but first coffee.

Hi everyone! Let's not waste any time today, and get right to it.

Please join me in loving the java-themed paintings of Boston-based artist Susan Jane Belton. Her charming works of disposable coffee cups emblazoned with a plethora of logos are deceptively simple. They illustrate the prevalence of branding, the ubiquity of corporate identities--less-than-friendly artistic subjects--and transform them into provocative works of art. Her renderings of piles, stacks and rows of empties not only highlight our mass consumption but our addiction (and yes, guilty as charged) to this universal elixir that's magically both energizing and soothing.

Belton expresses it so eloquently on her artist's statement:

"This work is about what I do while I write letters and think about 

all these urgent, global concerns and feel frustrated and powerless. 

I drink coffee. I drink a lot of coffee. It's a constant in my life. I drink 

it to think. I drink it to comfort. I drink it to celebrate. I drink it to 

socialize...I wonder if there is any connection between global issues 

and our private, automatic behaviors, like drinking coffee."

These delightful, often mesmerizing, paintings are really a brilliant comment on the modern world. You can see more of Belton's work on her site.

All art © Susan Jane Belton

A few more things to love today:

You know what always breaks my heart wide open? An unlikely animal friendship. Witness that of a female wolf and a male bear captured in the Norwegian wilderness by photographer Lassi Rautianen. Via Bored Panda.

Photo © Lassi Rautianen

I love these never-before-published photos of Brooklyn Heights and the story behind them. In 1958, a young Truman Capote, shortly after the publication of Breakfast at Tiffany's, was being profiled by Holiday magazine. He took the assigned photographer on a tour of his Brooklyn Heights neighborhood. Only four of Dave Attie's shots were featured in the article.

The rest of the 800(!) photographs were stashed in the back of a closet for decades, only to be unearthed by Attie's son and published in a new book Brooklyn: A Personal Memoir with the Lost Photos of Dave Attie. I feel like this is such a common street photography story, and I'm always fascinated by it. Via Atlas Obscura.

Photos © Dave Attie

And tomorrow night (Thursday, 12/10), photographer Vincent Laforet shows from his new book Air, a series of his gorgeous, nighttime aerial photography at Fahey/Klein, 7-9 p.m.

Photo © Vincent Laforet

That's all for now. I'll be back soon with more to love. xoL

love #15.

Hello! I decided to start this week off with a Love List, so let's not waste any time. Here's what we are loving right now.

1. The "imaginary" fashions of illustrator Shameck. Via UFunk.

Photos and art © Shameck

2. These 1969 Kodachrome photographs of people riding mod bikes on Nha Trang, Vietnam. Via Messy Nessy Chic.

Photos found on Flickr via Shooting Film

3. Every single look from the Valentino Pre-Fall 2015 collection. I'll take one of each, thank you. Via Larkspur Vintage.

4. The coffee stain paintings of Giulia Bernadelli. Via UFunk.

Art and photos © Giulia Bernadelli

5. And finally, these international posters for Carol Reed's The Third Man. They are from Scorsese Collects, an exhibition of Martin Scorsese's personal collection of film posters, now on view at MOMA through October. Via Notebook.

That's all for today. I'll be back tomorrow with more to love. xoL

handsome.

Recently I went downtown to the arts district and tried this new place called Handsome Coffee Roasters. Guess what? It's fantastic! I feel like I'm in a kind of coffee limbo days. I don't care for Starbucks or Coffee Bean...the coffee is bleah and of course, they are all corporate and yucky. And like most good Angelenos, I'll go out of my way to hit the precious few Peet's in the metropolitan area.

But anyone who knows me knows that I feel like Silverlake officially died when Intelligentsia moved into the neighborhood. This idea of taking coffee so damn seriously that you charge upwards of $7 for every individually-brewed cup just gets me riled. Along with the clientele, who are all sporting some combination of handlebar mustaches, children-as-accessories and Boston terriers.

I've really tried to temper my "too hip for the hipsters" attitude and give you a chance, Intelligentsia. But the bottom line is your coffee tastes like dreck, and I always end up walking down to the corner and getting my joe at Casbah Cafe, like I did for so many years when I lived up the street. Or going down to Cafecito Organico down Hoover by the 101.

So anyway, I was pretty much expecting the same experience from Handsome Coffee Roasters. I knew they took their coffee seriously, as the roast it right on the premises. The baristas all flaunt handlebar 'staches--as if it's part of the uniform--but guess what? They were all super-friendly and helpful. After one created the gorgeous latte you see above, he told me his girlfriend just had the design tattooed on her back. Now, there's taking coffee a little too seriously, and there's BRANDING IT ONTO YOUR OWN SKIN. This is commitment. This I can respect.

And the latte was just rich and delicious, not all wimpy and floral-y like a lot of fancy coffee. It's just one more thing that reaffirms my love for downtown L.A. and my excitement for all the amazing places popping up there.

farmers market.

Yes, there are Farmer's Markets all over LA, and love most all of them, but I still like to come to the permanent one every Sunday. I get there early to get a parking space, and I completely ignore the Grove. I like Bob's Donuts and getting Café de Olla at Loteria. I tried Short Order for breakfast once and it was fine. I like the Dog Bakery. It's all nice before the weekend crowd hits.

it's national donut day.

And I am celebrating, East Coast style.