Funny thing about LA: on the one hand it’s the sprawl cliche — all freeways & parking lots and things human & concrete — on the other hand, however, we have some simply ginormous parks squeezed into those fluted hills. It’s not unusual then, when driving along roads abutting these open spaces, to spy a pack of coyotes loping sideways down the shoulder or be startled by a deer popping out of a landscaped median. It’s here, you’re just apt to forget is all.

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OK, twas inevitable, right? A quickie conversion (please excuse its klunkiness), but was just down the hill at Cycleway Coffee and noticed their coloring pages bin was empty — dry, nothing! Thus this de-colorized version of last week’s Valentine’s Day Card. If you’d prefer an easy to print PDF version, hop over here: Cycleway Coffee’s Rabbit Barista Coloring Page.

Love going to the markets in J-town (aka “Little Tokyo”). Really do. First, the area affords beautiful views of LA City Hall, its streets remaining largely faithful to their 1920’s construction (small plaques note each shop’s lineage — hardware store to meeting hall to, most likely, restaurant). But mostly it’s shopping in markets where a sponge, or bag of crisp lime-n-chili squid chips, or the lowly plunger all get the kawaii treatment. Couple dots for eyes and subtly cheerful “U” mouth smiling, friendiliciosly assuring you of the shared happiness that’ll be yours, just for having made this small purchase. Too great. Here’s my take for Valentine’s Day. Choose to perk up (poor pun) your iPhone (wallpaper) or print-out this larger version. Might turn some of these cards into coloring pages for CyclewayCoffee.net, stay tuned.

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There’s a long, frustrating story to be told, but not here, not now. Hey, look! The bright side beckons! So make this bit of groan-worthy cheeze your new, happy iPhone wallpaper or use this larger version: save it, print it, clip it, what-have-ya-it (hi, DaftPunk!), but whatever ya do, please note that it’s now CyclewayCoffee.net. Argh. Not “…Coffee.com” but “CyclewayCoffee.net”. For now. And probably tomorrow. (Find my happy place, find my happy place…). Thanks!

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When Roy Doty, discussing his fantastic personal Christmas cards, mentioned that he begins roughing out ideas and sketches in early Fall to beat his mid-December mailing deadline, well, I knew I was in trouble, really deep trouble. Adjusting for the ginormous talent gap between he and I this works out, approximately, to my needing to have started this year’s batch of Valentine’s Day cards some time between “Star Wars” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” releases. Well, definitely by “Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension”.

Despite this crushingly late start here’s my first foray: a coffee-themed Valentine’s card (doubling as a bit of rah-rah for Cycleway Coffee).

(iPhone Valentine’s Wallpaper (shown above) or save this larger printable card version.)
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Having begun the year the way I suspect many of you did — watching the Rose Parade — afterward I, too, found my attention drifting during the parade’s namesake bowl game (bless their hearts, they tried, oh, how they tried). Not being a USC football fan, well, I lap-topped my laptop, grabbed my trusty mechanical pencil in hand and… doodled — not just any doodle, but doodled my first coloring page of 2009, one that fittingly celebrates one of ’08’s highlights: Charles’ Moonlight Rollerway Holiday Jubilee! (exclamation marks are compulsory following “jubilee”, right?).

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Two bits of information you’ll need in order to make sense of these photos: 1) Reid is amazingly cheap, 2) his cat, Lynx, is fiercesome. All else is digression.

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Even I’ve noticed that silhouettes have experienced a resurgence, to the point that they’re now blase (peaking last May at 3:20PM). Great! It’s time to jump on the bandwagon, or be the 300th person on a 100-person capacity refurbished WWII ferry heading out into Manila Bay’s choppy, shark infested waters! Here’s some suggestions for making your own silhouettes.
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Funtastic evening over at Moonlight Rollerway Skating Rink — retro-holiday slideshow, ice cream (eaten from cups with wooden, flat spoons), then dozens of kids (& adults) put on a heckuva salute to all the year’s holidays (think “Holiday Inn” with Charles as Bing Crosby), finally it was “all skate” time!

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This is lame, but there have been times when I’ve wanted to hang a “Good Neighbor” note on someone’s front door. Sometimes it’s just simple or conscientious landscaping, or a great concrete deer collection (big bonus points for an upside-down ceramic squirrel on the siding), and other times it’s for getting into the spirit of a thing. We’re not talking Martha Stewart fussiness, but fun-itude. With this in mind: there’s a house, just around the corner from the library and train station, that puts on an incredible show. It’s on our list of “musts” for Christmas and Halloween. Here’s a couple pictures.

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Ludlow at Pershing Square Ice Skating Rink, downtown Los Angeles

Had a fun time wandering around downtown LA with Angelenic enthusiasts, including fellow MySpacers Rob, Brandon, and Rowan. Met many great folks (howdy, Diana, Natalie, Claudia, Ramone, Sal, Jennifer, and Sue — golly, hope I didn’t make-up anyone’s name wrong). Rich did a fine job wrangling ~100 people, having expected about 50. Didn’t make it to LA Live in time for Britney Spears (oh, drat), but walk ’twas a pleasant one (route), taking in City Hall’s tree, the Music Center, and Pershing Square’s skating rink before hitting LA Live. Visit my Flickr set “Holiday Jingle Sing Along - Los Angeles Music Center“.