ABC's "Nightline" did a profile on James Deen, the porn star from Pasadena with a massive female fanbase. The show seems sort of freaked out that underage girls might be stumbling across porn on the internet...and actually enjoying it. more ›

Artisanal LA is back in full force this weekend, with a new sea-side location on the Dining Deck of Santa Monica Place, and a mix of new and returning vendors to a fun recurring shopping, tasting, and learning event focused on local and sustainable eating, drinking, and growing. Thanks to a sneak peak last night at the venue, we've got a few picks for some must-sees and tries when you hit up the event today or tomorrow. more ›

Your Creative Morning will be extra-delectable on December 17th. Alissa Walker, associate producer for KCRW's "DnA: Design and Architecture" and proprietor of Gelatobaby blog, has just been announced as the December speaker for Los Angeles/Creative Mornings. Walker was recently named as a USC/Annenberg Getty Arts Journalism Fellow for her writing on design and urbanism and she spends her time in L.A. tending to her drought-tolerant garden, walking all over the city and eating gelato. All without a car. Imagine that: L.A. without a car. Delicious. more ›

We caught up with TOMS Shoes founder Blake Mycoskie on a return trip to Argentina (where the idea was originally hatched) for TOMS One Millionth Pair Shoe Drop. more ›

The holiday season is all about giving. We know that. Somewhere in between waking up at 3am for the doorbuster deals, braving the mall crowds and boycotting consumerism all together, we can maintain our "holiday sanity" by buying gifts that support those organizations working to drive social change and improve the lives of others. We've divided this into two parts. Part I lists those gifts for when you actually need to present the recipient with a tangible good, otherwise, you ruined the Festivus...for everyone. In Part II, you'll find organizations that use your donation to give a gift to someone else less fortunate more ›

Earlier this year, as part of a talk about food and community held at the California Endowment, we learned about the teens in South Los Angeles in a group called HEAC who had been working with Market Makeovers. Their mission is to encourage their peers to try snacking on healthier, fresh alternatives to chips and candy bars, and to help owners of area corner stores convert the space to make the healthy options more appealing and accessible to the clientele. more ›

Last week a celebration was held on the lawn of City Hall during the weekly farmers' market to rejoice thirty years of locally-sourced farm-fresh produce in Los Angeles, and to look ahead to a future where we make buying and consuming such produce a priority. Part of the event was to announce the winner of GOOD magazine's "Redesign Your Farmers' Market" contest, which invited entrants to articulate and render their vision for the next generation of farmers' markets and how they'll serve the public. more ›

The Mercado La Paloma (the Dove Marketplace) is a former sweatshop on South Grand Avenue, and is now serving as a community project aimed at supporting area small businesses, and providing the community with access to health, education, social, and arts resources. more ›

As GOOD is so great to point out, LA is a mecca for homegrown products. (No, not that. Well, yes, that, but that's not what they/we mean!) Fallen Fruit keeps track of where Angelenos can play gatherer on our own city streets. GOOD explains:

FallenFruit.org has neighborhood maps of publicly accessible fruit trees. They also have a great guide to creating your own fruit gathering map. Tips range from the obvious (get out of your car and walk, you’ll find more fruit) to the specific (you should take note of that young fruit tree on private property—it might eventually grow to reach public property.) If more people create maps for other cities, Fallen Fruit could become one of the more delicious free resources on the web.

For those interested in learning to cook with a Spanish flare, Chef Eric's Culinary Classroom has a solution for you. $90 gets you into the Chef's three hour long class where you will learn to cook -- then enjoy -- a variety of dishes such as the traditional paella, chicken with almonds, chorizo sausage in puff pasty and others. Class starts at 7 pm. more ›

Hindsight, as we all know, is 20/20; the clarity of succeeding events allows us a sharper and more focused analysis of inciting incidents. But is it possible for the incident itself to have a level of focus all its own, without the benefit of future knowledge? Maybe that first decision can really be seen with 20/10 clarity; not in the sense that all known variables and outcomes will be laid out and correctly predicted, but with a very sharp understanding of the importance of the decision itself at the time it is made. What if the decision you have to make is an unpopular one, perhaps by a wide margin? There is heightened clarity in the immediacy of the decision itself, and it’s understanding of short-term consequences. At that point, the future is hazy and relatively unknown, but the present is crystal clear. more ›

You hear phrases like ‘fact is stranger than fiction’ all the time. People constantly share heartfelt and truly miraculous real life stories; then they get in their Aerostar vans and drive over to the cineplex to watch Twilight for the umpteenth time. Meanwhile, if you’re a documentary filmmaker and your name isn’t Michael Moore, you’ve got a better chance of becoming the Vice President than seeing any substantial commercial success from a film that captures the same raw emotions and intensity as the true-to-life tales we often tell each other. more ›