Life Style & Travel

UNITED STATES—Winning over serious performance sedan enthusiasts hasn’t been an easy task for Lexus. From the get go, Lexus was always about serene cruising. One of the first LS400 (first production model from Lexus) commercials played with this idea by taking the viewer for a ride as one-by-one, wind noise, road noise, and finally driveline noise were muted until...

UNITED STATES—It might seem like autumn color is a bit early this year. In the wild, where there is no irrigation, native box elders, and maybe some of the cottonwoods and sycamores, are already yellowing. The box elders are already dropping some of their foliage. However, this is not caused by an early chill. It is caused by late...

UNITED STATES—I get a kick remembering when Maya turned to me with the Wooster, Massachusetts edge and the fleeing r’s in her voice and said, “Are you a cynic?” It was a treat to have somebody close enough to observe that; it’s the bonus togetherness. Well, calling me cynical was like accusing Husserl of being a logical positivist. Time...

UNITED STATES—Twice a year, it becomes necessary to discuss the unpleasantries of pulling up the flowering annuals (as well as vegetable plants) of one season, to relinquish space for those of the next season. Just a few months ago, cool season annuals got replaced with warm season annuals. Now, those same warm season annuals will get replaced with cool...

UNITED STATES—The measuring stick for success last month was Gold. Yes, the Rio Olympic Games were in full swing and reminding us once again that we Americans have plenty to be proud of despite what our current campaign season has shown us. However, Olympic medals are not the only awards that are handed out to the same recipients on...

UNITED STATES—“This was one of Kyle’s permanent molars, so we’re going to do our best to save it,” said the dentist. Meanwhile Allegra was so nervous, steeling herself for the heist of dental work for her son, and discreetly sharpened the left index finger between her finely manicured right thumb and index.  She already imagined holding it on the...

UNITED STATES—All plants propagate. Otherwise, they would go extinct. They all have the potential to propagate by seed or spores. However, some are more efficient at vegetative propagation from stems or roots. Of the later, a few propagate by seed so rarely that it is a wonder that they can evolve, since vegetatively propagated plants are clones, or genetically...

UNITED STATES—Today was the day. Allegra Newton (nee Scruggs) had had enough of dental profiteering, and she was going to hold the dentist at gunpoint till he performed emergency work on her son. In preparation, she went to the living room, which had been overtaken by all her son’s toys in the trophy house they moved into after leaving...

UNITED STATES—The original Dodge Dart, with the slant-six engine, was not much to look at, but was built to last. While cars were expected to last 10 years or a hundred thousand miles, Darts easily lasted twice as long or twice as far. A few are still going now! Such resiliency really made a reputation for Dodge. The problem...

UNITED STATES—On an October afternoon a poignant figure showed up on my doorstep at Manhattan Place, an accountant separating from his wife after 48 years. Can you imagine why a couple that age wants to split? They already must know each other too well; then again, maybe that’s why. The man was from Huntington Beach, but had his office on...