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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…
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Miradero
Leslie Coombs Brand was born on May 12th, 1859 in Florissant, Missouri. His family was quite wealthy, but when Leslie was 10 years-old, his father died and left his mother with no means of supporting the family. The next year, during a particularly severe blizzard in 1870, when many of his siblings were stricken with…
Your mileage may vary.