Your short stories could make you a millionaire.
Plus a poll, ice cream rankings, a job, and some high/low houses.
Happy Monday, everyone. I’m writing this on the plane back to LA from Hawaii. The Rag’s readership has grown more than 55% in the past week — special thanks to Jason Stewart’s highly engaged fan base and to Taylor Lorenz for the shoutout.
If you’re new here, make sure to follow the Rag on Instagram and share this with all your favorite Angelenos. The more people we have sending tips (DM me!), the better the Rag will be. We have a bunch of fun stuff in the works, so…don’t let your friends be uninformed.
Scraps only today, because it’s Monday and I have a lot to catch up on.
In today’s newsletter: a poll for young professionals, you could become a millionaire writing short stories, Karen Bass rescues the Hollyhock House, a gig at Staud, a $13.5m house in Los Feliz, and a $999k house in Frogtown.
A question for the readers…
There’s been a lot of talk about how today’s young adults have limited interest in working, at least in the traditional 9-5 sense. I scanned a cross-section of the Rag’s readership this weekend, and there seems to be a pretty healthy mix of full-time employees and freelancers (and full-timers with side hustles). I’m curious to know how east siders prioritize their work and life aspirations. Let me know below, and feel free to elaborate in the subscriber chat or by replying to this email. I’ll be using the results for an upcoming article.
🍽️ And now for some table scraps…
The Mohawk General men’s store reopened in Silver Lake. Great news for people who like to look cool and don’t mind spending $600 on a pair of pants. The new space features a much-needed expansion of the retail floor and a sculpture installation by Silver Lake’s very own Klein Agency.
If you want to be a millionaire, maybe…write a short story? Writer Harrison Query just sold his short story Code Black to Amazon MGM Studios for seven figures guaranteed. Last month, he sold another one to A24 for around $500k. It’s a weird time for writers, but there’s always opportunity for hustlers.
The east side ate up Eater’s list of best LA ice cream shops. Magpies, Scoops, Carmela, Fair Oaks, Fosselman’s, and my personal favorite, Fluffy McCloud’s, all made the list.
Lookalike contests are still happening. This was a fun trend in the Timothée era, but it feels…a little played out? That said, the winner of yesterday’s Pedro Pascal contest deserves his moment in the sun.
The Hollyhock House won’t close to the public after all. Public funding has been restored for Los Feliz’s UNESCO World Heritage site, enabling the house to retain staff members and keep the property open for public tours.
Meghan and Harry’s staff exodus continues. I’m going to be honest — it feels like some journalists are making
palaceMontecito intrigue their entire beat, and I’m just not that interested. Yes, several staffers have left recently, but it seems like Meghan and Harry’s new chief communications officer, Meredith Maines, might just be installing her own people. I’m more interested in the aimlessness of Meghan’s consumer brand, As Ever, which Puck’s Rachel Strugatz highlighted earlier this month.WhatsApp has ads now. “No ads, no games, no gimmicks”… no more.
A house in Los Feliz just sold for $13.5m. The former owners were originally asking $38m — yes, you read that right — for this tacky monstrosity.
Staud is hiring an LA-based growth marketing manager. This is a great gig if you want to work at an up-and-coming fashion label that’s a) doing big numbers and b) squarely in Ari Emanuel’s orbit. The brand used to be based in Echo Park, but these days you’ll have to commute to West Hollywood.
The LAT put together a list of day spas to visit if you’re headed to Palm Springs. TLDR: The Spa at Séc-He is right in the middle of town and worth the price of admission for a combo spa/pool day.
The new cast of The Traitors includes Lisa Rinna and the guy with the snake tattoo from Love Island.
Here’s a cute house in Frogtown for less than $1m. It’s a little close to the freeway, but the light in this place is amazing.
I for one am here bc of your incredible paper ad campaign by canyon coffee 💅🖤