Top Chef Tats

Love Top Chef's Michael Voltaggio's spoon and skull tattoo! Classic and bad-ass at the same time. There's a great slide show called Chef d’Oeuvres over at the NYTimes of imagery & words chefs have chosen for their tattoos. Bad to the bone.

Mad About Don Draper

AMC, the home of the much acclaimed Mad Men, has released its own MadMenYourself microsite, letting you transform yourself into a character straight out of the 60’s ad-men-era-inspired television show. Using artwork from Mad Men illustrator Dyna Moe, you follow along as the site walks you through the character creation process from body,head, hair, facial features, clothing, accessories and backdrops. Characterizations are formatted to be used as your Twitter avatar, iPhone background, or desktop image. Just a little too much fun when I should be working, but how fun is to pretend to have a drink with Don Draper!

Going to Need Food Rehab

I'm going to need some serious food rehab, as MyLastBite put it so well today, we are going to go through "Ludo Withdrawal". Tonight marks the end of a food-lovers dream with LudoBites shutting down for the summer after a wonderfully successful 3 month pop-up food event with chef/artist-in-residence Ludo Lefebrve. He & his wife Krissy created an atmosphere that quickly became the only place you wanted to eat dinner at, he would talk about his inspirations for the night's menu on Twitter and made sure he met every one of his customers (between cooking) all with the feeling you are eating at their home. I mean really, who else in the world could teach me how to make charcoal oil or put curry or wasabi in my dessert? Who else can combine cantaloupe, chorizo & smoked paprika in a soup and make my eyes roll back in my head? Ludo has ruined us by cooking food that is so memorable, one finds it hard to even eat the next day for fear of blandness in everyday food. For now I plan really studying & making some of the recipes in his cookbook Crave. We have been assured he will be back by mid-October in a new location and for now I wish he & his wife a most relaxing vacation. Follow him on Twitter @chefludo.

Photos: Omar Kalifornia

Eggs & Sausage

Wonderful typographic music video by Jackie Lay for the Tom Waits song Eggs and Sausage.

Surprise Package

When I was a little girl, every once in awhile my father would bring me a surprise ball from a little shop in Little Tokyo. I have such fond memories of unwinding what seemed to be endless strips of crepe paper until little by little, small toys and treasures would fall out. Such a simple but totally exciting thing for a child. When I saw that the wonderful shop Kiosk offered a surprise ball of considerable size filled with vintage trinkets, I knew I had to have one and somehow re-live the joyful memories of early childhood. I still got the same rush as I unwrapped this colorful orb. Haven't figured out what to do with the trinkets, maybe they'll be attached to Xmas gifts this year. My cat loved the mound of crepe paper, so all was not wasted.

Artist on My Radar

I happened upon a few paintings by Don Fritz completely by accident in a back room at Billy Shire Fine Arts gallery in Culver City and fell hard for his work. Multi-layered and appearing almost as if encased under ice, the paintings are rich with symbols, graphics and memories of childhood, something to behold in person. See and read more here.

Good Enough to Eat

Years of designing on the computer have left my hand-drawing skills in the dust but I just might try again with these striking multi-colored crayons from Japan. The crayons make harmonious colors as you draw with them, blending as you go. Almost too pretty to use, get them here.

Fanged

Along with millions of other viewers, I am completely smitten with True Blood on HBO. These little baby silver fang rings have just the right amount of Goth attitude. Subtle but sharp, available from Bittersweets. Now if only Eric the vampire came along in the package…oh my!

It's Okay to Write on the Wall

Chalkboards have seen a renewed popularity in recent years and I can't imagine not having one in my kitchen, whether it's to post recipe ideas, seasonal drawings or quotes to live by. I've seen entire walls painted in chalkboard paint, covered in wonderful drawings like an ever-changing art exhibit. Now Hudson Paint has come out with a range of 24 mouth-watering colors of chalkboard paint, making it hard for me to decide what's going to get painted next. I think if I had a child, giving them a chalkboard wall would be a great way to encourage creativity but I also love Raina Kattelson's idea of painting it on jars for changeable labels. Anyway you use it will brighten up the room and encourage imaginative thinking!

Preserving Urban Art

While I wait for my cousins’ guest blogging from New Orleans this coming week rich with images from their photography and culinary adventures, I stumbled upon a wonderful story From Ron Walker about New Orleans sign painter Lester Carey and the effort to preserve his work. I have a weakness for weathered hand-painted signage, marveling at what nature can create with layers of images over time. Check out the whole in-depth profile at No Notes and please visit the Facebook page for The Society to Preserve the Art of Lester Carey.

Via: Coudal Photos: Anthonyturducken

The Structure as a Planter

What I want to know is how on earth do those little old ladies water their geraniums? Vertical landscaping taken to the extreme. Via: Ffffound!

Getting Dusted

This summer has been particularly rampant with spider webs. I encounter them daily: on my side view mirror of my car, outdoor trash cans, my window screens and far too many places in the house. I normally attack these with my nicely designed Kone dust buster which does an okay job for a few minutes and then poops out, not to mention the tiny dust basket inside gets overflowed very quickly. Then I have to get out the Animal Dyson for big jobs which I love and marvel at every time I use for it's power and fantastic design but is big and not as handy as a handheld. Now Dyson has answered my everyday cleaning dreams by releasing the DC-31 handheld Dyson. Powered by a Dyson digital motor which is small, light and power efficient, it spins 5 times faster than a racing car engine. Looking like a space-age power tool, I cannot wait for it's release in September. See ya, cobwebs and spider webs.

Photo above left: Bartholomew Cooke, LA Times Magazine