here is another living walls mural in kirkwood that’s very close to our house! it’s by atlanta-based artist/designer greg mike, whose work can be found all around town, especially his loudmouf design. he also makes these large & small mad cans, which are fun.

greg’s kirkwood mural is great, we are excited to have such cool street art in our neighborhood! i have yet to drive by when that yellow van wasn’t parked in front though, so i don’t have any photos of the full mural. you can check out the whole design here while i wait for a photo opportunity.

here is a post we did a couple of years ago with some photos of greg’s work near the eyedrum. little did we know it was work he did for the 2010 living walls conference.

check back for more living walls updates!

– ryan

living walls atlanta – greg mike

2191 college ave ne
atlanta, ga 30317

the next installment in our living walls coverage is a piece by marco sueño. this one is actually in kirkwood right near our house, which is pretty happening for our neighborhood.

marco is a peruvian street artist who affixes graphics on walls with wheat paste. the results can be amazing, as is the case here, but they also don’t last very long. i drove by his kirkwood piece this morning and there wasn’t much left on the walls. most of the art was peeling off or gone at this point. it also looks like an ape tag i see around town has been added.

hopefully we will get another, more permanent, living walls piece in its place.

check back for more living walls updates!

– ryan

living walls atlanta – marco sueño

1986 hosea l williams dr ne
atlanta, ga 30317

there is a great non-profit organization in atlanta called living walls that brings artists from around the world to create murals throughout the city. it started out as just an annual conference but has transitioned into a year-round endeavor. they “seek to promote, educate, and change perspectives toward public space in our communities via street art.” over the last few years living walls has brought some amazing street art to atlanta and also gotten local communities involved.

we are going to try and cover the various murals living walls atlanta has produced. our first selection is a recent contribution by local atlanta artist trek matthews. you can find this piece in cabbage town, at carroll street and tennelle street near the back side of the cotton mill lofts. it’s a really amazing fox covered in various native american patterns. you should go check it out!

for an article on the production of the mural, head to brooklyn street art or the young blood blog.

check back for more living walls updates!

– ryan & gub

living walls: trek matthews

141 carroll st se
atlanta, ga 30312

clementine enjoyed her first record store day this morning! we went to decatur cd, which had a sizable crowd, but wasn’t too overwhelming. luckily my brother went along and could help when things got tight. clementine was a trooper and put up with the masses, she even fell asleep towards the end. i figure having gone to a record store day before her first birthday will give clementine some good indie cred down the road!

there was free beer, a ton of cool vinyl and free screen-printed bags from 88.5 wras. i grabbed the sigur rós – hvarf-heim double lp on clear vinyl and a ryan adams – heartbreak a stranger / black sheets of rain 7″ on blue vinyl, which has two bob mould covers. the 7″ artwork could be a hüsker dü album, which is fitting!

i kept things light this year as a whole, but i’m really happy with my purchases. you can check out what i grabbed last year here.

– ryan

decatur cd

356 west ponce de leon avenue
decatur, ga 30030
404-371-9090

don’t forget today is record store day! there will be lots of rare vinyl treats up for grabs, including items listed here. in atlanta, you can hit up criminal records and wax ‘n’ facts or wuxtry and decatur cd in decatur.

see you there!

– ryan

i just read that woody’s famous philadelphia cheesesteaks is now serving sweetwater 420 on tap! eating a cheesesteak or super sub with a 420 draft on woody’s huge wrap-around porch sounds like the perfect spring afternoon!

be sure to check out our previous post on woody’s.

– ryan

woody’s famous philadelphia cheesesteaks

981 monroe drive northeast
atlanta, ga 30308
404-876-1939

clementine likes playing with one of our old typewriters. i guess she prefers vintage items like her folks!

– ryan & gub

we just became members at the atlanta botanical gardens and totally love it! there’s lots to do and see, especially with this beautiful spring weather. it’s the perfect place to go on walks with clementine, including on the new canopy walk.

the orchid house is really amazing, you should check it out while everything is still in bloom! there are way more varieties than i expected, including lots of exotic colors and sizes. the misty, tropical atmosphere in the orchid house made you forget you were in middle of the city. i kept thinking of the movie adaptation while walking through the rare display of orchids.

last month was my first time ever to the gardens, i’m not sure why it took so many years to check it out. if you’ve never been, you should definitely make a trip before it gets too hot.

– ryan

atlanta botanical gardens

1345 piedmont avenue northeast
atlanta, ga 30309
404-876-5859

starbucks recently introduced their new line of light roasted coffees called blonde. this is something many smaller roasters have been offering for awhile, so i was intrigued to see how starbucks would compete.

basically, there are certain coffee beans that reach their ideal flavor at a shorter and/or cooler roasting time, hence the term light roasted. the result is a lighter bodied coffee that tastes crisp and clean with a bit milder flavor. it’s easier to over-roast coffee beans though, to ensure potential bad flavors are burnt out, so most companies roast everything really dark. it’s also not as cost-effective to separate the ripe beans for a lighter roast, so you don’t see many options outside of specialty coffee shops.

light roasted coffee often gets a bad wrap for not being very strong or being too mellow, however this is definitely not the case. most people don’t realize that a light roasted coffee actually has more caffeine than a dark roast. beans lose their caffeine the more they are roasted, so a light roast packs more punch then a dark one. it makes sense, but you always hear people requesting a dark cup of coffee when they need to stay awake.

light roasted coffees are also very flavorful, especially when brewed through a chemex or a french press. they are just more subtle when compared to a dark coffee like a french roast. you will still pick up fruity, nutty or even chocolaty notes in your coffee though.

so far starbucks has a willow blend and a veranda blend in the blonde line-up. i’ve tried both and really enjoyed them! i don’t think i’ll switch from my locally-roasted batdorf & bronson when buying nice coffee, but i’ll grab some more if it goes on sale again.

did you know you get a free cup of coffee at starbucks when you bring in your empty starbucks coffee bag? sounds like a pretty good recycling program to me! i noticed the offer on the bottom of the blonde coffee i purchased.

– ryan

we recently went to a birthday party at a gymboree in atlanta and clementine had lots of fun! she was too small for many of the games, but she did enjoy crawling around. our friend miguel took some great photos of her!

– ryan & gub