Meghan Daum writes a weekly column for the Los Angeles Times, is the author of four books, and is the editor of Selfish, Shallow & Self-Absorbed: Sixteen Writers on the Decision Not To Have Kids. Before moderating a discussion about why people choose not to become parents, she talked about her love for Whole Foods sushi, the Victorian mansions of Angelino Heights, and her comfortable (and ugly) couch in the Zócalo green room.
What’s your comfort food?
The sushi from the trays at Whole Foods. It’s my every-food, not just comfort. It’s also my discomfort food.
How do you pass the time when you’re stuck in traffic?
I never use my phone, that’s for sure … I just switch the radio station endlessly.
What’s the first place you take out-of-town guests who come to L.A.?
I often take them for a drive to Angelino Heights to see all the Victorian mansions on Carroll Avenue and that area, because I think they’re sort of amazed that such a place exists, as am I.
What’s your favorite cliché?
I love saying lock and load. I don’t know what that means or that it’s a cliché, but it’s a turn of phrase that I just like the way it sounds. The consonants.
What book have you re-read the most?
I’ve read Let Us Now Praise Famous Men [written by James Agee with photographs by Walker Evans] many times, but not straight through every time. Just sections of it. There’s a particular part that has to do with falling in love with your subjects if you’re a journalist, the ethical challenges there.
Where would we find you at 9:00 on a typical Friday night?
Probably catching up on all the TV shows that I’ve recorded during the week.
How much is too much to pay for a haircut?
The actual cut I don’t think you should pay very much for. $100 would be my cutoff.
What was the last thing that inspired you?
I was in New York, and there was an incredibly great gospel group singing in the subway, just amazingly talented, maybe four guys.
What’s the most annoying question people ask you about Selfish, Shallow & Self-Absorbed?
What’s going to happen if you get pregnant?
What’s the ugliest piece of furniture you own?
The one that I sit on the most, which is the cheap couch in the den that the dogs lie on, and everybody lies on.