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I love Mary Poppins. It’s true. I attribute my fandom to my childhood growing up on Guernsey, a coastal island rock, delivering less than a spoonful of sugar—and more a dose of dreary. Winter months dragged as rain fell from a bleak sky. I...

Volunteers know it is difficult to accomplish change. When I sought along with several others to get a Restorative Justice program implemented at a Los Gatos school, I initially encountered great enthusiasm for the idea. Unfortunately, this enthusiasm was followed by inaction on the...

The loud and obnoxious squawking of crows used to bother me. I am generally a quiet person who likes to grab a book, find an empty noise-free area to sit at and read for hours at a time. I still cherish times when my...

I’m not a movie reviewer. In fact, I wasn’t even much of a movie watcher, until the pandemic hit, which pretty much coincided with my semi-retirement (more like 90% retirement) from working as a family law attorney. Since then, I’ve watched hundreds of movies....

There are drought-tolerant, warm season turf grasses that are tougher, require less water/maintenance/fertilizer and, if maintained properly, will equal or exceed artificial grass in quality, safety and perhaps usability. Natural grass fields also have many other health and environmental benefits such as providing oxygen,...

Around spring 1970, I took my first cross country road trip with my college friend, Cliff, who later became a doctor and then the surgeon general of New Jersey. We began our journey at our college, Rutgers University. We sang Bob Dylan songs and...

Being an introvert and social anxiety are often confused, but they’re not the same. An introvert is a personality trait. Social anxiety is a mental health condition. An introvert might resist going to a party because they get drained from loud music and too much...

As Thanksgiving arrives, I reflect on the many things I am thankful for. I’ve managed to survive to age 73. Along the way, I’ve had many fortunate things occur. Of course, there have been horrible times too, such as when my father was killed in...

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and remained healthy. I’m a “cup is half full” kind of guy, and believe that 2022 has a lot of positive surprises in store for all of us! Board President. In December, my colleagues...

Contributor Jeffrey P. Blum is a family law mediator. Robert Greene’s book “The 48 Laws of Power” instructs us to never criticize our boss. Avoiding criticizing your boss is important for maintaining your position and gaining favor. Criticisms can be perceived as a challenge to...