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The Library and Me: A Fomite’s Tale
At ALA, someone from the organization interviewed me and asked what libraries mean to me. I told him lots of things. How I won several consecutive years of the library’s summer reading contest as a kid. How heavily my family uses the library (not just for reading, they also sponsor lots of activities, like jewelry…
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Look! I Made Pete Postlethwaite!
Eldest and I have been working feverishly on the dollhouse for the past couple of days. It gives us something to do. We make the plans for it, discuss them, and then we execute them. I like it because she has smaller, more nimble hands, so I make her do things I don’t like to…
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House Lust
My name is Margaret Dilloway, and I have a problem. I want to buy a house. Not just any old cookie-cutter house. A grand house, like this one for sale in Minnesota: Yes, it’s in Minnesota. It snows there, I hear. But look at the newel posts! The original doorknobs! THE TURRET!…
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Car Sickness and Flat Tires: Family Vacation, National Lampoon-Style
After our sojourn to CalArts, we decided to go up to the Sequoias to see the big trees. We stayed the first night at a Best Western outside of the park, then went inside. The plan was to camp. We made reservations at a campsite, the only campsite available. It was about 20 miles away…
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CSSSA at CalArts
Last Friday, I stepped back onto the CalArts campus for the first time in 20 years. I went to the California State Summer School for the Arts there (CSSSA, which people call “SEE-SAH”), during the last possible chance I had to go, after I was done with high school. I studied creative writing there– it’s…
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Comic-Con 2012
Comic-Con was in San Diego this past weekend, and it was a zoo. About 140,000 people attend. Then there’s more random stuff people can do downtown, so even more people who aren’t attendees go. It is elbow-to-elbow crowded, but people are generally pleasant and wear creative costumes, so it’s a fun atmosphere once you can…
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Seals and Sentimentality: an Immodest, Unpopular Proposal for Children’s Pool
For years, I have watched a debate rage over the La Jolla Children’s Pool beach and the seals there. Watched as our city leaders, too scared by both sides, apparently, do basically nothing to fix the problem. Instead, they apply tiny Band-aids to staunch a wound that needs serious stitches. I’ve gone up there and…
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You May Call Me Ma’am Now
Not too long ago, being called “ma’am” (which usually happens in a service-type situation, with a waiter or cashier or what have you) made me feel kind of Grandma-ish. Like I am no longer a vital (nudge nudge) woman in the prime of life. But lately, I’ve decided I like “ma’am” better. After all, if…
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Corona Library
On Saturday, Cadillac and I headed up to the Corona Library to do a program. Corona is a city in Riverside County (I think) that used to produce a lot of oranges. The city was built around a circular road (a crown, i.e. Corona) and therefore has many big beautiful Victorians and other houses. We…
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Your Household Tip of the Day: Easy Off to Clean the Shower
The house we rent has a white fiberglass shower pan. It gets dirty. Like, so dirty I am not going to take a photo of it to show you. It is also difficult to clean, because it has grooves radiating out from the drain like spokes. Gunk gets stuck. Even Cadillac has a hard time…
MARGARET DILLOWAY 