This all began with guitars. I play the guitar, but beyond knowing how to change a string and tune one, I had never given much thought to how it worked, how it was put together. Then one day, I gave it some thought, and began watching videos posted by luthiers on YouTube, which led me inexorably from guitar making to guitar repair, which, in ...Read more

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The weathered UC Davis Marine Laboratory looms in thick fog on the edge of the ocean near Bodega Bay. Inside, an experiment is playing out that gives a badly-needed boost to Northern California’s kelp forests—underwater cathedrals of green and gold that nearly vanished from the north coast a decade ago.

In early October,...Read more

“In your opinion, why am I still single? I want love to find me!!”

This is a text message I received recently from a frustrated client of mine.

I actually get this question more often than one might think. I replied, “This sounds like a question that can’t be answered over text. But I’ll start here: You’ve had relationships before,...Read more

Dear Kid Whisperer,

I teach first-grade and have two students who scream, cry, and/or whine extremely loudly when they don’t get what they want or something doesn’t go their way. They just sit at their desks (or sometimes go under their desks) and make noise. I’ve attended Behavioral Leadership training, so I know to delay Learning ...Read more

Q. I read your column, and I find it fascinating that you think that people who have volatile backgrounds can get along. My ex was a very violent person. We all had the bruises to prove it. I finally left three years ago and didn’t look back. They never see the kids, and to think I should reach out for the sake of the children is outside of my...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. -- An endangered species of ape, a siamang, was born at ZooTampa at Lowry Park last Sunday night. The zoo called it “a sign of hope for the species.”

Siamangs are the largest of the lesser (meaning smaller) apes that are native to Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, and they are listed as endangered. They play an important role in...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. -- One of the weirdest spectacles in aviation history returns to Tampa for the first time in more than a decade Saturday when the Red Bull Flugtag competition sets loose the imaginations of wacky inventors who dare to create outlandish feats of flight.

The competition is expected to draw more than 100,000 spectators to the ...Read more

Does anyone remember when you made a purchase, went to a doctor or took your car in for a repair and weren't asked for a review? We are in the throes of review mania.

I recently visited a new dentist. Two hours after I left his office, a text arrived asking for a review. I hesitated. What if I inadvertently posted something he took the wrong ...Read more

Costa Mesa, California, realtor Valerie Torelli comes from a family of card players; her father was a successful handicapper (someone who analyzes sporting events to find an edge when placing bets on games).

So, when her then-teenage son Alec told her he wanted to go pro as a poker player, she had but one thought: “WOW, just WOW,” she says....Read more

LOS ANGELES -- As a woman prepares to pitch her friend to an audience of roughly 200 eager singles, a few of their pals skip around the room, hold up cardboard signs that say "Team Jason" and hype up the crowd. A live band plays early 2000s pop music while the eligible bachelor makes his way to the stage and sits on a velvet blue couch under a ...Read more

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- It doesn’t look like anything remarkable.

On the corner of Duke of Gloucester and Conduit streets in Annapolis sits what seems like a residential home. But what happens here is much more than what it seems: The building houses the headquarters of HM2 Buck for Hope Foundation, a small nonprofit dedicated to raising awareness ...Read more

ARISE

Ding! goes my phone every single morning at 7 am For the past year, that sound has meant only one thing: it’s time for my daily communion with friends.

Most days, either Joe or Nana-Ama, my Wordle-playing buddies, have already finished that day’s puzzle and shared their result by the time I get up. Nama-Ama is the night owl and ...Read more

Ever since I became a grandfather, and have proudly remained the most immature member of the family, I have often been asked if I spoil my grandchildren.

“No,” I always reply. “That’s my wife’s job. My job is to corrupt them.”

This makes me supremely qualified to be a grandparent coach.

I got the idea for this heretofore ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — It doesn't take a hawk eye to recognize that the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing over the 101 Freeway in Agoura Hills is not your normal Caltrans project.

For one thing, there's the color. Most Caltrans structures are the light gray of natural concrete. But to reduce reflectivity and help the crossing blend in more with the ...Read more

I’m writing this with no idea who our next president will be. You may be reading this already knowing.

I’m typing this six days before Election Day. It will appear in the printed version of my hometown newspaper, and several others, five days after Election Day. Such is the reality of newspaper deadlines. It’s a little like writing a ...Read more

SEATTLE — This summer, therapist Michelle Ehle added a new offering to her practice: a weekly group focused on getting through the presidential election.

Clients were bringing up politics during sessions, and she wanted to make a space for people to process emotions before the November election.

In the first sessions, the group focused on ...Read more

The Temple of Bloom is like the tree of life to everyone who gardens for pollinators. It is a more compact form of Seven-Sons Flower known botanically as Heptacodium micronioides. The Temple of Bloom’s native habitat is China where its wild populations are under threat of extinction.

If you live in zones 5a to 9b however, and you are looking ...Read more

Dear Anna,

I’m a 40-year-old newly divorced career gal, and dipping my toes back into the dating pool after a long marriage. I’m not looking for anything super serious just yet, but I also don’t want to waste time on people who aren’t genuinely interested or who have wildly different values or goals than I do. The idea of endless dates ...Read more

CHICAGO -- Peter Schoenmann leaned over a rectangular hunk of plaster with a historic mural painted on it last week in Berwyn, Illinois. He began slowly shaving material off the backside of the hunk with a vibrating tool while his wife, who’s also an art conservator, positioned a vacuum near the blade and sucked up the debris.

The goal is to ...Read more