Opinion

Editor's Note: We welcome Letters to the Editor of local and general interest to our readers. Letters should be typed and include the writer’s first and last name, home address and phone number for verification. No anonymous letters will be printed. Letters may be edited...

The love affair began back in the ’80s, as many love affairs do. There had been no specific run up to this particular affair, except, as he confessed, dolefully, “I had a Corvette and we were a family of four.” I thought it was...

“‘Tis the season! Join my baking group, send Christmas cheer out to the world, be a part of a Secret Santa, Operation Christmas Child or Secret Sister group?” Normally, I wouldn’t go there. I don’t have time to be figuring out how to do...

If I thought that it happened to be just the occasion and just the right type of youthful Big Sur denizens (that’s where the bulk of them were from) that made Buddy such a hit, I was dispelled of that thought when we moved...

Did you know that gratitude is often a forgotten factor in the science of well-being? Studies have shown that grateful people experience less depression and stress, lower blood pressure, more energy and greater optimism. Some cycles, such as the cycle of violence, need to be...

It is an uncommon occurrence in my own life to find myself in a situation where I become distinctly and acutely aware that I am—in that moment—a minority. This once occurred when I attended a young adult LGBTQ organization in Long Beach, where black...

I like cemeteries. That is not a ghoulish statement, or at least not meant to be. A cemetery is a walk through history, both recent and long ago, where the changing culture of a town, city or region is written on the headstones of...

I was thinking about John Dillinger the other day while watching a 1934 William Powell-Myrna Loy film by the name of “Manhattan Melodrama.” It also starred Clark Gable, but for some of us cinephiles the Powell-Loy combination is one of the best pairings in...

Today is day 192 of the year, 10 days past the midway point on the Gregorian calendar; there are 173 days remaining in the year 2024. These days mark the season of the Sun, summer is upon us in all its scorching beauty and...

There is something about eye contact that lets two people know that for just a split second, just a flicker of time, there has been a meeting of minds, a very brief acknowledgment of each other’s existence. I had just such an encounter last...