Exton Square Mall, where I worked for Electronics Boutique after college, is closing for good next week. Here’s a walkthrough video of the almost abandoned mall. At 2:17, the Waldenbooks. I did a book signing there. By the way, I loved the kiosks at Exton. At 3:00, we have the old Auntie Anne’s shop. AtContinue reading “The Dying Days of Exton Square Mall”
Author Archives: Allyn Gibson
Ghost Stories
I encountered a ghost last week. My dad was in the hospital — he had an inflamed and infected gall bladder, which needed to come out, and at eighty-four surgery is not easy to recover from — and I was down in Virginia to be there. I stayed at my parents’ house. Spending all dayContinue reading “Ghost Stories”
Arguing With Myself
An actual conversation with myself at Ollie’s Bargain Outlet earlier today. “Look! A Farewell to Arms!“ “You have it.” “But…” “You have two copies. And an ebook.” “But I don’t have this one.” “You also don’t need it.” “But…” “Are you going to read it?” “No…” “Then why do you want it?” “I don’t haveContinue reading “Arguing With Myself”
Those Ol’ Job Search Blues
I have written a great many cover letters over the past year and a half. There’s one thing, every cover letter, I have to decide. Should I include it? Or do I not? My visual impairment. A few months before COVID I spent a week in intensive care. My vision melted. I was on strokeContinue reading “Those Ol’ Job Search Blues”
A Little Perspective
In Search of Lost Time
AltaVista! For several years, AltaVista was my go-to search engine. Yahoo! feels like the first I used, and I generally used Webcrawler, but for important and difficult searches, there was nothing better than AltaVista. I was resistant to Google for a long time. I have absosmurfly no idea what the Windows 95 My Briefcase folderContinue reading “In Search of Lost Time”
Tales of Diamond: The Paper Size Crisis
For many years, when I worked for Diamond, I worked on the UK edition of PREVIEWS. The UK team had a small section — it usually ran 16 pages, though some months it ran 24 or even, once or twice, 32 — of items unique to the UK. For the first several years I wasContinue reading “Tales of Diamond: The Paper Size Crisis”
Verbal Quirks
When I was four, my family moved from Maryland’s Eastern Shore to Chicago. My dad was in academia, my parents had a growing family (my sister was born in 1976), he asked for a small raise and was denied, so we packed up and moved to Illinois for a better paying opportunity. My memories ofContinue reading “Verbal Quirks”
UNIT to the Rescue!
I had a job interview yesterday, my fourth since my job search started in earnest sixteen months ago in the wake of Diamond filing for bankruptcy. I was asked why I wanted the job. I wish I had said, “Because I would like to buy a LEGO St. Paul’s Cathedral.” St. Paul’s Cathedral! Designed byContinue reading “UNIT to the Rescue!”
Sunset of Fire
An unexpected thunderstorm rolled through shortly after 5 o’clock. It was welcome, because the heat has been utterly heinous the last two days, and we could use the rain. I went outside and, like Andy Dufresne in Shawshank, I spread my arms to the sky and let the rain pour over me until I wasContinue reading “Sunset of Fire”