Darren tells me that he works in Lush in White City 3 days a week which pays his rent and bills.
He lives just of Brick Lane and moved here from Heartfordshire because he enjoys the lifestyle of working part time and partying full time.
Darren has featured on a TV show on channel 4 about being a PUA (pick up agent). He didn’t really want to talk about it much but enjoyed doing it and explained that he had to exaggerate some of the situations on the programme to make good television. Darren has no time for relationships.
He moved to Brick lane because it is quite central to everything and he enjoys the social life. He has also lived in Ealing Broadway in London but now says that he could never live outside zone 1.
Darren’s favourite bars include café 1001, moonlighting in Soho (where he knows the bouncers so he gets in for free and likes to go on a Wednesday because the drinks are 80p a time, Madam Jo Jo’s in Soho, Bloomsbury Bowling, 93 Feet East in Shoreditch and the Electricity Showrooms in Shoreditch. Darren really likes the private parties that social networking site Face Party provides for special members only. These parties are always wild, kitted out with free booze and have special themes. These special parties are normally top secret and are held at empty warehouses.
Darren tries to do a new club every week.
16:45 - Darren takes me to Cafe 1001 of Brick Lane
Darrens Phone
E-mailing recent girls he had met whilst out clubbing
Texting girls he had met whilst out clubbing
Texting his friend to see if they were meeting up later on in the day
Checking to see if there are any Faceparty gigs any time soon
Looking up recent girls he had met on social networking sites
Checking his e-bay account and looking for wireless network adaptors
Checking out cheap property sites
E-mailing a girl on AntiHotmail
5:20pm - I go outside for a cigarette
I notice a lot of art type students chilling out drinking Red Stripe and smoking.
There are flyers for a Middlesex Fashion show in the Cafe later on that evening.
People are sitting outside working on their laptops and drinking coffee.
17:28 - I check out the inside
There are students, drawing and doing work on apple macs at the power stations. Theres Jazz music playing in the background which creates a chilled out atmosphere alongside the candles, low lighting, sofa's and cushions. There is a sign saying that the cafe is on Facebook and lots of eye catching pictures and paintings on the walls as well as posters advertising speical events and other places near by. I can smell scented sticks, someone is sketching a picture to the right of me and a man is reading the London Metro to the left of Darren. Theres is a Dj booth and students giving out leaflets for a fashion show that would later be held in the private room of the cafe by Middlesex University.
Darren admits that he is normally late and unorganised. He writes a to do list most days to remember to meet people and do chores ext.
17:30 - Darren talks about his nights out
He drinks vodka (absolute) and lemonade when he goes out because it’s cheap. He never has a hangover the next day because he drinks lots of water in between and before he goes to sleep. Darren used to smoke weed but doesn’t touch drugs or tobacco at all now. He will dance in a club but only when he feels comfortable enough to but he mainly goes to socialise and meet new people. He normally gets to a club about 1am and it will nearly always be a spontaneous or last minute decision to where he is going that night.
He is mainly attracted to places because they are cheap and if they play music that he knows. He doesn’t really get invited to house parties.
17:35 - I check out what Darren is wearing
Skin tight black jeans, Vans (very worn), Fingerless gloves (Stripy...also very worn), Yellow T-shirt with motif, Plain black hoodie, Beeded necalaces, Scarf (found in club), Lush bag (from work), Leather wrist bands and elastic bands worn as bracelets. His hair is big an unbrused, and he recently told me he tried to dye it black but it went wrong so it's kind of a dark brown / black colour.
Darren says that he only goes clothes shopping about once a year. It will only be when he needs something specific and it HAS to be cheap. He will only buy clothes that are cheap because he would rather save his money to go out clubbing or socialise with friends. He has found some items of clothing in clubs or on the street that no body has claimed.
The last items of clothing he bought were two velvet jackets, a tail coat and a waistcoat.
Other then buying the odd thing here and there for his computer (which he will buy on e-bay), he only goes shopping for food. He likes to go to Sainsburys or Tesco because they are close to where he lives and also because he likes their value meals.
He states that his fashion icons are homeless people, Lenny Kravitz, Oscar Wild and Jack the Ripper.
He gets a lot of his vanity products free from work and never really goes on holiday but is thinking about going somewhere later this year.
He doesn’t mind spending his money on drinking and going out because he would rather have the memories then spending money on possessions that he cares little about.
17:45 - Darren is downloading music on UTorrent.
Darren talks about what his into other then going out clubbing and he says that he never really watches Tv shows and really only watched the Simpsons when his bored. He listens to old rock, indie and hip hop and his favourite artists include Jimmy Hendrix, Tu Pac and The Smiths. Most of the time when he goes out clubbing he doesn’t know what the music is but normally just likes the type of people that it attracts.
The last film Darren saw was the Watchmen which was in a cheap cinema down Mile End. He also goes to Notting Hill cinema because it is cheap and because he can no longer access free movie sites on the internet.
The last museum he went to was the Tate Modern for the Universal Series exhibition.
He likes to read books about the theory of the world and freedom. He never reads magazines.
18:00 - Darren looks for a yag areial for his laptop on Ebay
(for a better free internet connection).
He found a wireless package for 10 a month but will only pay money for the internet if it’s the best connection.
He says that he will normally spend about 4-5 hours on his laptop a day but at the moment its less because he hasn’t got internet access in his house. He uses sites like Gumtree to look for flats. He likes to see what is about because he would like to move to Soho. He also likes the idea of being tucked away in a flat in Spitalfields. He also looks at property on Carmelote Property which has property to rent for very little money per month.
Darren doesn’t use social networking sites because he doesn’t like the fact that people can access information about him on it. He only belongs to Face Party but only because he gets invited to the free parties and that it is now known as a very privileged site to belong to. Before any body could join, but now you have to be invited onto it. Darren likes to seclude himself away from people.
18:30 - Darren leaves to go home and sort himself out for the evening ahead of him.
Before he leaves he discusses his motives for the future and aspirations.
His main aim at the moment is to make money and would love to go into Tv again or modelling for adverts. He would like to have his very own Tv show but doesn't know what about yet. If he was to do anything else with his life it would be parapsychology (super natural / ghosts). He would also like to write a movie about women and a book about his life.
I stay and ask my mate to come down to watch the fashion show with me.
Later on.....
Whilst me and my friend are enjoying a drink we see Darren looking inside the Cafe to see if there was anywhere to sit down and use the internet.
The inside was packed and after noticing us came and sat down outside.
He talks to a girl next to him on the table and manages to get her number within about 15 minutes....me and my mate are shocked.
When asked to describe himself in three words he said “I don’t need to use three words I can use one: Lucid”.
If he has £5000 that he had to spend in a day he would pay of some of his rent, spend some more in a casino and probably pay for a high class escort for the night.
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