Do you want it? Or need it? Depends.

The biennial Mid-City Studio Tour isn’t something you can buy (admission is free) but it is something you definitely want: a peek inside the studios, homes and in most cases home studios of some of Long Beach’s most recognized visual artists. Organized by artists Cynthia Evans, Annie Stromquist [...]

Do you want it? Or need it? Depends.
It’s a rare item that can make a guy simultaneously feel tough and look pretty, but that’s exactly what my switchblade comb from Siren does. The best part is the reaction it elicits when I pass through security lines: the only thing worse than a pig is a [...]

Do you want it? Or need it? Depends.
Whether your home is a third-floor studio apartment or a house with a two car garage, you never quite have enough room for storage—especially when it comes to bikes. They’re bulky, they fall over, they might even break up your relationship (third-floor dwellers, I’m looking at you). A [...]

Finally, a chance to do something with all those abandoned toys from your wee years that you have, for whatever reason, clung to all this time: circuit bending. “Circuit bending is the creative rewiring of internal components from electronic devices such as children’s toys, synthesizers and drum machines to create new sounds the devices were [...]

Do you want it? Or need it? Depends.

You switch out your light bulbs, upgrade your cleaning supplies, even hassle your supe to fix—for good—that nasty habit your shower faucet has of always running. And yet, as an apartment dweller, you can never go green enough—something about the landlord not quite digging your bold idea for [...]

Do you want it? Or need it? Depends.

Let’s face it: any student or alumnus of Long Beach State is made to feel a little wanting in these parts. USC and UCLA tend to suck up all the air—not to mention TV time, newspaper print, and donor dollars—and that can leave a 49er feeling, well, like [...]

Do you want it? Or need it? Depends.

I’ve never been much for emergency preparedness (opting to snack on the contents of my earthquake kit instead of, you know, storing it), and despite often thinking to leave a pair of shoes next to my bed, a flashlight on the nightstand, a gun under the pillow, etc., [...]

Do you want it? Or need it? Depends.
While it’s generally agreed that my couch (a beat-up, near-shapeless, yellow-, orange-brown-, and white-striped thing I picked up four years ago for $15 at St. Vincent de Paul) is a complete and utter eyesore, I’ve refused to part with it on principle—one principle, actually: I am nuts for [...]

Do you want it? Or need it? Depends.
In our design-focused world of Extreme Home Makeover and HGTV, even Kleenex has climbed on the design bandwagon. Gone are the days of crocheted Kleenex box covers (necessary for covering gaudy pastel floral prints)—now there’s good-looking oval-shaped boxes in nine colorful prints (lifted from patterns in nature and [...]

Do you want it? Or need it? Depends.
When my beat-up and scratched pair of fake, retro ’70s-style tortoise-shell sunglasses recently took a dive with me into Lake Arrowhead and never resurfaced, I viewed it as a sign: Stop. Following. Sunglasses. Trends. Granted, oversized sunglasses have been on the outs for a while (replaced by neon [...]