Leslie’s Birthday Wishlist

First of all, I’m just going to acknowledge that this is weird for me! I’m pretty good at asking for help and I’ve gotten pretty good at asking for funds when they are for a project or a cause…but I’m not great at asking for money for things that feel more personal. Thankfully, I have friends and loved ones who are good at pushing me out of comfort zones. So here goes!

This year, I’m diving into grad school at UCLA and—especially when it comes to programs like mine—that means I’m about to spend a bunch of money on new technology. Simply put, I could some assistance. For my birthday this year (October 17th!), I’m asking for your help towards a few shiny new pieces of computing gear!

Don’t worry, I’m not asking you to buy a whole piece of gear wedding registry style! Think of this as a collective grad school registry. I’m grateful for whatever you can give! You can donate using the PayPal button below, or if you prefer, via Square Cash ($Leslief84) or Venmo (@leslie_muse). And if you’re curious, you can check out my wish list below. Thank you, I appreciate y’all so much!

First on my list is a 27-inch iMac ($6330) with all the processing power, including a lightning-fast graphics card, that I could hope for.

I love my current iMac, it’s proven to be the most dependable computer I’ve ever had. Even now, at 6 years old, it’s still functioning smoothly. But it just doesn’t have the computing power to handle the 4k+ editing and 3D rendering I’ll be needing for school.

As much as I wish I could just cart my iMac around, I need something a little more mobile for school. I also need something that can (mostly) keep up with the new iMac. So next on my list is a 16-inch Macbook Pro ($3700).

This will be the computer I use in class and in my on-campus studio. It’s been a while since I’ve had a laptop that can keep up with my art practice and it’d be nice to have something dependable that can travel with me.

The final item on the list, the Apple Pro Display XDR ($6780) is the most long-term item. While I need the first two items soon after school starts, I can take a bit more time to save for it, as much as I’d like it RIGHT AWAY.

Something I’ve always needed in my practice is a reliable, high quality monitor that I can easily mount in an installation or on a gallery wall. I’ve often had to use cheap TVs or old monitors that I’ve had to endlessly tweak to get to just an approximation of what my films actually look like.

The monitor will also serve as a second screen for my campus studio and be a great way to be able to show my work to my classmates, faculty, and visiting artists.