You might know Erica Davidson because you see her at Pi Café when you get your coffee in the morning—“I sit there all day long,” she says. Or maybe because you see her at the gym—“This freshman came up to me one time and said, ‘I see you everywhere.’ And I was like, that’s not true, there’s no way you go to Olin; you see me at the gym. I see right through that.” Or maybe you know Erica because she was on the ACB four times—“Some of them were good, okay?” However you know Erica, you probably don’t know the stories in this WesCeleb, so read on.
The Argus: So, I was showing you to someone on Facebook when I told them you were going to be a WesCeleb and they looked at your info and we were laughing at you—I mean with you—and I got to thinking…how can I use this in the interview? And then I just decided, this is going to be the first (as far as I know) WesCeleb based entirely on someone’s “Facebook Info” page. #YOLO, nahmsaying?
Erica Davidson: I only use that term ironically. Like, “Are you gonna pay for that? YOLO!”
A: So, let’s start with “About Erica”: “red hair, purple car.”
ED: Not anymore. My dad sold my car. For $1,500. At a Subway restaurant.
A: Story?
ED: I think he posted an ad on Craigslist and the guy who wanted to buy my car asked to meet at this Subway. I have a lot of Craigslist luck, as you know.
A: Can you tell us about that?
ED: No.
A: This is going to have bad implications if you don’t.
ED: That’s how I found an apartment this summer. I found this guy on Craigslist, and he was renting out his room, but I decided to live in his dining room for half the rent instead.
A: How’d that go?
ED: It went really well—at first. Because my roommates all worked for hedge funds and paid for my drinks and cab rides. But then, halfway through the summer, I got two new roommates with normal salaries, who didn’t pay for anything.
A: And you were still sleeping in the dining room?
ED: And I was still sleeping in the dining room.
A: You also have a quote from Lily Allen on your page:
“Interviewer: What would your Lonely Hearts Ad say?
Lily Allen: Slightly insecure and needy pop star seeks nice guy. ‘Over it’ man. Good sense of humor. Not a fucking retard. Rich.”
Is that what you’re looking for?
ED: Yes.
A: I’m going to give you the opportunity to use this WesCeleb as a personal ad, do a little pre-Wescam advertising. Shoot.
ED: Shouldn’t I have been a sexy single? Wouldn’t that have been a better venue? Fine, Caleb Green [‘12].
A: Your activities are “getting what I want” and “riding shotgun.” Do you do those often?
ED: Pretty good at riding shotgun. And I do usually get what I want, but it takes a really long time. My life is a series of unfortunate events, and getting what I want is usually after my heart and soul have been beaten to a pulp and my hopes and desires are crushed. You’re gonna still write that aren’t you? In that case, it’s pretty easy to get what I want. But I do get shotgun a lot.
A: Series of unfortunate events?
ED: Just being abroad is the perfect example. All of my clothes got lost on the way to Berlin (from London). It was cold as fuck and I wasn’t wearing pants when I got on the plane. We had gone out the night before and I was wearing a skirt, and we just took a cab to the airport and I was like, “I’ll change on the plane.” So I wasn’t wearing pants. And then I didn’t have any clothes in like twelve-degree weather. And they reassured me that my clothes would get there, but they didn’t. So eventually I bought some pants. But I wore the same sweater for the next ten days. And then I broke my elbow in Paris on the same trip. I reused my remaining scarf to wrap it up instead of seeking medical attention.
A: How did you break your arm?
ED: I’ve told a lot of lies about that, so I don’t feel comfortable putting that in.
A: Okay, continue.
ED: Then I went back to the States on New Year’s Eve and went straight into celebrating with said scarf. Woke up on 74th and Columbus: not my house. Wait, okay, what happened was I got abandoned at a New Year’s Eve party, and the hostess took pity on me, so they smoked me out in their room, and I woke up on the couch of this five story mansion townhouse on 74th and Columbus and took the train at 8 a.m. into Larchmont and knocked on my aunt and uncle’s door. They were surprised to see me and made me go to an emergency pediatric clinic to see if my arm was broken. And it was. In three places. The ulna, the olecranon, and the humerus bone—the irony.
A: Your religious views are “hedonism.”
ED: I’m also Jewish.
A: It says you’re in an open relationship with Jack Blair. What’s it like to be in an open relationship?
ED: He lets me do what I want. Which is also one of my activities—getting what I want.
A: And who is Jack Blair?
ED: He’s this Australian guy who worked as a fellow counselor at my camp. And then we actually studied abroad together. I suspect that he’s gay. Based on his lovemaking. Just kidding. That didn’t happen.
A: To conclude, your favorite quotation is: “When you are great, people often mistake candor for arrogance.” -Tucker Max
ED: I can’t believe you’re laughing at me. You should totally be laughing with me. All I can say about that is that I wish Tucker Max hadn’t been the one to say it. [shrugs]