Sex, death and money are taboo subjects but to tell the truth, as someone over 50, death’s been on my mind. It’s hard to write about dying but we all do it. The upside is that we realize life is short and it wakes us... Continue
Columnist
I know it’s inexplicable and defies understanding, but somehow I received an email from the distant future yesterday! From what I’m told, it’s traveled 36 light years (roughly 212 trillion miles) to reach my desktop, from the constellation Vega. As I said, it’s inexplicable. It’s... Continue
As we head into the last quarter of the year, the time during which most individuals donate to their favorite charities, it’s a good time to assess how well these charities have been faring during this difficult economy. Last month, the Nonprofit Research Collaborative released... Continue
Let me begin by saying I like food; I make it everyday in my own kitchen. Food can undoubtedly be one of life’s finest distractions, though as I’ve been explaining to my three-year-old granddaughter Isabelle, no matter how cool food is, tomorrow it’s all poo-poo.... Continue
Experts like to make economics sound complicated; after all, who needs experts for something simple? Macro, micro, Keynesian, free-market, leading indicators, blah, blah, blah...start talking about this stuff and eyes glaze over, minds drift and before too long another scoundrel has ripped off ten or... Continue
Dear Bonnie: I didn’t file my taxes on time. I forgot to file an extension too. I didn’t have the money to pay them anyway. I mean, with the economy the way it’s been, I didn’t make any of my estimated tax payments. And now... Continue
My wife and I recently returned from a long-delayed week’s vacation south of the border staying at what was the first “health and fitness” retreat, Rancho La Puerta, founded in 1940. The founders of the ranch were a Transylvanian professor named Edward Szekely and his... Continue
There was a time when paying bills was a private affair, as were auto loans or credit card charges. An invoice was received, a check or money order was sent as payment; sometimes one would visit a local business and pay an invoice in cash.... Continue
These days a lot of us are full of huge hairballs. Unfortunately, cats get them out better than people. Telling the truth can be risky but not speaking up can also have serious consequences. If peace and closeness are what we want, communication is imperative.... Continue
Human beings have been managing many things for a long time; we manage piling rocks into a wall, corralling livestock, selling stocks and bonds and so forth. The “management of things” means things are used and applied to situations by human effort so that a... Continue