magazines july 2020

kidding lol

so my hometown is silicon valley / san francisco bay area but i grew up in san jose specifically . my knowledge focuses in the south bay (towards santa cruz , i can talk some about there too if youd like) but the general culture is the same everywhere & its a very interesting locale 2 talk abt so here we go

1 . so san jose is the most ... socio-economically "poor" area but even then , san jose specifically is nearly on every "top 10 highest rent in the US lists . growing up here and realizing this as i came to age was very crazy especially since i always thought people had no idea where san jose was . realizing not only my privilege but how cramped and unfriendly it is here as i grew up , i wondered for a long long time why people wanted to move here so badly

for perspective , the house i grew up in was bought for 200k in the mid 90s , and sold for $1.33 mil (lurkers pls dont think this is a lot of money bcos after taxes & leftover mortgage u dont come out w much lmao) . it was a 70-130k house (at BEST) in the middle of the country . you can gawk in private at the cost of living , i personally get really annoyed when people remind me of it because its like beating a dead horse . truthfully however it is a priceless investment into your career if you are in STEM , as this area is the biggest tech hub in the US / world (?) , and i am so incredibly privileged to have grown up here let alone in upper-middle class (which doesnt even offer you nearly as much as you could get elsewhere lmao ) . the buying a house thing is what i dont understand lmao , very ballsy to start a family here if you ask me especially since the value will just depreciate ; nice work if you can get it i guess

2 . random anecdotes from living here :

- i grew up 8-10 mins away from netflix HQ , 20 min from apple HQ , etc

- when i still used facebook , i got an e-mail one day asking me to come in for a research group , and i went to their HQ to do it and got a $75 visa giftcard . i signed in at their lobby via my facebook account . they asked me what i thought about changing colors / customization options in the messenger app , and like a month later that was implemented !! its crazy to think that i was helping in that decision

- i have a friend who works for apple , and her boss works directly for tim cook . you get a lot of interesting anectodes about this area when you live here for 20+ years lol . im sure theres more to talk about but i cant think of anything rn

3 . caucasians are the minority , so again coming of age & seeing so much racism in the rest of the US was kind of jarring for me . i very much pride my hometown in being so diverse & open to opportunity for the best and brightest TM minds of the world to come here & make great changes in tech & beyond , albeit more and more places across the country are becoming less caucasian-majority so while this is less novel its still kind of exciting to me lol

4 . subsequently most people that live here didnt grow up here ; its a Huge transplant area and because of rapid gentrification , a lot of native bay area residents are struggling to stay here & it creates this very stressful and angry culture on top of the already competitive nature of the area

5 . to add to that , it is a very angry and stressful area to live in ; strangers arent looking out for you , and they dont want to talk to you . i think this is because its such a huge transplant area creating a a "clash of cultures" type of deal where everyone just stays in their lane as a defense mechanism but truthfully , the pressure to deal with the costs of living here + work culture on top of the former are probably in combination of why everyone is so ANGRY lol


i feel like im lowkey doxxing myself but this is all part of a closed chapter in my life so ig thats why im so detailed in my post . wowo i wrote a LOT



a brief overview on santa cruz bcoz that somehow got popular in the last few yrs (though ik there are users that actually live in that area that could probably make addenums to this if they happen 2 see this):


1 . santa cruz is the main "silicon valley beach town" (surprisingly , a lot of california doesnt have a lot of beach access , and this is one of the few areas that does ) . as a result , locals HATE silicon valley visitors lmao . if u move to santa cruz from the valley boy ppl are Not gonna like u , theyre a very tight - knit hippy dippy beach bummy bunch , and they are genuinely cool ppl & wanna preserve their beach culture from the rapidly growing silicon valley that is the total opposite so honestly , i get it

2 . theres a boardwalk with rides and stuff thats fun & a lil wharf , ive made some fantastic memories there but tbh its just as crowded from the crowdedness of the bay venturing into the beach so over the years its gotten less fun which is kind of sad lol . there are more random beaches to venture to up and down highway 1 away from santa cruz tho & i would reccomend those before anything else to tourists

3 . its actually a very dangerous town bcos of their medicine problem & at night it is genuinely such a spooky and scary place lmao . i was driving with my friend around 11 at night and there were Two people "not entirely there" walking in the street like actual zombies in the fog , i will not forget that (not to dehumanize the serious issues that surround that kind of thing , this is just how i and probably anyone else would interpet that situation)

you also have to take a very windy dangerous forest road to get there and driving there at night in the fog is also sooo spooky but fun . i , a dumbass , have driven the alternative less-populated and more dangerous and deserted highway at the dead hours of night ALONE just for the thrill bcos o my god is it spOOky as hell

4 . i say that it got popular bcos the "santa cruz" logo hoodie has gotten popularized via skater culture / zumies , even though the town itself is much more surfer for obvious reasons and skaters are there but i wouldnt say there are a ton of them lmao . i see kids in the midwest and beyond wearing their logo stuff and im like "wow i bought my hoodie at a gift shop , now its international apparel ?? amazing "

tldr ; its a cool and magical beach town tho i think that is what i love about the silicon valley area the most

avatars i need lent to me

offering 2 photos or plates / both per avatar i need !! i will cover lending fees if applicable


25 to Life
View your Prison pet when it's prison stat is 25 or more.

Brain Freeze
Have 150 different types of ice cream in your Attic, then view Ice Cream page of your Attic.

Bubbles
Attach a Bubbles minipet to an Underwater pet for 112+ days then view minipet.

Chevron
Attach a Chevron to your pet for 220+ days then view the minipet.

Dasher
Equip a regular Dasher to a snowy pet and view its profile.

Delayed
Attach a Delayed to your pet for 820+ days then view the minipet.

Drake
View your pet's Stats page when your pet is over level 500.

Elf
Own an Elf pet and click on an Elf costume in your inventory then click "Use Item" BUT DON'T USE IT!

Elfee
Attach an Elfee to an Elf pet and view the minipet.

Eylian
Attach an Eylian to an Enpiah pet and view the minipet

Fandor
Attach a Fandor to your pet for 900+ days then view the minipet.

Filondor
Attach a Filondor to your pet for 960+ days then view the minipet.

Fire
Equip the Flaming Weapons set (axe, shield, fan, and hammer) to a Fire pet then view the weapons.

Fire Fairy
Have a pet with 130 or more Spells and view your pets Spell collection.

Frolan
Attach a Frolan to a Frostfire pet for 10+ days then view the minipet.

Gobby
Attach a Gobby to your pet for 400+ days then view the minipet.

Going Bananas
Have 501 banana items in your gallery.

Gruffle
View the Stats page of your pet with 400 or more Coordination stats.

Gumball Addict
Refresh in your inventory when you have all original 43 Gumball in it.

Hammy
Attach a Hammy to a pet that has learned 50+ music lessons at the school.

History
Have your pet complete 152+ History lessons at the School.

Jacko
Attach a Jacko to your pet for 940+ days then view the minipet.

Jackpot
Win the Lottery.

Jezebel
Attach a Jezebel to your pet for 470+ days then view the minipet.

Kuork
Search Kuork on the slow shop search when you have one for sale in your shop for 500,000mp.

Laiyee
View your pet when it has 5 laiyees attached to it.

Lidge
Attach a Lidge to your pet for 950+ days then view the minipet.

Lucky
Attach a Lucky to a Christmas pet for 99+ days then view the minipet.

Lurve
Unattach a Lurve from your pet after 60+ days.

Napoleon
Have 10 Napoleons in your Gallery then view your Gallery.

Otus
Visit your pet's profile when it has gained 200 University stats.

Pearls
Refresh in your inventory when you have all original 46 Pearls in it.

Pixel
Attach a Pixel to your pet for 560+ days then view the minipet.

Plug
Attach a Plug to your pet for 50+ days then view the minipet.

Plynx
Attach a Plynx to your pet for 520+ days then view the minipet.

Polar
Attach a Polar to a Polar pet then view the minipet.

Psyclone
Attach a Psyclone to a Funky pet for 30+ days then view the minipet.

Reon
Attach a Reon to a Stoneage pet for 75+ days then view the minpiet.

Sk8er
Attach a Sk8er to your pet for 850+ days then view the minipet.

Skelly
View a Skelly minipet attached to your Skeleton pet.

Skiddy
Attach a Skiddy to a Skater pet then view the minipet.

Smew
Attach a Smew to your pet for 70+ days then view the minipet.

Snickle
Attach a Snickle to your pet for 60+ days then view the minipet.

Snoop
Attach a Snoop to your pet for 420+ days then view the minipet.

Snooty
Attach a Snooty to a Princess pet then view the minipet.

Snowman
Attach a Snowman to your pet for 130+ days then view the minipet.

Snuggles
Attach a Snuggles to a Polar Pet then view the minipet.

Stoneage
View the Profile of a Stoneage Pet that is level 49 or higher.

Super Hero
Attach a Superhero to a Superhero pet then view the minipet.

Tinsel
Attach a Tinsel to a Christmas pet for 10+ days then view the minpiet.

Toadle Eclipse
Have a Toadle change colour to black at Fasoro Falls.

Tweblud
Attach a Tweblud to an Angel pet for 75+ days then view the minpiet.

Twittle
Attach a Twittle to your pet for 350+ days then view the minipet.

Ush
Have 2 Ush in your Gallery and then view your Gallery.

Wallet
Attach a Wallet to your pet for 196 days.

Yule
Attach a Yule to your Seasonal pet for 99+ days then view the minipet.

Zound
View your shop when you have 2 Zounds for sale at 500,000mp.


NEW

Bearger
Feed a Bearger gourmet minipet to your pet.

Brr... ger
View the Snowman Burger on your pets Gourmet Food list.

Darwin
View profile of pet with 115+ History stats.

Carafe
View profile of pet with 95+ Art stats.

Defeated
View your pet's profile when it has 95+ Geography stats.

Glockenspiel
Have your pet at level 10 Glockenspiel then view it's instrument list.

Griffin
Have a pet with 900+ Coordination stats and visit Griffin.

Growl
View your pet with 2200+ magic stats.

Harmonica
Have your pet at level 10 Harmonica then view it's instrument list.

Heart Guitar
Have your pet at level 10 Heart Guitar then view it's instrument list.

History
Have your pet complete 152+ History lessons at the School.

I Love Doughnuts
View the gourmet foods page of your pet that has eaten a Heart Doughnut.

Jackpot
Win the Lottery.

Loser
View your pet's profile when it has 105+ Sports stats.

Otus
Visit your pet's profile when it has gained 200 University stats.

Pop Star
Collect income for Karaoke King job on a pet that has over 50 music stats.

Popstar
View any minipet attached to your pet with 100 School Music stats.

Quack Mafia
Submit a score of 2000+ at the Quack Mafia game.

Rose Trumpet
Have your pet at level 10 Rose Trumpet then view it's instrument list.

Science
Have your pet complete 52+ Science lessons at the School.

Sports
Have your pet complete 77+ Sports lessons at the School.

Sumo Sally
Complete 2,500 Sumo Sally Quests

Don't Eat Yellow Snow
Feed your pet Suspicious Yellow Snowcone then view the item on the pet's Gourmet Food list.