boosting and the next you’re boosted. Boosting is simply karma on the internet. 

                Here’s the dish for Online Goes Offline:

               David Shilling – if David lived in New York City I would’ve had him buy me beers by now. Anybody who can create such discussion on Thought Catalog is a friend of mine. He’s fairly funny. He does standup. And most importantly, he wears really excellent glasses. I kind of want his glasses. They are amazing. Plus you’ll probably see him in the feature length film ‘Shoplifting from American Apparel’. 

                You can find Talia Ralph here and Liz Shannon Miller actually, I don’t know where. I wish I knew more about these two online to offline presences. They seem friendly though. At least one of them is from my home country of Quebec, Canada. 

                Bebe Zeva – alt lit’s muse if alt lit ever needed a muse. She is a booster. She has received blog coverage and, more importantly, IRL coverage. Hope she eventually makes it ‘big time’. She has also landed on these sloth pages before. Her MDMA Film documentary is particularly excellent. 

                There you have it: four readers on June 7^th in Los Angeles reading their hearts out. I want to see them bring alt lit to Los Angeles. I hope to see Los Angeles ‘rise up’ as another major capital of alt lit in this great country we called ‘America’. Feel these four are equipped for the job.