Dear Chris Camargo, I love the beautiful images of Los Angeles you kindly share on your photo blog. You capture our city the way only somebody who truly loves it could. If you’re having a bad day, hating the smog, plastic surgery, and superficiality that gives this city a bad rap, take a look at these pretty pictures: These pictures make me happy. Love, Orlando PS: Check out Chris Camargo’s professional site for more fashion and commercial photographs.
Dear Fall, After a summer full of too many pool parties, concerts, crazy weekends, and fun, I could not possibly be more excited about the end of summer. Bye Summer, don’t let the door hit you on the way out! I am ready to spend the fall doing nothing, sitting inside, pretending to read a book whilst snuggled up under a perfectly draped wool blanket, drinking hot tea, staring out the window as rain falls, thinking about the future, my fear of it, and how I wish I cared more about the election. Everyone knows the most important thing about…
Dear Self, Are you ever like “Hey, this is the worst day of my life and I feel like a moldy thrown-away tortilla on Seis De Mayo”? Well there is one sure-fire way to cheer yourself up on days like these. All you have to do is go to the nearest barber or hair salon and ask them to chop of all of your hair. There is nothing more therapeutic than running into a chic salon and screaming “CUT IT OFF ME!!!!” with tears streaming down your withered face, bony face. The other day I was feeling like an ugly…
Dear Reader, Have you dedicated your life to filling your home with beautiful things, only to realize you’re beautiful things are starting to turn your house into a hoardingland? Well, I have. Which is why I’ve decide to do some spring cleaning. Just in time for fall. I’m selling some of my favorite things on Hipswap, which is essentially a more glamorous version of Craigslist that is much easier on the eyes (Sidenote: Dear Craigslist, why does your site still look like it’s 1996?). Anyway, below are is a selection of items I’m selling. Falling painting, acrylic on canvas. A…
Dear Reader, The other day I was at the gym when I spotted a dude wearing this T-Shirt from American Apparel. It’s a pretty rad shirt. I love pink. I love triangles. And I love graphic tees. But the shirt is also a political statement. Now, not only can you buy ugly/ironic non-functioning spectacles and short shorts at American Apparel (thank god), you can also buy fashionably political t-shirts. Is this cool? Or perplexing? Or both? Also, I want one. Is that okay? And now for a mini Gay history lesson, as told by someone whose knowledge of Gay history is…
Dear Diary, I’ve always loved Union Station in downtown Los Angeles. Recently I snapped some pictures there and I’d like to share them with you. The building’s style is Mission Revival and it opened in 1939. It’s has a ton of history and (GASP!) is an actual functioning train station where you can catch the train to go down south to Long Beach or up north to San Francisco. If you’ve never taken the train in California, you must! The train tracks take you along agricultural fields and grand, golden California vistas. As for Union Station, it looks like this:…
Dear Lovers of Facial Products for Men, Every morning when I wake up, I look just like this: I know what you’re thinking. Not my best look. I’ve had a hard, hard life. But don’t lose hope! After a good face scrubbing using an industrial sander I apply 17 layers of facial creams, elixirs, eye gels, bronzers, and anti-aging serums made from baby elephants. And after all that I look like this: Okay, just kidding. I don’t really look like that either. That picture took hours of Zoolander eye smoldering, photoshopping, dreaming, and lamenting the fact that I don’t actually…
Dear Diary, One of my favorite aspects of my apartment is that it has a glamourous hallway dressing area where I can spin around every morning whilst looking in the mirror, fearing all the day has in store for me. This area is where I keep the majority of my clothing. It also has a random built-in dresser. My apartment building was built in the 1950s and for some reason has a ridiculous amount of storage space. Which is good for me because I hate throwing things away. For example, I own this hideous Garfield shirt: I know. I know….
Dear Everyone, When I meet new people they often ask me what I do. As soon as I start to answer, they regret asking. My response to this question is always long-winded and tiresome. Firstly, I work for TV’s Emily Henderson (and yes, I always insert the “TV’s” in front of her name, even when addressing her directly). We work on TV stuff, blog stuff, and marketing stuff. I also have my own blog, work on film, TV, and photo shoots, and have my own design clients. So I do a lot of different things and I love all of them….
Dear Diary, I got this chair upholstered for a client. I had it covered in glamourous navy blue velvet and now I’m obsessed with it. The kind of obsessed where I want to wait outside its apartment to see if it walks out, just so I can ask it for its autograph. Would it be rude to steal it back from the client? Love, Orlando
Dear MJ Lanphier Interior Design, Thanks for commissioning this painting from me. It looks great in the dining room of this Chicago residence, flanked by two lovely chairs. Glamour. Love, Orlando
Dear Flags, You’re all over the place these days. I started obsessing when I saw this image from Design Sponge. Of course, the whole thing is reliant on how aged and full of history that flag is. This Ikea Malm Bed looks totally cool because it’s surrounded by that great flag and a bunch of other awesome stuff. This barn exists on Highway 41, outside my hometown of Yosemite Village, California. I’ve always been fascinated with it, even though it was probably painted by crazy xenophobes who run around accusing everyone of being terrorists. You know how sometimes you’re like “I want…
Dear Diary, Yesterday I donated my car to KPCC, my favorite radio station. This is quite an easy thing to do and I highly recommend it if you A) have a car to get rid of and B) care about supporting news that isn’t sensationalistic propaganda (i.e. most mainstream news). The car was still drivable but needed so many expensive repairs that keeping it no longer made sense. And because it needed so many repairs I worried about the karmic repercussions of selling it to an individual buyer. Thus, I found myself yesterday morning clearing the car of all my…
Dear Diary, Lately I’ve been working at home a lot. Sometimes I love working from home. I can drink coffee all day whilst listening to NPR and not wearing any pants. But sometimes it makes me feel like a crazy person. The late summer heat makes me feel restless and being alone all day with only Facebook chat and the crisp, clear voice of Lachshmi Singh to keep me company can totally isolating. Thus, I’ve decided to go back to my roots as a lunatic artist. I figure if I have to be alone all day I might as well…
Dear Homeowners, Do you ever find yourself staring at your boring white tile, wondering why you’re wasting your life on such blandness? Well, you should be. Adding a bit of hand painted glamour to a room is guaranteed to make you at least 16% happier. Just look at this boring white kitchen made fun with a pop of color in the tile over the stove. Also, that little boy is drinking whiskey, don’t tell anyone. Tile may not be the warmest, most inviting material to rest your feet on, but it sure is pretty to look at. If this were…
Dear Diary, Last week I wrote a blog post entitled Why The Gays Hate Their Bodies. Some people loved it, many people hated it, and what I learned was that everyone else is as sensitive about their bodies as I am. My reasoning for posting was threefold. I wanted to expose the conflicted feelings I have about my own body so that other people struggling with the same issues would feel less alone in their worries. I wanted to point out that there are specific factors to being a gay man that lead to us having a heightened self-consciousness about…
By Contributing Food Editor Jared Levan Dear Californians, As I’m sure many of you aware, you recently lost the right to purchase foie gras (since, approximately July 1st). While the ban was targeted specifically at the sale of the delicious end product that is foie gras, it was apparently so “broadly” written that it may also carry over to all skin, feather and other by-products that come from duck raised for foie gras production. So what’s the big deal? Well the reason that animal rights activists are so against the sale of foie gras is, not surprisingly, focused on the…
Dear Straight People, Every morning when I wake up, this is what I think I look like: Meanwhile, laying right next to me is my boyfriend. He looks like this: I know what you’re thinking. I’m lucky, right? I know. Not only does my model boyfriend look like a model, my friends look like this: I never sought out to have friends with such perfect bodies. Quite the contrary actually. As an FFK (Former Fat Kid) I’ve always identified as a fat person. But for some reason when I grew up all my friends became hot skinny people. This could…
By Contributing Food Editor Jared Levan Dear Julia Child, With this week marking what would have been your 100th birthday, I felt obliged to commemorate your life and your accomplishments. Before you were Julia Child, you were Julia McWilliams of Pasadena, California. It’s hard to believe, but you weren’t always passionate about food and cooking. You met your husband, Paul Child, and fell in love. You and Paul moved to Paris–unbeknownst to you, this relocation would change your life forever. While there, you fell in love again (this time with food). The passion and curiosity that blossomed led you to…
Curious what Emily and I are shopping for? Check out my post on stylebyemilyhenderson.com.
Dear My Non-Existent Shelves, Each day I when wake up, dewy-eyed and ready to start the day, the first thing I think to myself is, “Gee, I wish I had some shelves to put all these stacks of books in.” Sure, stacks of books make a home look inviting and lived-in, but shelving is glamour on a whole new level. These shelves look like something I would make if I had the skills. Rectangular and crazy looking (like my face). AND they double as stairs. (Double win). These shelves are pretty minimal and would be boring if it weren’t for…
Dear Gore Vidal, Few writers have touched my life the way you did. Your stories have enriched my life, haunted my memories, and were the lens through which I viewed my twenties. In 2003, my sister gave me a copy of your novel, The City and the Pillar, which is not only one of the very first novels to openly discuss complex gay characters, but is also the most heartwrenching work of fiction I have ever read. Equally captivating are your memoirs, Palimpsest and Point to Point Navigation. Through sharing your fascinating life story, you also shared your humanity. Your…
Dear Men of the World, Don’t you get sad sometimes that ladies get to wear all sorts of exciting jewelry and all we get to wear is watches and the occasional bow tie? Jewelry is fun, but there’s not a ton of it for dudes. One thing we can get away with is bracelets. Look how cool this guy looks, in part because he’s wearing those glamorous bracelets: Now, onto some bracelets I love, hate, and am ambivalent towards: Miansai, $95 at Mr. Porter Black and gold, the most luxurious combination in the history of time. Tods, $225 from Barney’s Co-Op…
