Q. This is sort of an ethical question. My ex-wife remarried two years ago and even though this sounds a little weird, I find I like him, poor unsuspecting sap. I can tell he cares about my kids and he’s actually a good influence.

Here’s the deal. My ex has always liked her wine, and I suspect it’s causing some problems over there. Her ...Read more

Dear Kid Whisperer,

I feel very alone in my friend group. We are all mothers of young children, and we all send our kids to the same school. The problem is that in social situations, a few of the moms will talk about their very touchy-feely parenting methods, like the mom who goes on and on about how she listens to her son about his feelings ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS -- One young man gave away free menstrual products. One unfurled a banner with a demand to “end period cramps.” Another did a card trick and turned the king of spades into the queen of hearts.

“It turns into a woman, because women can solve all problems!” he shouted to cheers.

That’s how the 38 contestants tried to woo an...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The preschoolers were fascinated, looking at their classroom through the lens of an iPad camera, watching animated images pop up as a cheerful voice told them: Feed apples to a pig behind a haystack. Select the carnival ride located between two sets of balloons.

While the game delighted these 3- and 4-year-olds, they were ...Read more

I am an accidental gardener. If anything I plant grows to maturity, and by some fluke of nature becomes edible, it is sheer accident.

If we had to survive on what I grow, we would both be very, very thin. Spaghetti thin. We are not spaghetti thin; we are more like rigatoni.

Several years ago, I dreamed of growing potatoes. I threw some ...Read more

CHICAGO — On a recent Sunday, I stood in the kitchen with my brother Daniel, watching as he cracked the fifth and final egg into a bowl — the blue bowl, his favorite for making scrambled eggs. He reached for the fork to whisk them, humming, clicking his tongue and smiling widely. At 49 years old, Daniel has enjoyed eggs for a while — ever ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — In an overstuffed workshop in East L.A., Chris Francis reached out a heavily tattooed arm and pulled a single shoe box from one of the floor-to-ceiling shelves lining the walls.

"Anjelica Huston," the shoemaker and artist said. "Let's see what's in here."

Removing the top of the box, he revealed two carved wooden forms known as...Read more

Because I’m a guy who likes to be clean and fresh — my wife would raise a stink if I weren’t — I get burned up by showers that leave me cold.

That’s what happened one morning when I took a shower in water so absolutely freezing that it could have sent a polar bear into cardiac arrest.

So we called the heating company to send somebody...Read more

ST. LOUIS — It’s lunch time at Kirkwood High School, and students are filtering out of the building.

Two boys make their way to a soccer field and toss a Frisbee. A small group of friends sit in the grass outside the auditorium. A picnic table near the school’s main entrance is full of students working on homework.

Something is ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- Chris Rose fondly remembers the days when he worked at the independent video store We Luv Video in Austin, Texas.

He was in his early 20s and finishing film school at the University of Texas at Austin before heading to New York, where he eventually worked as a producer on "The Daily Show."

Now an L.A.-based writer, director and ...Read more

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A recipe is much more than ingredients and instructions. It can impart a hidden history, provide tethers to forgotten tables, ignite curiosity and the thrill of creating something so delicious it must be shared.

There are the titans of recipe writing, and then there are the quiet names of those (mostly women) who used ...Read more

HARTFORD, Conn. -- In about 30 acres of dense forest in the Litchfield Hills, a team of foresters and researchers are pioneering new forest management techniques that they say can be replicated throughout New England to make trees more resilient to stressors like climate change.

Great Mountain Forest, one of the largest conservation easements ...Read more

If you have been on the fence about trying one of the Art & Sol Mangave varieties at your home, Moonglow will seal the deal. Moonglow is one of four selections that will make their debut in 2026 and bring the collection to 10.

If you are on the fence, I see that as a good thing because at least you have heard of Mangave, that totally new plant ...Read more

BALTIMORE — She levitates above her chair. An old man hurls a priest across the room. A young woman speaks full paragraphs in Bulgarian, a language she’s never studied. A man’s skin blisters at the sight of a crucifix.

In interviews with The Baltimore Sun, exorcists claimed these are not movie scenes but moments they’ve witnessed ...Read more

I recently got a question from someone on my mailing list, not a client (so I don’t know their details intimately) but a person who seeks dating advice, and that question was this:

“Is it good to have some secrets in a relationship? Isn't that one of the many things that attracts a person… a little mystery? Are there things that you ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- Long Beach resident Ashley Likins was pages away from finishing "Onyx Storm," the third installment in Rebecca Yarros' fantasy book series, when a long-haired black kitten hopped into her lap.

Given the foster name Soup Enhancements, the cat was one of the rescues boarding at Cool Cat Collective, a cat-themed boutique at the ...Read more

Dear Anna,

I'm a 31-year-old man who's been with my 27-year-old girlfriend for three years. We met through friends and clicked immediately — our conversations flow effortlessly and we laugh constantly together. But I'm struggling with something that's eating me alive: I'm losing physical attraction to her. When we started dating, I knew we ...Read more

My husband is one of those people who can sleep anywhere, anytime.

He can sleep sprawled halfway on and halfway off the sofa, in a straight-back chair, with three grands crawling all over him styling his hair, and during cross-country flights with severe turbulence.

It’s a gift. The man is so gifted he can even fall asleep while I’m ...Read more

Q. My ex and I were married when we were very young. We had a child soon afterward, but my ex left us, and we were divorced nine months later. I have not seen or heard from him in 8 years. I remarried a wonderful man when my son was a year and a half old and he is the only father my son has known. Today I got a phone call from my ex’s aunt who...Read more