Hey there! My name is Alissa. I’m a writer, a gelato-eater, and a walker in LA.
You can learn more about who I am, what I write, why I walk, and even see where I live and work. Last year I was honored to be named as an USC/Annenberg Getty Arts Journalism fellow. You also might like this talk I gave about how to do the work you love.
Welcome to Gelatobaby
Follow me at @gelatobaby
- @JinxMcGillicudd Crested Butte, Colorado
- Due to last night's blizzard, the snowbride is now wearing a fashionable veil. http://t.co/PiYYUYB0
- @GetDianeFarr Ha! Thanks, I like to keep my readers on their toes.
- What's a park, really? My story on Southern California's first parklet, located in Long Beach, is in today's @LAWeekly http://t.co/HWgVcrtY
- My story at @ForYourArt on Suzanne Lacy's powerful public performance artwork @3WeeksInJan http://t.co/R2sWn7XL #RapeEndsHere
Come say hello
- GOOD Design for Cities
A new event series hosted by Alissa and supported in part by ArtPlace is coming to Portland and St. Louis. Here's how creatives can apply to be part of it.
- GOOD Design for Cities
Check out our next de LaB
- Design East of La Brea is a monthly party I co-host with Haily Zaki, Marissa Gluck and Erin Cullerton. Almost always east of La Brea. Learn more about past de Labs and sign up for our monthly newsletter.
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Click on some recent posts
Read my articles elsewhere
You can find my writing most days at GOOD, or at Fast Company's new design site, Co.Design, or over at Dwell. You can also read about my 13 favorite stories from 2010.
- Waaaaay Back to the Future
Fast Company, August 2011
Nike's 23-year journey to make Marty McFly's AirMag shoes real. - Meet the Makers
Details, July 2011
Profile of Saul Griffith, an engineer and inventor who could change the way we make... everything. - Sasaki's Heartbeat
Dwell, June 2011
A studio visit with the Japanese-born artist Sasaki, who has been drawing people's heartbeats for 15 years. - Is LA's Public Transit a Joke? This Comedian Sure Hopes So
GOOD, June 2011
For comedian Kristina Wong, living car-free isn't just an act. - Middle School Students Tell LAUSD: No More Styrofoam
GOOD, April 2011
A group of sixth graders mounts a campaign to rid their school of the evil white foam. - The Future of Reading Online [Video]
Fast Company, March 2011
At SXSW, I interviewed designer Khoi Vinh about tablets, pay walls, and browsers. - How LA's "Farmers Field" Could Boost Urban Agriculture
GOOD, February 2011
Let's turn the city's new football stadium into the world's biggest urban farm. - BOOM! Palm Springs Plans a Wacky Old Folks Community
Fast Company, February 2011
10 architects have collaborated on a very unique new kind of retirement home for gays. - The Design Difference
GOOD, January 2011
How can design help create change in the underserved community of Brownsville, New York? A three-part series. - Why We Don't Need Any More Anonymous Critics
GOOD, January 2011
Let's stop the dining in disguise and make food critics powerful, public voices for real social change. - The Rise of the Bus-Riding Celebrity
GOOD, October 2010
Why don't more eco-minded celebrities in LA take public transit? - Can Design Save the World?
Fast Company, October 2010
Profiles of superstar emerging designers Candy Chang and Bobby C. Martin, Jr. - Where My Ladies At?
GOOD, August 2010
Why aren't there more women in industrial design? - At Home with Ed Begley, Jr.
Dwell, June 2010
I visited LA's greenest celebrity to talk about gardening, solar panels and riding the bus. - Why I Write About Design Now
GOOD, May 2010
How we need to cover the design industry: Without a chair in the world. - Here's Why the Banksy Movie is a Banksy Prank
Fast Company, April 2010
The world's most famous street artist makes a documentary? I'm not buying it. - If You Lived Here, You'd Be Urban By Now
GOOD, Spring 2010
The case against fake "walkable urbanism" developments which are neither walkable or urban. - Why Can't the World's Best Architects Build Better Websites?
Fast Company, March 2010
Loading... - The Fake Freeway Sign that Became a Real Public Service
GOOD, January 2010
Artist Richard Ankrom's act of guerrilla public service improved the commuter experience.
- Waaaaay Back to the Future
View my photos
Try some gelato
- Catch up on my latest gelato adventures, or find gelato using my Gelatobaby GeLAtomap.
Monthly Archives: November 2010
Turkey-less in Tucson
Each year at this time I dive wholeheartedly into the shopping and chopping, baking and bingeing of the annual feeding frenzy. But last week I was able to step back from the Cuisinart and see the holiday within a different … Continue reading
Posted in eating, gelatoing, traveling
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The frozen fellowship
On this eve of gluttony, I thought I’d look back at some of the lesser-known highlights of my USC/Annenberg Getty fellowship. And that’s when—in between the many, many treasured cultural venues we were lucky enough to visit—I managed to locate … Continue reading
Posted in eating, gelatoing, USC/Annenberg Getty
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Playing house
It doesn’t get much more Los Angeles than this, does it? This is the Stahl House, also known as Case Study House #22. Perhaps one of the most famous houses in the world. I have been dying to see this … Continue reading
Posted in building, USC/Annenberg Getty
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Hands on
It’s no secret around here that I’m in love with something called Machine Project. It’s an entity that can at its most simplest be described as a storefront in Echo Park. It’s currently adorned with sheets of thinly sliced beets, … Continue reading
Posted in crafting, creating, designing, USC/Annenberg Getty
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Perhaps my proudest moment during the fellowship
Introducing the non-LA residents in the group to the magic that is Animal Style Fries at In-N-Out. I mean, can you just look at the charred bliss of those caramelized onions, layered with a perfectly plastic square of cheese, topped … Continue reading
Posted in eating, USC/Annenberg Getty
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Disneyland in 10 images
For our trip to Disneyland yesterday, I mentioned that our tour guide, the great Alan Hess, brought along an original ViewMaster featuring photos of Disneyland from opening day. In that spirit, here’s what my ViewMaster reel would have looked like … Continue reading
Posted in building, crafting, creating, designing, traveling, USC/Annenberg Getty
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Faux real*
Where would you take me if I asked to see the real LA? It’s something that we’ve been talking about a lot as a group, and it’s a major focus of most of our itineraries: Where to find the categorically-misunderstood … Continue reading
Posted in building, creating, designing, eating, USC/Annenberg Getty
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Paint by numbers
Steve Roden’s paintings are, at first glance, a cacophonus explosion of exuberant color, radical geometry and abstract conception. But if you know Roden’s work, you know that a green line is not just a green line, and a pink triangle … Continue reading
Posted in crafting, creating, USC/Annenberg Getty
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A train to somewhere
At the Grove, a shopping mall here in LA, there’s a trolley to nowhere. A battery-powered, double-decker, vintage-styled car shuffles shoppers a few blocks, from Banana Republic to Kiehl’s. This used to bother me to no end: A train that … Continue reading
Posted in building, designing, riding, USC/Annenberg Getty, walking
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Exoskeletons in the closet
It has become tradition for the USC/Annenberg Getty Arts Journalism fellowship to welcome a new fellow halfway through the program. Last night we were introduced to this sharp new addition to the team during an outing to Guelaguetza, the legendary … Continue reading
Posted in eating, USC/Annenberg Getty
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