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On Bathtubs and Bunkum
On December 28, 1917, American journalist and cultural critic Henry Louis Mencken, better known as H. L. Mencken, published an article in the New York Evening Mail entitled “A Neglected Anniversary.” In it, he described the history of the bathtub in America, making particular note of how people, believing bathtubs posed a health risk, were slow to…
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Boys Town
It rained all day. Rain in Los Angeles makes the city feel clean. The smog disappears; the dust is washed off windowsills and handrails. There’s a distinctive smell in the air after a Los Angeles rain: it’s called petrichor, from the Greek words petra (meaning stone), and ichor (from Greek mythology, referring to the fluid that flows like blood in…
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Over or under?
Consider toilet paper. Should you hang the toilet paper roll over or under? Lots of people do it their way and I do it the correct way, which I will expound upon below. The “over or under” question has plagued marriages, roommates, and casual acquaintances for over 100 years; both sides are convinced they have…
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It’s time for the spring pasta harvest
If, as they say, March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb, that was certainly true here in the Coachella Valley. High winds at the beginning of the month gave way to gentle rain showers yesterday as we feasted on a sumptuous Easter repast of glazed ham, potatoes au gratin, and…
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Under the Oaks
In the winter of 1983, I was in the first semester of my senior year at St. Francis High School in La Cañada Flintridge, California, a private, all-boys Catholic school. You may find this hard to believe, but these were the days of antiquity, before everyone had a computer. There were two very special rooms at…
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Selling Happiness
Awhile back, I was watching an old clip on YouTube from the Dick Cavett Show, which originally ran from 1968-1975 on ABC as a sortof thinking person’s Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson, being more focused on current events and thinkers/newsmakers than entertainment and celebrities, though celebrities featured occasionally. In the clip I was watching, Cavett…
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In like a lion, out like a lamb
Today is the first day of March, so it seems fitting to examine that old saying “March comes in like a lion, and goes out like a lamb.” I suppose, if I’m honest (and I like to think I am), ‘fitting’ is in the eye of the beholder. But it’s my website, and I say…
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Thar She Blows!
I am a fan of Monty Python, if you have been living under a rock and don’t know – the British comedy troupe formed in 1969 in England when Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin joined forces. Of course, I’m a fan of the movies (1975’s Monty Python…
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Mothering
After telling people that I’m adopted, the most common reply is a look of shock and then some variation on the question, “So, do you know your birthmother?” Now, I’m smart enough to understand the question, but I believe that’s an unfortunate phrase, because in every way that matters my “adoptive” mother gave birth to…
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Topophilia Au Jus
I’ll begin with the title of this post. “Topophilia” comes from the Greek topos meaning ‘place’ and philia meaning ‘love of’ – so it literally means the love of a place and is usually mixed with the shared sense of cultural identity that people in that place develop. It’s why people from New York City…
Your mileage may vary.