Cleaning out the closets, organizing the desk, saying good-bye to dust bunnies and vacuuming Mollydog’s fur from the back of my wagon; phew, makes me exhausted just thinking about it. Can anyone smell spring in the air? It is the time of year where nature is renewing herself and seedlings are sprouting their very first leaves of new... Read more →

7:03 p.m. — We arrive at the scene, Tavern on San Vicente. It’s Friday. 7:08 p.m. — After looking at a counter of good looking take out foods and incredibly beautiful desserts, including the walnut cake, which I focused on. We walk past a very inviting bar (filled with what must have been young starlets in short skirts) into... Read more →

WOODLAWN CEMETERY — There’s an old childhood picture of Virgil County sitting happily in his grandfather’s hearse, donning an event-appropriate attire of a bowtie and knickerbockers. It’s a photo that captures an atypical scene that was anything but for County, the grandson of a local New Orleans funeral director who... Read more →

I have been on the East Coast for the past week visiting friends and family who I have not seen in several years. I’ve known most of my friends over 25 years. This is difficult to believe since I feel like I’m only 25 years old. But it’s been fun to see familiar faces and talk about where all the time has gone. I met some... Read more →

Read the papers. It happens around us. You can’t seem to not see at least one story of a child abduction. This book is needed to help give your child a way to fight back. If they can keep from being removed from the area they are in by being able to execute a few self-defense releases they have a chance to run and get help. This small... Read more →

Lydia R. Diamond’s new play, “Stick Fly” is “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?” turned inside out. You all remember the 1967 movie in which the beautiful young white woman brings her brilliant black fiancé home to meet her liberal upper-class parents? Well, in “Stick Fly” the parents are... Read more →

GENERAL COMMENT: Zoe Nathan is one of the best pastry chefs in town. Her desserts at Rustic Canyon Wine Bar are terrific. And they look pretty good at the new Huckleberry on Wilshire Boulevard, but getting to them is another story. Keep reading. WHERE: 1014 Wilshire Blvd. Telephone: (310) 451-2311. WHEN: Currently Tuesday-Friday 8 a.m.... Read more →

I enjoyed a wonderful dining experience the other night at Shutters in Santa Monica. One Pico is the name of the hotel’s restaurant located right on the beach with ocean views from every window. First of all, Shutters is an amazing place. The whole thing just works so well. But the predominant feeling is of Nantucket or Cape Cod right... Read more →

OCEAN PARK — The plan for the day was simple, just treat it like any other. And so that is what Mae LaBorde set out to do when she got out of bed one recent morning, going about her regular daily regime, first brushing her teeth, next drinking a glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice, and then making the bed. Except this particular... Read more →

Sometimes a corny, old-fashioned, totally out-of-date musical can charm you right out of your boots and remind you, once again, why the theater — for you at least — has always been such a magical place. You never know what wizardry is going to come at you from across the footlights. Such a musical is “The Fantasticks,”... Read more →