List 42

Love: I am a very big fan of roasted vegetables, warm, wood interiors, and Edison bulbs. So naturally I love Gjelina, on Abbot Kinney in Venice. I wish it was MY neighborhood restaurant. Just looking at the part of their menu below makes me want to jump on southwest.com. Oysters, charcuterie and a bunch of different warm vegetable dishes? Does anything sound better?

Like: Sofia Coppola's Somewhere, which, despite A.O. Scott's over-the-moon review, seems to have pretty much disappeared. Coppola is a master at establishing a mood and letting it wash over you. I've found myself thinking about the movie a lot since I've seen it.

http://movies.nytimes.com/2010/12/22/movies/22somewhere.html

Discovery: For going on 12 years now we've had friends over for an Oscar party. Aside from the wagering over ballots (and a side contest to come up with the best porn title for any nominated film) the thing everyone looks forward to the most are these tuna and olive croquettes I make. The recipe was found in a Tapas cookbook a friend loaned me.

Obsession: L.A. Confidential. I completely love this movie and, sue me, completely prefer it to Chinatown. The Castro Theater is showing both films as a Los Angeles-themed double feature this Thursday.

Complaint: One of my favorite spots in L.A. is Silverlake's LAMILL Coffee Boutique. I've never seen such a swanky spot for coffee and tea before (they're now serving wine and dinner too, since the space seemed to demand it.) In addition to artful tableside chemex and drip service, they offer amazing drinks like a mocha with Vallhala chocolate. So what's wrong? We need one in San Francisco too.

List 41

Love: Barbara Stanwyck, a great actress who always came across as whip smart, tough and sexy. I adore her con artist in The Lady Eve. And her scheming, unhappily married L.A. housewife in Double Indemnity is the ultimate film noir femme fatale in my book.

Like: Wide wood blinds. They always feel a bit retro to me (exhibit A: see the blinds in the Double Indemnity shots above) We recently put them in our den and Stella's room and they've transformed the look of the house, inside and out.

Discovery: Chanel's Rouge Allure No. 58 Audace, the perfect red lipstick.

Obsession: I am a major house voyeur. One of the nice things about the interweb is that it's chock full of sites and blogs that take you on tours of people's homes. A recent one I loved was The Selby's peak into the Spades' classic Upper East Side apartment, with all its vintage details and collections. It's eclectic with a hint of The Official Preppy Handbook.

http://theselby.com/11_4_10_AndyKateSpade/

Complaint: Like the Spades, apparently, I love getting matchbooks at restaurants, but too few restaurants offer matches these days. I know there are smoking bans, but still. It's way better than a business card.

List 40

Love: Giant, a sprawling, epic movie about ranching, oil, and clashing cultures in Texas, with great performances from James Dean, Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor and a young Dennis Hopper.

Like: A steak house dinner. When in Rome...

Discovery: Years ago, when working on a new business pitch, I had the chance to go on a Porsche road rally drive across Texas, from Houston to Marathon. The Gage Hotel in Marathon was very cool, and a good base for exploring the beautiful Big Bend National Park which sprawls along the Rio Grande.

Obsession: Timothy Olyphant, the current crush. Not that Justified is set in Texas, but honestly, I challenge any man from the Lone Star State to wear a cowboy hat better than Olyphant's Raylan Givens. I liked Olyphant in Deadwood and love him in Justified, which happily is back for Season 2 starting tonight.

Complaint: That I haven't spent time in Austin, which I expect I'd really dig.

List 39

Love: The Packers. How can you not root for a community-owned team from a small town like Green Bay?

Like: Wisconsin may be known more for big brands like Miller and Pabst, but New Glarus' Spotted Cow is my home state beer of choice for the big game, assuming I can track some down.

Discovery: I had no idea that a "Little Wisconsin" hotbed of cool restaurants has sprung up in New York's West Village, thanks to Gabriel Shulman (a fellow UW Madison alumni.) Next visit I definitely want to check out Joseph Leonard, Fedora, and Jeffrey's Grocery, which the New York Times described as "it's as if Mr. Hooper joined Slow Food, took a charcuterie class, and developed a taste for Willamette Valley pinot noir."

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/27/fashion/27close.html?_r=1&src=twrhp

Obsession: Wisconsin is known as the Dairy State, and Packer fans as Cheeseheads. Generally one thinks of basic chedder, quantity over quality, but Wisconsin has been enjoying an artisan cheese explosion. In Milwaukee over Christmas, we were massively impressed by a high-end Wisconsin cheese plate at La Merenda restaurant which included such varieties as Foengreek Gouda.

Complaint: Most of the time I love our mild Bay Area climate (sunny and 60s lately.) But I confess to longing for a blizzard and the accompanying snow days after seeing these pictures my mother took of the front and back of their house this week.