The L Magazine 6th Anniversary Party, Happy Ending, New York
April 30, 2009
I love when you guys have parties on the East side of town so I can either take just
one subway or even walk to the event. When they're on the Lower East Side there's the added bonus of discovering not yet investigated bars and lounges - however, the price to pay is this one stretch
on Bowery just before Spring where there is either a methadone clinic or a shelter of some sort. Not a drawback to the people who frequent it, but when it's dark, and you're little, and you have a
big camera in your sack like me, the hollering, weaving, cig-flicking crowd spilling over the entire sidewalk can be a bit... scary. But don't worry, there's a Happy Ending. 
On the walk there I started to feel creepy. I was already feeling
uncharacteristically exhausted, but I chalked it up to forgetting to eat lunch while taking notes and observing the IFC panel earlier in the day. Either way, my brain was foggy and my belly murky as I walked
down the stairs into the Happy Ending Dungeon, a place inspired by toilets. Seriously, when you pop out downstairs, to your left is the bar and to the right is a lounge area with typical settees,
he/she bathrooms and then segregated rooms walled with tiles that may have been white, but were reflecting the deep illegal massage parlor red. In the first toilet-inspired room I found Diane Levine
set up with her tripod and a flash ring around her camera. She was there taking photo booth shots.
Intentionally or not, the toilet lounge was lined with a perfectly toilet-reading-sized L Magazine, with the cover boasting 8 NYC bands you need to hear. Hey,
speaking of music, after yakking it up with Andrea Rosen, Digital Marketing Manager of the L Mag, Sam Polcer of Ink Publishing, and Nick Burry, Associate Publisher of L Mag, I met
Lauren Beck, brave assistant music editor type at the mag.
Writers and bloggers get to have that added challenge of instant hate if their opinion isn't agreed with or if their writing style
isn't accepted by a reader, but I do not envy music bloggers like Lauren. People passionate about music love an artist or genre or hate it - and if you're on the opposite end of the
spectrum the public reaction is usually one of "then obviously you're an idiot" in much harsher language. Don't believe me? Read Brooklyn Vegan's comment sections or even The Gothamist when music is
on the block. In the online content world, haters come out in public, and positive feedback always comes in the inbox. So, yeah, if you have something nice to say to your favorite blogger/online
journalist - drop them a public back pat today! 
Moving on from Lauren,
I found another separate room that wasn't as toilety -- maybe more of a Home-Depot-floor-tile-as-wall situation. This is where I found Mike Orell, East Coast Senior Account Manager at IAC Advertising
Solutions, and two other guests. So let's see, who else was there, enjoying the terlit atmosphere, PBR and 42 Below Vodka? Take a look at the pictures and see for yourself! 
I had to hotfoot it out of there due to an increasing feeling of creepy belly (which has carried over into today - no corkscrew tail yet, so I think I'm swine flu safe) and ran into Julia Kaganskiy,
editor at Unigo.com, who proclaimed me "lame sauce" for leaving so early. Ordinarily I'd own that moniker proudly, but my cold sweats were having none of it. May you all stay healthy this weekend!
Send invitations to kelly@mediapost.com!
Get inspired: Toilet theme your pad!