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JUNE 14, 2013
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JEAN GILLETTE Small Talk
Oh, the vanity Every morning I get up and, as my father used to tease, “put my eyes in.” I became cross-eyed and far-sighted at the age of 3, so he was only half-kidding. My poor parents had to struggle with getting a 3-year-old to keep these odd contraptions on her face. Instead, I regularly lost them.When my mother would ask where I’d left them, my reply would be to point vaguely off in one direction and say, “There.”They spent a lot of time searching. By the time I turned 10, that same adoring father decided that his “beautiful” daughter wasn’t going to go through life as a “four-eyes.” It was 1959, and contacts had only been generally available for about 10 years. I admit, it took me a year to stop whining and weeping while getting used to them. Let’s remember that these were the very early versions. They were the size of manhole covers and thicker than the ones we have today. But one day, I looked in the mirror at myself in glasses and never complained again.Vanity is a wonderful motivator. For years, I was the only child I knew who wore these exotic inventions, which gave me some real swagger. By the 1970s, soft lenses debuted. I tried them and felt like I was wrestling with cling wrap. My hat is off to those who can deal with them. I also sadly discovered they didn’t correct my weird vision, so I still wear the hard kind. There is no sleeping in them, even today. For all my experience, it is embarrassing that even today I manage to accidentally wash them down the sink or crack them in half. I never thought about how long I had been wearing them until a laser surgery nurse told me I would need to leave my lenses off a month for each year I had worn them. I was shocked when I calculated a year-plus without lenses. I do feel like a pioneer in the field, but was fascinated to learn that Leonardo da Vinci actually came up with the concept of lenses directly on the eye and a German glassblower made the first wearable ones in the late 1800s. I’ll bet they did it for their “beautiful,” cross-eyed daughters.
Jean Gillette is a freelance writer who is now a “six-eyes,” if you count her reading glasses. Contact her at jgillette@coastnewsgroup.com.
Bookseller shares love of literature By Rachel Stine
CARLSBAD — Sitting in his little bungalow house off of Jefferson Street, Sean Christopher began to describe one of the many reasons he is passionate about books. “(A book) can be old and yellow and crispy, and that story —” Christopher couldn’t finish his sentence before his 4-year-old Jack interjected — “Dad,watch me get the golden egg,”he said,wanting to show off his aptitude for playing Angry Birds on his dad’s iPhone. “I am, Buddy,” Christopher said before resuming his sentence.“That story is the same story as the first edition that is worth thousands of dollars.” “Daddy...” At that point, Christopher leaned over and began tickling Jack into submission, the two laughing as they rolled around on the couch. Holding two conversations at once is one of several talents Christopher has developed while raising Jack as a single father. For a time, caring for his son was his sole occupation. His writing and bookstore took a backseat when Jack was an infant. But now that Jack is older and attending the Montessori preschool down the street regularly, Christopher is able to devote more time to his love of literature, and has started to share that love with the community. Nestled in a parking lot between the Taco Bell and Garden State Bagels along Carlsbad Village Drive is a one-room cabin that houses Christopher’s countless books. Aside from his freelance fiction writing, he mainly collects and preserves independently published and older books. He sells his books online under the name “L.H.O.O.Q Books;” a reference to French-American artist Marcel Duchamp’s small portrait of the Mona Lisa with a mustache and goatee. “I thought if a cook needs a restaurant, a writer needs a bookstore,” he said of starting his bookselling business. But with L.H.O.O.Q.’s book cabin stacked,boxed and shelved with books to the brim, Christopher
Sean Christopher holds his 4-year-old son, Jack, outside of the free bookstand he set up outside of his bookstore, L.H.O.O.Q. Books, in Carlsbad Village. Photo by Rachel Stine
built shelves outside of his cabin for books that he L.H.O.O.Q. cabin and are filled 24-hours a day with books, written by a range of authors from Nora shares for free. He said that with more than enough books to Roberts to Fyodor Dostoyevsky to George W. Bush. Christopher described having a “Noah’s Ark” feed his business, “I wanted to bring an offering (to the community).” The shelves line one entire side of the TURN TO BOOKSELLER ON B15
Oceanside Pier’s braces and planks set to be replaced By Promise Yee
The city is moving forward to lease the lot on the corner of Jimmy Durante Boulevard and San Dieguito Drive from NCTD and use it for parking. Photo by Bianca Kaplanek
City will lease lot from NCTD By Bianca Kaplanek
DEL MAR — In an effort to improve what many call the “northern gateway to the city,” council members agreed at the June 3 meeting to negotiate a lease with North County Transit District for a 29,280-square-foot parcel at the northeast corner of Jimmy Durante Boulevard and San Dieguito Drive. Leasing the lot would also allow the city to improve access to the San Dieguito Lagoon and Coast-to Crest Trail and establish a walkway along San Dieguito Drive. “There is also an opportunity to provide education with interpretive signage,” assistant City Manager Mark Delin said. The site was previously the Waste Management recycling buyback center but it has been vacant and unused since 2010. NCTD lined the
entry with boulders to prevent unauthorized parking. Based on a recent appraisal, NCTD is requesting $2,550 annually in rent plus half of any net parking revenue. The agency is also requiring reimbursement from the city for the $4,000 appraisal and $7,000 site survey. “I did attempt to talk them out of it but they say that’s their policy,” Delin said. The appraised value includes the entire parcel even though about 4,000 square feet is underwater in the San Dieguito River, and an additional 14,500 square feet is in a designated wetland area so it cannot be developed. According to staff estimates the city will likely have TURN TO LOT ON B15
OCEANSIDE — In its ongoing effort to maintain its landmark pier, the city will replace 31 of the pier’s steel braces and some of its worn boardwalk planks. Frank Quan, manager of Oceanside harbor and beaches, describes the maintenance process as being similar to maintaining the Golden Gate Bridge, as soon as maintenance work is completed end to end it’s time to start the process again. The 1,600-foot-long wood pier was built in 1980. It is constructed of wood piles, steel braces and wood decking. City Council approved a contract June 5 with the John S. Meek Company to replace 31 of the pier braces for $124,930. The contract was awarded based on the company placing the lowest bid for its services. Maintenance of the 33year-old pier started in 2006. To date 600 of the pier’s 2,000 braces have been replaced. The pier is reported to be in good condition. “We had the pier surveyed and the structural engineer said it’s in good
Oceanside will replace 31 of the pier’s steel braces and some of its worn boardwalk planks. The project should be done by spring 2014 and then the process to request bids and get work done will begin again. Photo by Promise Yee
shape for its age,” Quan said. Work on the pier should begin sometime after August. Braces must be ordered, cut to size and coated to withstand pounding by saltwater waves.This process can take approximately six weeks. Once the braces are prepared the installation process takes two weeks. During installation the immediate area of the pier under construction will be closed. This entails a section about 100 feet long. A truck will lower the new braces down from the pier boardwalk. Workers will
secure the braces from a temporary deck below the pier. The new braces should be in place by spring 2014. Then the process will begin again. “We continue plugging away on it,” Quan said. “It’s an old pier, it’s heavily used and it’s a landmark in Oceanside. We try to do the best we can to maintain it.” The city replaces a set of braces almost every year, working from the west end of the pier to the shore. The braces, to be replaced this year, sit about 3/4 of the way out to the end of the pier.