Life Style & Travel

UNITED STATES—Is it too late to warn about frost? After all the rain, the recent and sudden cold weather was quite a surprise. Fortunately, these recent frosts were relatively mild. This sort of weather is probably just enough to start to satisfy plants that require chilling through winter without causing too much damage to too many sensitive plants. So...

UNITED STATES—It seems year after year we all make plans for new traditions or things we are aiming to accomplish in the New Year. There happens to be one slight problem with New Year resolutions: they never stick. Why is that? The biggest problem with New Year resolutions is we try to set too many. Think of one thing you’ve...

UNITED STATES—The obituary for the celebrated Look-Life shutterbug, Phil Stern, whose lens caught scenes of war and froze iconic images of Marilyn and James Dean for all time, struck a dissonant chord when the scribe just had to chip in “Stern, a longtime smoker, had emphysema.” You know, maybe he died because he was older than the hills (he was...

UNITED STATES—Knowing how colorfully bulbs will eventually bloom can initially make planting them disappointing, since there is nothing to see for all the effort. Planting bare root plants is not much more rewarding. The bare stems are a bit more proof of the effort, but will do nothing until they break dormancy in spring. Now that Christmas trees have...

UNITED STATES—The act of giving makes us relevant. It could consist of giving money or food or kindness. Sadly, at this time of year giving is regimented and often done under duress, and it is all the more limited because giving gets pushed almost exclusively into the material realm. So there we are, dupes for technology toys and rushed generosity....

UNITED STATES—Cyclamen are everywhere! Some nurseries have more cyclamen than all other cool season annuals combined. Not all cyclamen are represented though. Almost all are white or simple red. Pink, salmon and other shades of red are noticeable scarce because they are not traditional colors of Christmas. The plants are mostly of impeccable quality, and outfitted with abundant flowers....

UNITED STATES—It’s just too difficult to know where to begin. I have NO IDEA how it all happened. All I know is that I better write it down now, before my kids get back from school. So, what happened? What exactly happened? No one really wants to talk about it face to face, its way too heavy. Maybe we’re all...

UNITED STATES—She was sitting at the very end of the walkway, face obscured by the yellow flowers and stringy leaves hanging down from the branches that gnarled down. Her eyes were smiling. I kept staring and staring to decipher the connection with her. There had to be one—why else would she be seated there in front of my gate. There...

UNITED STATES—Can you believe it, Christmas is literally less than two weeks away? Have you purchased any of those gifts on your list? If not, don’t fret, we have some tips to assist you. Last week we talked about the importance of gift giving and not placing stress on yourself to go above and beyond when it comes to...

LOS ANGELES—The Fold is a lively little club on 2220 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90057. It’s not situated in the best of areas. In fact, the last time I ventured to this part of town, I was seeking a fake ID. No one does that anymore, right? However, on December 5, 2014, two very important artists were playing at...