Everyone in Los Angeles seems to celebrate Independence Day the night before. Is it because they party hard and anticipate a long, glamorous hangover? Do they need a full day of yoga to work off those two ears of corn? These are the tough questions. 

I know one thing: I'll be celebrating waist-deep in the pool of a good friend, possibly under the influence and definitely surrounded by handsome, shirtless young gay men. Because this is AMERICA, dammit! 

The Standard Downtown's painfully fabulous roof (photo courtesy of Oyster)

Ooooh, now I'm all worked up! How about a little liberal spice on your potato salad, heh?

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Norma Jean

I've never understood the Marilyn Monroe thing, but this girl is awfully sweet.

Amadeus

Woody Allen once said that Mozart's Symphony 41 proved the existence of God. For me, it's this:

And here's a surprising, incredibly beautiful vocal version featured in last year's Bright Star. 

Cheap Thrills & Motor Skills

I make my own cards these days. Like a kindergartner, I apparently have lots of time on my hands. Paper cuts, too! 

Weather Post

You know how annoying it is when someone gums up your news feeds with inane weather updates? Yeah, I hate that. But: 

It's prettiest here when it rains.

The Doors

Looking through pictures on my phone, I noticed a strange pattern. J'adore the door. Specifically:

"Pretty Door" (Hollywood)

"Kitty Door" (My apartment, Los Angeles)

"Neighbor Door" (Los Angeles)

 "Holy Door" (Chimayo, NM)

And "LOL Door" (George and Dragon Pub, Phoenix)

Boy Trouble

It could just be that I'm getting old, but I can't seem to tell one privileged, sexually ambiguous TV high schooler from another anymore. 

Daniel Flaherty as Stanley on MTV's Skins and Sebastian of  Bravo's NYC Prep

This lot is even more confusing:

 

NYC Prep's PC Peterson, James Newman of Skins, and Gossip Girl's Penn Badgley

The gold standard:

Eat your heart out, boys.