Oh. Do you have a suggestion for the card’s text? It’s never too late, and oh so easy to do better. I’d considered the simpler “you perk me up!”. Might make an alternate card for that. Or for yours.

Valentine’s Card Text: “I’m brewing a whole pot’a love for you, Valentine!!”

OK, if you have a better new domain name for Cycleway, please let me know. Is “.net” good? Argh? They also own CyclewayCafe.com

One more time: moved from dot-com to dot.net!?? Not “.com” (*sigh*)  It’s CyclewayCoffee.net. 

I’ll go cry now.

Valentine’s Card Text: “It’s hard to ‘espresso’ my feelings for you, Valentine!!”

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.)

You’re better than a dozen
half-caf mocha chai macchiatos,
light on the cream, extra whip, to-go!

Yes, the copy intentionally references “LA Story“. I believe the movie’s restaurant table dialog something like:

I’ll have a de-caf coffee.
- De-caf espresso.
- Cappuccino.
Do you have de-caf coffee ice cream?
- I’ll have a de-caf double half caf.
I’ll have a twist of lemon.
- Me, too.
- Me, too.
- Me, too.

As I’m more and more in the minority by drinking black coffee (Americano, “cup of Joe”, “go-go juice”, etc) it’s revealing my imagination’s failure when I confess bewilderment at folks who want an iced anything first thing in the morning. Midday? Well, ok perhaps, but to knock back a chocolate croissant with a double-mocha coffee-shake – with whip, no less — well, ya might as well have a Cocoa Puffs encrusted Nutella ‘n caramel apple. Wait, that sounds good. In fact, now that you mention it the Fairfax Farmers’ Market candy shop does a dandy caramel Granny Smith rolled in mini-Reeses Pieces that I can highly recommended. Just not for breakfast.

Perhaps I’m just mildly irked that I need to wait so long for a simple pour of drip coffee as the five folks ahead on line give minute details about how they want their freedom coffee prepared and packaged. 

Anyway, this card’s genesis is a kid who’d bussed our lunch table at Breadbar earlier; he could have been a Chinese acrobat. And I’d wondered at the time how he could balance all those plates and coffee cups. And could a rabbit do it just as well. Thus this sketch.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Photo I’d taken at Grand Performance appearance by Henan Province Shaolin Monks & Acrobats. More monk pics.

I suppose some kids enjoy coloring, and sure, Crayola Crayons smelled fantastic, right up alongside purplish mimeographs (ahhhh, slightly cool and damp when fresh, ready for the surreptitious sniff!), but I rarely strayed from my true love — pencils, mechanical ones if possible.

Coloring BOOKS, however, now those were great, even (or especially) the ones printed on unbleached, rough newsprint. Great, that is, not for coloring, but for the art; these introduced me to line art — fantastic variations in width and stroke, for this I’m indebted (see a master at work, Patrick Owsley).

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- Noncommercial- Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

So here’s my recent efforts, for kids who do color or don’t. Also available in my Flickr Coloring Book Pages Set.

Flying Spaghetti Monster Coloring Pages

These are my first efforts, play on Chick pamphlets or VBS activity books.

• Odd Girl and Pirate Boy with Flying Spaghetti Monster
• Children Speak with Flying Spaghetti Monster in the Garden
• Flying Spaghetti Monster, Noah, his Ark, & real fate of Dinosaurs
• He Boiled
  For Our Sins
• Pastaman Revolution: Bob Marley

For other sizes and file formats: Flying Spaghetti Monster Coloring and Activity Book.

Zanzabelle, Silver Lake

Octopus, ‘n Giraffe, ‘n Jack-o’-Lantern Coloring Pages

A fantastic shop filled with retro goodies, touch of kitsch, and good treats — some promos for Zanzabelle General Store

• Octopus all a’tangle
• Giraffe and Friends Enjoy Ice Cream
• A Halloween Jack-o’-lantern

For other sizes and file formats: Zanzabelle Ice Cream and General Store.

Cycleway Coffee, Hermon (Los Angeles)

Halloween: Witches, Pumpkins, & Jack-o-Lanterns Coloring Pages

A worthy coffee house just down the hill here in Hermon, the forgotten LA (adjacent to Highland Park and South Pasadena), Cycleway Coffee.

• “Make-Your-Own” Jack-o’-Lantern Pumpkin
• Halloween Witch ‘n Cat

For other sizes and file formats available at Cycleway Coffee’s “FREE Kids Stuff” pages.

A Classic Los Angeles Institution

“Bob Baker Marionettes” Christmas Coloring Page

If you have kids, or can borrow a couple for a morning, head over to this theater for classic, true retro showmanship. Oh, and you’ll get cake and ice cream, too.

• Bob Baker Marionettes Christmas

Visit Bob Baker Marionettes for show times and specials!

Some Christmas Leftovers

Christmas: Santa & Reindeer, Gingerbread Man with his Gingerbread House Coloring Pages

These were not created for coloring book pages, but are in fact puppets I made for a short animation a few years back. Just thought I’d re-purpose them here.

• Gingerbread Man & Gingerbread House
• Awkward Santa and Reindeer

To download this pages right-click and save to your computer. Page thumbnails link to full-sized images.

My recurring lament “wherefore art thou, neighborhood coffee house” ends with the opening last month of Cycleway Coffee, a truly first-class coffee house nestled at the foot of the hill-saddle between Highland Park, Monterey Hills, and the Arroyo Seco — otherwise known as “Hermon”.

Their opening day was quite well attended, capped off by a stop of some scores of bicyclists enjoying the monthly NELAart Organization – Spoke(n) Art Bike Tour (open-studios throughout Highland Park). I dropped in during the day to shoot these photos (also posted as a Flickr set).

The very existence, as brief but notable as it was, of the cycle way was a complete surprise to me. And while it was never finished, rarely used, and was replaced by a freeway it’s quite a tale.

(full disclosure: yes, I worked on their web site)