April 20th–Our big day. All the preparation was done and our day had finally arrived. Marion had a whole morning of preparation with her bridal party. "We all gathered in my sister Vera's room, at the ...

On one level "Y Tu Mama Tambien" (IFC Films) as directed by Alfonso Cuaron is funny, racy, and sexy with scenes shot on some of Mexico's most beautiful beaches. The movie is a fantasy tale about ...

Ever since growing up in Frazee, Minnesota, a small town with a population of 1,700 people, and living next to two Lao families, I had a dream of going to the Thailand/Laos. (Similarly, both ...

It was until my freshman year in college that I read the book "Farewell to Manzanar" - the true account of a Japanese-American family's struggle as prisoners in a U.S. internment camp during WW II. ...

He walked into the diner with his blue windbreaker and disheveled gray hair. His clothes were rumpled and his glasses were slightly askew. In short, he was a mess. He sat in the ...

We are all one cancer cell, car accident, or breath away from our own mortality. Many of us are one pay check, lay off, or serious illness away from bankruptcy, food stamps, even homelessness. Anything ...

Believe it or not, the other day a few friends and I fanned out in pairs around a tourist spot in Santa Monica, California, and asked people for their opinions on what needed to happen ...

 I knew a local cartoonist out in California named Paige Andersen, who one year near Election Day rendered drawings of improbable right-wing and left-wing extremists. I don't remember the details. The right-winger was probably armed ...

The edgiest character on TV these days is a sponge. He's SpongeBob Squarepants and if you've never seen or heard of him, I strongly recommend you check out this creative, cutting-edge cartoon on the ...

Bookworm friends said they couldn't put it down. More traditional Catholics excoriated it, calling it anti-Catholic. And good New York conspiracy nuts were declaring in the diner where I eat on ...