Writing and Journalism

I'm a California-based journalist whose work has been published in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Vogue, Elle, Women's Health, Vulture, Salon, California Sunday, Dame Magazine, and many other publications. I've also held staff positions at the Los Angeles Times Magazine, Pasadena Magazine, and as the founding editorial director of Los Angeleno.

My beats include entertainment, the intersection of culture and technology, women’s issues, and California culture.

Here are some selections from the many pieces I've published over the years.

Interviews

Featured

From Pinup to Muse: Pamela Anderson’s Next Chapter

Published in New York Times: On a sun-soaked Southern California morning in the Hollywood Hills, the perennial pinup Pamela Anderson considered whether or not she had been afraid when she got breast implants. “I didn’t even have time to think about it,” she said in her breathy girlish voice. “It was done within a week, and that was that.”

Ms. Anderson wore black ballet flats and a Crest-white coatdress that, despite its modesty, didn’t mask her tan bombshell physique. “It was very ’80s,” she said as she fumbled with her top button. “A different time.”

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Camila Mendes Is Flying High

Published as the cover story of Women’s Health magazine: Camila is sipping her second almond milk latte—and she has a confession.

“I’ve always, always wanted nothing more than stability,” the 25-year-old actress tells me while seated at Café Parisien on Larchmont Boulevard—a charming strip in Los Angeles that’s dotted with quaint shops and restaurants. She’s staying at her usual spot nearby in the neighborhood, and she’s practically a regular at this café. It might seem boring, going to the same place all the time. Maybe her publicist suggested it or maybe it’s just…comfortable. Predictable. Stable. For someone like Camila—who moved more than 12 times before the age of 18, partly due to her dad’s career and partly because of her parents’ split—maybe it feels almost snug…

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Features

Featured

Voices From Generation COVID

Published by Vogue: How does the class of 2020 feel about its future? What do their college plans look like when each day often looks so different from the day before? I spoke to several recent 2020 graduates in some areas in the U.S. that have been especially impacted by COVID-19 about their lives in quarantine, college plans, and hopes and dreams for our uncertain future. The women—all 18 years old—also shared their photos and journal entries from their own perspectives, because this change-charged generation is not one to be silenced.

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Academy Rules Can’t Stop Pawn Shop Oscar Sales

Published by Variety: On the third floor of a nondescript Beverly Hills office building, past an armed security guard and beyond a glass case full of diamond jewelry, is a gleaming Academy Award. But this trophy wasn’t awarded to any of the staff, or to anyone related to them. This Oscar was pawned…

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Taking Opera to the Tijuana Streets

Published by GOOD: Today, there are an estimated 12,000 Tijuananese from all over the city gathered to observe Italian opera with a side of tacos de mariscos. This is the 12th year of Opera en la Calle, Tijuana’s free Opera in the Street festival, held every year in one of the oldest, working class neighborhoods in Tijuana: Colonia Libertad. The hilly neighborhood is nestled alongside the border, its dense streets jam-packed with small houses, some boasting quaint gardens, some with protective spikes, and some sporting both…

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Lowriding Culture Goes Global

Published by New York Times: In the Southern California lowrider scene, there are some clashes as to which country has adopted the Mexican-American culture with the most swag.

Some say that the lowriders in Tokyo have the West Coast style perfected. They hang with Nike Cortez track shoes and socks pulled to their knees as flawless Spanglish by Japanese rappers blasts from slick, curb-hugging Impalas. Others say the scene in São Paulo, Brazil, with its oversize Dodgers jerseys and tricked-out rides, is most true to lowriding’s Los Angeles roots.

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