Damn, Skippy!

Sunday is National Peanut Butter Lover’s Day. It’s time to celebrate. Maybe you’d like to get started with this recipe from my tattered, old copy of Betty Crocker’s Cooky Book. (Click image to enlarge.)

Vanity Six

“Vanity is the quicksand of reason.”  — George Sand

Listed in no particular order:

1. Sean Penn. Thanks for a memorable Oscar speech. But did you remember to thank your wife?

2. Homophobic Utah Senator Chris Buttars, for calling the gay rights movement “the greatest 
threat to America.” Buttars’ way of thinking seems to pose a bigger threat.

3. Racist Utah Senator Chris Buttars. Don’t forget this 2008 gem, “The baby is black...
it’s a dark, ugly thing.”

4. Speaking of babies, Nadia Suleman. Remember when eight was enough? 

5. Stefan from Top Chef. Oh, wait, he’s off the list. During the season finale, he seemed 
so upset to see Carla upset, that I actually hoped he’d win (if she didn’t). Hootie hoo!

6. Who’s more unfair and unbalanced? Sean Hannity? Or Bill O’Reilly?

Roadside Attraction

I found this chair left curbside on Whitworth in PicFair. A dab of wood glue, some orange furniture polish, a yard of cheetah fabric  — and voilá — it’s good as new. Thanks, neighbor!

Who’re You Calling Pussy?

This is what Dash and Chandler do all day.

Bad News from Doughnutland

Frittelli’s Doughnuts in Beverly Hills has closed up shop. Alas. If I’d known the last doughnut I had there would be the last doughnut I had there, I would have ordered more, including the PB+J filled and a Boston Creme. Here’s a photo of my niece, Michelle, with a red glazed cake doughnut in September, 2008. RIP, Frittelli’s.

I Was Told There’d Be Cake

This is the best Monday ever: Eleven Los Angeles-area Ralph’s stores will begin carrying cakes from the divinely decadent dessert house, Sweet Lady Jane. Flavors include Red Velvet, Chocolate Old-Fashioned, Imperial Lemon Raspberry, and Coconut. Available in 5" and 8" sizes. For locations, visit http://sweetladyjane.com/Ralphs.html 

Pretty in Pink

Saturday’s Miracle Mile Art Walk offered fair weather and a plethora of surprises. The Craft & Folk Art Museum features paper dolls, including the Dennis Rodman Paper Doll Book. Melanie Pullen’s large-format images of stylized soldiers are on view at Ace Gallery. (If you don’t already have her 2002 book, High Fashion Crime Scenes, order it with Amazon's 1-Click, clear your calendar, and get ready for a sick, Hitchcockian-death-in-a-barrel-with-spike-heels kind of treat.) The Korean Cultural Center features a juried show, Women Artists on Immigration, which includes Gila Davidian’s Me and Dad, a photo that may or may not intentionally illustrate the continuous power of the garden hose to serve as an unsettling metaphor. The Holly Trolley was everything we expected; the elevator operator in the Desmond’s Building was the tour’s highlight. I’m in love.

Paper Cuts: 200 Years of Black Paper Dolls, Craft & Folk Art Museum, 5814 Wilshire Blvd. * Melanie Pullen: Violent Times, 
Ace Gallery, 5514 Wilshire Blvd. * Women Artists on Immigration, Korean Cultural Center, 5505 Wilshire Blvd.

Puppy Love

This is the handbag-of-the-day from my page-a-day calendar (Workingman Press.) It reminds me of having breakfast in downtown Long Beach. I was wearing a chocolate brown faux fur coat with buttons resembling mini Reese’s cups, and an inky black poodle jumped me repeatedly while trying to mate with my coat.

Any Excuse to Take the Holly Trolley

The Miracle Art Walk on Saturday from 1 to 6 p.m. Reception at the Craft & Folk Art Museum, 5814 Wilshire Boulevard, p.m. After-party at Viridian Luxury Residences, 5659 West 8th Street, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. In between: Walk to museums and galleries. Or hop on the trolley at 6222 Wilshire or wherever balloons are posted. Free.

Vanity Fair Portraits Ends March 1

Now you can see it; in one week and one-half, you won't. The Vanity Fair Portraits exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art ends March 1. It features vintage and contemporary images, from Edward Steichen to Steven Meisel. I’ve been three times. There are scores of celebrity photos, including Jennifer Aniston nude before everyone made a big deal about her being shot in the nude, Madonna as Evita... But my favorite is a small print of Elsa “Jack” von Reppert-Bismarck at her canvas. It makes me happy to see her so happy. Plus we have the same hair.