“Never use your blinker, that just tips them off,” experienced L.A. drivers exhort. Sad but very true as it is, this cultural dysfunction also suggests an explanatory metaphor for another age-old dynamic: the challenge to maintain our independence as we…
Read More
My moment of reflection over the obituary of a junior high school teacher of mine was cut short when I read “He died unexpectedly at 85.” I couldn’t help but ponder the incredulity of the phrase. Really ... unexpectedly, at…
Read More
Age is more than a number. It’s an equation. Similar to Einstein’s theory of relativity, our perspective on aging depends upon where we stand in space and time. Data from this year’s 10th annual United Healthcare “100@100” survey confirms that…
Read More
Growing older is confounded by misapprehensions, contradictions, ironies and age-inappropriateness. The sooner we can correct these bad attitudes and actions and get back to when longevity rules, the sooner we can slap a cease-and-desist order on manufacturers and marketers of…
Read More
Armed with a bucket, sponge, soap, hose and time. I washed my car today. Using as little water as possible. And watching out the entire time for the patrolling water police. Not that washing your car is a criminal act,…
Read More
Slaving away in your executive suite, are you frustrated with not having time to join the hallway conversation about the finale of “Breaking Bad” and what will become of Jesse and Saul? Instead you’re thinking how much work there is…
Read More
“Hey, isn’t that ... oh crap, you know from that old show ... damn, what’s his name ... Alan Thicke?” “Nope,” your friend declares, and thinks, “Welcome to Hollywood, you rube.” There is a phenomenon that occurs with remarkable regularity…
Read More
“Walk the talk.” Car dealers routinely feature this pitch in their repertoire. “I drive the same car.” So do sales reps for cable and wireless companies. “This is my provider; they’re much more reliable and faster.” Insurance agents, of course,…
Read More
Guest essay by Tracy Huddleson, writer and editor on technology, government and health concerns Some of the most valuable legacies we leave behind at the end of our lives aren’t property or philanthropy or even children. Sometimes they’re simply our…
Read More
What’s in a name, anyway? The state legislature may establish a new California Department of Community Living. The proposed department, recommended by a coalition of legislators of a half-dozen senators and assemblymembers, would be housed within the Health and Human…
Read More
