My mother parked the truck on my foot three hours after my father told me that he loved me. It was March 1965, I was 20 years old, and that was the first time my …
February 15, 2001
News & Stories
San Diego black writer: Murr, my father, and my brothers
Is there a radio station that broadcasts commercial-free music for when you are on hold?
Matt: Today, knowing I would have to wait a while, I called two companies at the same time using two phones, one in each ear. When the hold music came on both phones, it was …
February 15, 2001
Where did the term "pink slip" come from?
Question... My boss was not happy with my performance and went ahead and canned me. Apparently he didn't appreciate me rolling in late each day, but hey, sleep is important to me. The official notification …
February 15, 2001
What is the deal with the imaginary friends that kids come up with?
Dear Matthew Alice: When my four-year-old gets in trouble for doing something he shouldn't, he usually responds, "Wasn't me. Ziggy did it." We don't know anyone called Ziggy. He's been talking about this Ziggy since …
February 15, 2001
Big Ears for Freedom
In the hot frequencies, the 800 megahertz band, one can hear all kinds of terrible things. Good people and bad people alike victimized by neighbors, lovers, drunk drivers, dogs, drugs, alcohol. On a Monday night …
February 15, 2001
The horse's mouth
With polls showing sagging public support for a taxpayer-funded downtown baseball stadium, the last thing ballpark backers would seem to need now is one of their own calling for higher taxes. Ever since 1998, when …
February 15, 2001
Visit Palo Comado Canyon, China Flat, and Simi Peak in a circle tour of new parkland in the Simi Hills of Ventura County.
Leapfrog suburban growth has surrounded the once-remote Simi Hills of western Ventura County, but not before the National Park Service and local agencies succeeded in setting aside more than 5000 acres of contiguous public open …
February 15, 2001