I had a really silly ninny fangirl moment (yet again) Friday morning when I stopped by 5733′s headquarters in Oakland. (Smokin’.) Eddie Colla, the artist behind their designs, has been working on such cool stuff. I really wish I had a huge-ass wall to hang some of his girl-and-makeup pieces. These are super large works that he’s partly developing for an opening this coming Thursday in San Francisco.

I always have to try my best to hide my rolling eyes when people go gaga for Banksy and talk like he’s the only renegade artist of his type. One friend of mine insisted that nobody knows who Banksy is, because he’d get into so much legal trouble for his guerrilla art tactics. He believed that Banksy must be really poor, because he has to hide and live in the streets. When I asked that friend how Banksy managed to compile multiple books of his works and got them all into Urban Outfitters across the world, this flash of shock went across his face. I’m not saying Banksy or any other urban artists are not innovative, I’m just saying the good ones are smart about what they do, and are able to carry on art as a full-time endeavor because they’ve got savvy plus passion. I like the analogy I’ve come up with for the Eddie Colla-5733 connection, that Eddie Colla’s in the streets on walls, but you could also be wearing Eddie through 5733, making it a subject-in-an-environment immersion. (That was very poorly described, but you’ll have to give me a break because I just survived an entire day of Bay Area eats: Zachary’s, Fenton’s, and Suppenkuche. Oh, and Denny’s, too, I guess.)

Got to wear my new 5733 dress to Bubble Lounge Friday night for Foodicle’s send-off, was wearing a 5733 tee yesterday, and will be wearing another 5733 tee at Covet’s party tonight (for a Sundance Channel taping!). It’s like I’m 5734 - Haha, what? No? Not funny? Okay, moving on. If you’re in the Bay, go to the show: