What Would You Do If You Ran The World?

No one has asked me yet; but if I ran the world, solving the problems of peace, health, and poverty would, of course, be first on my agenda. Then I’d solve the irksome problems that plague everyday life. In the field of politics - where you have to be careful where you step - politicians’ noses would get longer when they lied and we’d vote for the best person for political office - not the least offensive. Which reminds me, shopping cart wheels wouldn’t get stuck in one... Read more »

Can Feng Shui Make Men Romantic?

When I told my husband I was going to practice yoga, he mistakenly thought the improved flexibility of my body would make my opinions more flexible. When I told him I was going to have acupuncture, he didn’t get the point - literally. John didn’t believe inserting a needle between the two bones in my forearm would prevent nausea, but it does. I feel better on boats, on planes and when I listen to campaign promises. Because the Chinese were right about acupuncture, I decided they must... Read more »

Build It And They Will Come?

If you ask architects what’s up, they’ll say the project they just finished. Architects turn dreams into realities, bridge past and present and have high hopes for the future. As of now, the highest is Taipei 101 at 1,671 feet. Los Angeles’ architecture runs the gamut from a building that looks like a donut to Frank Gheary’s metal extravaganza - also known as Disney Music Hall. Architecturally speaking, that’s more like sprinting the gamut. In nearby Santa Monica the... Read more »

How Many Ways Do You Recycle?

Think recycling and you think aluminum, glass and paper. That’s just the beginning. I recycle gifts - quality gifts that I think a relative, friend or child’s teacher would appreciate - something I would have bought for them myself if someone hadn’t given it to me first. Honest! I also recycle boxes - interesting boxes. Mrs. Field’s cookies come in an array of colorful boxes. Note card boxes are pretty enough to be jewelry boxes and my jeweler’s boxes already look... Read more »

Have You Stopped To Watch The World Go By Recently?

Some people stop to smell the roses. I stop to watch the world go by. When I see boys wearing over-sized clothing and girls dressing up in Brittany Spears’ outfits, I smile. Now I know how my mother felt when I teased my hair, wore blue eye shadow and dated boys with sideburns and greased- back hair. Brides have their hair and make-up professionally done for their weddings. Don’t grooms wonder why their fiancees never bothered to look that good before? If they don’t wonder about... Read more »

Orange You Glad Orange Is Out?

Where are all the Pet Rocks and the Beanie Babies and the Smurfs? The Hula Hoop got around and around in the fifties. In the sixties tie dyed t-shirts were to die for. By the end of the seventies bell bottom pants bottomed out and in the eighties big hair was literally big. A fad is something that interests a lot of people for a short time. In other words, you can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time. Jennifer Aniston’s hair... Read more »

Have You Heard White Whisper And Read Roar?

Colors talk, but you have to listen very carefully. The most important thing Black says is you’re not in the red. It also says tuxedo and mourning. It still says priest, but to street-clothes-wearing nuns Black says nunsense. For most people Blue brags about eyes and sky and ocean. For others, like me, Blue bemoans sadness. Blue made me blue until we moved by the ocean. The house had a blue kitchen and powder room. I then amazed my husband by adding blue accents throughout our new home. Some... Read more »

Do Manners Make The Man?

The three, little words I heard most growing up were, “Mind your manners”; but manners change. Women no longer expect doors to be held for them or chairs to be pulled out for them. Men are no longer expected to take their hats off inside or even in restaurants. In restaurants I was taught that if there were two knives, forks or spoons, you used the one farther from the plate first. That’s not a problem at MacDonald’s or Denny’s. However, if waiters at any restaurant... Read more »

Is It Plane, Plain Or Pain?

As a child traveling by plane was exciting, but somewhere between then and now it turned into plain travel and plain travel turned into pain travel. Of course, if it’s hard for you to meet people, air travel’s for you. The cramped seating conditions provide you an opportunity to be close to two other people in your row, as well as three people in the row in front of you and three in the row behind you. Stepping on toes when you leave your row, spilling a drink when you move in your... Read more »

Don’t You Think Trashers Should Be Trashed?

Yesterday when I was driving along the freeway, a man in the car ahead of me threw a bag of fast-food trash out the passenger window. I gasped, then I raged, then I honked - not a little, hey-you honk. This was a long, in-your-face-from-behind-you honk. What I got in return was a hand signal. The hand signal proved his middle finger worked better than his brain. I used to think that the inside of a trasher’s house would look like a garage sale from Hell, but I’ve changed my mind. I don’t... Read more »