Subject: Chat with selenaleong@gmail.com
From: "selenaleong@gmail.com" <selenaleong@gmail.com>
To: barriticus@gmail.com

selenaleong: hello. it's selena. i'm bored @ work. how are you?
me: hey, was just writing you an e-mail
me: cutting it short and sending it now
me: be a same to waste it
selenaleong: ha OK, i guess i'll read it then reply via IM.
me: so, thanks for getting back to me
me: you're very intriguing
selenaleong: well. i'm a sucker for flattery coming from a seemingly handsome & intelligent fellow
me: I'm good at flattery
selenaleong: i couldn't make it too far into the clip you linked; all the talk of JC made me feel sick
selenaleong: you're a writer, of course you're good at it.
selenaleong: you are also probably really good at biting, concise insults
me: but I'm good at it because I'm from Dallas, not because I'm a writer
me: I'm used to being in trouble with women, you see
me: it's a survival skill
selenaleong: so you're used to knocking them up and stealing cows?
selenaleong: i'm not sure what dallas has to do w/ this
me: I would never steal a cow
me: it's an amoral sort of city
selenaleong: but a steer, OH BOY WATCH OUT?
me: yep
me: where are you working?
selenaleong: i'm in soho freelancing
me: but, yeah, I'm good at insults
selenaleong: yes, i suspected you would be
selenaleong: as i am really really good at being a mean ass bitch w/ the cutting comments.
me: about half of my work involves attacking people and picking fights
me: yeah, I figured you would be, too
selenaleong: ha ha
selenaleong: could you imagine if we teamed up
me: that's very endearing
selenaleong: the world would never rest for fear of our commentary
me: we could be a power couple. A really mean power couple
selenaleong: haha
selenaleong: i'll buy shoulder pads
selenaleong: we'll need them.
me: lol
me: shoulder pads
me: I don't even get it but I thought it was funny
selenaleong: well i just thought of 80's power couples
selenaleong: power suits
me: oh, right
selenaleong: HUGE SHOULDER PADS
me: gotca
selenaleong: i work in apparel so...
me: I knew there was something there
selenaleong: yes well
selenaleong: so you're in WB!
me: you work in Midtown or what?
selenaleong: where are you?
selenaleong: i'm in soho
selenaleong: i'm curious to know where in WB you live.
me: I've been in Williamsburg for past few months, was in Bushwick for nearly two years before
selenaleong: ah. i am considering moving to bushwick. how is it there.
me: I'm at s. 3rd st. and Union
selenaleong: ha ha wait what.
me: near Barcade and all that
selenaleong: i'm on grand btwn driggs & roebling
selenaleong: yes i know where that is. i lived ovr there for a year like...seven years ago
me: so, near Union Pool
me: good old Union Pool
selenaleong: i'm across the street from clem's
selenaleong: and trash bar
selenaleong: union pool, where you can always wait 23 minutes for the restroom even when nobody else is there.
me: actually not aware of either place
selenaleong: ah
selenaleong: you should venture to my side of the hood someday.
selenaleong: great restaurants
me: I just go to Macri Park next door and use their bathroom
selenaleong: if you enjoy eating.
selenaleong: i've never been to macri
me: I'm growing more fond of it
me: it sucks
selenaleong: i had a friend who dj'd at macri on sundays
me: I just use the bathroom there from Union
me: I walk by the place and actually get angry
selenaleong: she would try to promote via FB
me: at how much it sucks
selenaleong: wow. THAT bad?
selenaleong: how does a bar inspire such ire?
me: I have, like, some sort of empathetic thing going on whereby places anger me
selenaleong: hmm
selenaleong: i have similar feelings towards other venues
me: particularly places that are clearly filled with boring people
selenaleong: trash bar being one of them
me: never been there
selenaleong: don't waste your time
me: but I like wasting my time...
selenaleong: unless you like leaving a bar smelling like tater tots and desperation
me: wow
selenaleong: w/ every drink you can have some deep fried deep fried potatoes!
me: I don't, I guess
me: never tried it
me: that actually sounds redeeming, but I understand what you're going for in terms of description
selenaleong: ah. hey i have to update something, i will be back in a few.
me: word
selenaleong: OK i'm back
selenaleong: anyway if you enjoy being surrounded by a bunch of corny, milquetoast white kids from like, tupelo or something, listening to the cranberries, drinking cheap lagers while playing billiards on a shoddy table, then by all means, go there.
me: I'll give that some serious thought
selenaleong: you'd be wasting some serious neurons
me: I should mention that I am very opposed to the presence of other whites on the whole and term them crackerjacks
me: not all whites, obviously
me: but the sort who make it up here
me: from places like Ohio
me: they are ruining the reputations of all of us
selenaleong: listen cowboy
selenaleong: haha
selenaleong: so. you're from TEXAS.
selenaleong: texans tend to be pretty awesome
me: yes, from where lots of non-pussy whites derive
me: even if Texas obviously does spawn lots of assholes
selenaleong: well based on the surly demeanor of my favorite texan, doyle brunson
selenaleong: i can't disparage them.
selenaleong: i'm going to assume you know who he is
me: I used to disparage them myself until I learned what the alternative was
me: nope
selenaleong: oh. he's just a famous old cowboy poker player
selenaleong: i believe he has like...8 bracelets
selenaleong: millions in career tournament winnings blah blah
selenaleong: but i digress.
selenaleong: barrett brown sounds like the name of a southern man
me: ah. I've got lots of extraordinarily stereotypical Texans in my extended family
me: ranchers and all that
me: military
me: etc etc
me: I've been forced to do a lot of hunting over the years
selenaleong: well i'm a yankee
selenaleong: you are kind of mysterious and fascinating to me
me: we are a very mysterious people
me: inscrutable
selenaleong: no you're just...
selenaleong: bold, upfront, honest
selenaleong: big, brash
me: relatively, yes
selenaleong: and polite
selenaleong: somehow, very very genteel
me: genteel is accurate, yes
selenaleong: i like that.
me: well, I'm also fond of what I know about you thus far
me: you're basically my perfect New York girl
selenaleong: wait what
selenaleong: ha ha no way, really?
selenaleong: inability to clean
me: I'm assuming you don't have a tremendously irritating voice, for instance, unlike a lot of other northerners
selenaleong: no, i have no real accent
selenaleong: i've actually been asked by some people if i'm southern
selenaleong: i sometimes get a drawl when drinking
me: I basically broke it off with some other girl a couple days back largely because of her voice
selenaleong: but otherwise i have that NO ACCENT accent
me: that's fine
selenaleong: ha ha did she sound like fran drescher
selenaleong: i did get some jew boy to swoon when i imitated what i thought his mother would sound like.
selenaleong: i was spot on :(
me: well, not really, it was a different sort of thing, and she was from Connecticut, which I despise
selenaleong: oh. what's wrong w/ CT
selenaleong: my ex's family hails from there
me: I've actually never been outside of new york except for new jersey
me: I don't know, just a bunch of scrubs and white bread
selenaleong: there are some LOVELY parts of CT
me: I'm sure it's very pretty
selenaleong: well i'm partial to stupid shit like boating.
selenaleong: and shellfish
selenaleong: and fishing
me: but it lacks the excitement of Texas
me: most states do
selenaleong: well we can't all get into mexican standoffs.
me: I know, it's very sad
me: so, we should meet up soon
selenaleong: i would like that.
selenaleong: perhaps we will end in a fistfight
me: sure
me: why not?
me: passion is important
selenaleong: well i'd prefer something less violent than a fistfight
selenaleong: blowjobs, for instance, are far less scarring.
me: me too, since you'd win
me: unless they're done entirely wrong
selenaleong: well.
selenaleong: i'm not going to extol my own virtues.
me: call me an old romantic, but yes, I would prefer to receive a blowjob than to physically fight a female
me: It's a Texas thing, I suppose
selenaleong: i am pretty sure 99% of straight and probably gay men would agree w/ you
selenaleong: would you lay your jacket down for me so i could walk in a puddle
selenaleong: bc that is STUPID
selenaleong: however, if you know your way around ropes...
me: no, my jackets are my most important possessions other than my laptop
me: I don't think anyone does that at all anymore
selenaleong: do you invest in expensive pieces
selenaleong: "pieces"
me: like, I'd be surprised if even one person has done that in the last few years
me: I don't invest in anything
me: my jackets are all Christmas presents from either my mom or Dad
me: they buy me high-end jackets or whatever every year
me: even though I already have plenty of them
me: but I don't really have any possessions
selenaleong: haha aw
selenaleong: that's cute.
selenaleong: so you've got your laptop
selenaleong: and like, a bunch of paul smith jackets
me: other than my laptop, two suitcases of clothes, a few books, and a couple of knick-knacks like a hookah from Beirut
me: exactly
selenaleong: wow
selenaleong: you travel light.
me: so I can travel or move at a moment's notice
selenaleong: i wish i were so pared down and minimalist
selenaleong: i have to move soon and i'm dreading the process
selenaleong: of packing and cleaning
selenaleong: 5+ years in the same place...i kind of...settled in.
me: I don't even have my checks sent to me, they go to a P.O. box in Dallas and my mom is authorized to deposit them into my account
me: why do you have to move?
selenaleong: wow
selenaleong: you truly do live off the grid.
selenaleong: oh i live alone
selenaleong: and um the not working for a few months thing...
selenaleong: i racked up a SHIT TON of debt to my landlord
selenaleong: i need a roommate
selenaleong: and my current apartment is not set up for such things as it's a 1BR
me: that happened to me recently, except I was having to pay for my stupid fucking man-child roommmates
selenaleong: oh
selenaleong: christ how many people di dyou live w/
me: ended up blowing a couple thousand on those incompetent little bitches
selenaleong: yikes
selenaleong: why were you so generous
me: I had a nice place in Bushwick, originally with a good friend of mine from Texas, but he moved back down there to take a job as a producer for an NBC affiliate
me: and I took on some acquaintances
selenaleong: oh and let me guess. they took advantage of you...
selenaleong: and your generous southern nature.
me: one was a heroin addict going through a divorce, always crying about shit, actually literally crying, couldn't hold a job as a chef, etc.
selenaleong: wow
me: another was this fucking "DJ" who promptly lost his job at a BBQ joint and who was totally sure that he was going to make money with his music, etc
me: anyway, I was trying to help them out
selenaleong: hahahaha
selenaleong: i'm sorry for laughing but...ha ha ha
me: and assumed that something would work out for at least one of them
me: it's okay, doesn't matter now
selenaleong: did you cut your losses, call it a day
me: so, I'm happy just to have escaped from all that, their very presence took a lot of my work time
me: yeah, just paid the back rent and then announced that I was moving the fuck out
selenaleong: so now you are residing in WB and what, working on your writing?
me: so got a temporary place with my old friend Mirna here
me: yeah, I've got tons of things going on with my work right now
me: writing for some additional publications beyond what I was already doing
me: finished my second book a few months back, it'll be out in late MAy, I think
selenaleong: wow. i'm impressed.
selenaleong: it's not easy to be a real writer in NYC.
me: plus I'm running this huge project which takes a lot of time
me: sure it is
selenaleong: well. i never really tried.
selenaleong: until recently.
me: just a lot of people who try to be writers either don't have the talent or don't know how to go about writing in such a way as to pay their bills
selenaleong: OK well i'm the latter
me: well, I can help you out with some things
selenaleong: i do other shit
selenaleong: really?
selenaleong: i'd appreciate that
me: of course, I can give you some great advice and also help you connect to whomever you need to get in touch with
me: I'm very well-connected these days
selenaleong: well i'm not a political writer.
selenaleong: i'm a uh...fiction writer.
me: I've done everything
me: used to do fiction when I was 17, 18
selenaleong: or. i write about shit i shouldn'tbe
me: you can do both, write what pays and also write what you want
selenaleong: well
selenaleong: the first real article i ever wrote was published today.
selenaleong: i mean the other shit i've written were for blogs or like, vice magazine book reviews
me: congrats, where?
selenaleong: the NY press ha ha ha
me: I love that pub
selenaleong: do you?
selenaleong: uh
selenaleong: well.
me: know Matt Taibbi, who used to be the editor
me: he blurbed my first book
selenaleong: a friend intro'd me via email to the sex columnist editor guy
selenaleong: but i used a pseudonym for the article bc it's linked to my sordid blog
me: gotcha
selenaleong: and i am not about to have the world know about the shit i do behind closed doors and associate it with SELENA LEONG.
me: send me a link if it's online
selenaleong: oh. meeting. must go.
me: word
me: later