Mimi, BYO and A boy named dream

Dream (left) with Shawn Stern at BYO HQ.

Mimi could apply mascara, change her clothes and eat a meal all while flying down the notorious 405 at 70 MPH in her brown Toyota (license plate: PHIEND). My superpower was attracting law enforcement. One night after a big punk show somewhere behind the “Orange Curtain,” we sat in the car for the better part of an hour trying to figure out who was sober enough to turn on the ignition. Parked directly across the street were a pair of cops happily awaiting our decision. Mimi's magic carpet of Positive Mental Attitude usually provided us a safe getaway and this time was no exception. We laughed all the way home, another dodged bullet added to the belt.
 
Sometime between getting caught in the Mendiola’s Ballroom riot and taking on the crucial work of handling Social Distortion’s fan mail, we fell into the orbit of the Better Youth Organization. The brainchild of Mark and Shawn Stern who had a band called Youth Brigade,  BYO pioneered the punk DIY ethic and served as a record label and promotion company for hardcore bands around the country. Mimi, a textbook extrovert, managed to use the Mendiola’s debacle (Chapter 7) as a springboard for friendship and fun (read: sex and drugs) landing us an invite to the BYO HQ on N. Flores St. in West Hollywood.  

The property consisted of an old two-bedroom Spanish Revival house in front, and a small apartment above a garage in back, with a long driveway alongside. Both dwellings were in various states of disrepair, a fact that was not incongruent with its tenancy. We climbed the stairs up to the apartment shared by Mark and Shawn where we hung out and discussed the news of the day. That’s where I met Dream.

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