Seventeen years ago, I was a teenager carrying a sign over my head that said We Will Not Go Back at an event for the National Organization of Women. I was marching with my parents, my sister, my aunt, with hundreds of others here in Los Angeles, in what I …
Growing up in LA, we had great public libraries, but I imagine some had librarians who were a bit more excited about their work than mine. In my memory, inquiries more akin to talking to Nick Burns, the computer guy Jimmy Fallon played on SNL, than someone who was eager …
Christmas, children, is not a date. It is a state of mind. – Mary Ellen Chase Once upon a time, I expected I’d only be back here in Los Angeles on annual visits to family and friends. I thought when I went off to college in New York, I’d stay …
I do not have a dragon tattoo. But I have one. It’s in Japanese, which always requires explanation. And in the 13 years since it was etched upon my foot, the fine lines remain the same, but the meaning has evolved. Once upon a time, I’d explain in great detail …
They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself. – Andy Warhol I was at a photo shoot the other day, and I was really, really missing film. After a recent sensor problem in a camera, I’ve lost a bit of my confidence in the …
I was seventeen, a high school senior, when I received my first real paycheck. Minimum wage at GapKids was less than I made babysitting those wearing BabyGap onesies, but babysitting paid cash and a paycheck was official. Plus it gave me a 50% discount at all Gap stores. Retail work …
I often wonder how my mother, who grew up in a house on the beach, ever learned to sleep without the sound of crashing waves. When she first moved away from home, from the sounds of the Pacific lulling her to bed, was the silence deafening? Both of my parents …
It is more easy to be wise for others than for ourselves. – François Duc de La Rochefoucauld It was a Sunday morning, and for the first time I heard what would become the familiar high-pitched squeal of dial-up as it came through my computer. I was fifteen. When the …