Holidays are a wonderful time, especially if children are in the mix.  You’d have to be a complete curmudgeon if you’re not moved when a child gets that gift he or she always wanted.  The 1983 classic, A Christmas Story, sums it up best when Ralphie blurts out his desire for an “Official Red Ryder [...]

My elementary school in Cupertino was a great place to spend the K-6 years, come to think of it.  It was walking distance (unless you’re an Angelino), and it was small enough to know everyone.  Best of all, there was a huge playground and field, big enough to serve as a city park.  Many school [...]

Weddings.  We plan for them, cry at them . . . and pay for them.  The average cost of a wedding in the US costs over $20,000, and most fall into the $15,000 to $25,000 range.  Oh, and that is not including the ring or honeymoon.  And I don’t want to take any attention from [...]

You’ve got to love New York.  It’s easy to see why Manhattan residents are so smug.  The city is a permanent fixture in our popular culture, whether you love it or not.  TV shows from I Love Lucy to Seinfeld to Sex in the City are pretty spot on when showcasing the town’s marvels and [...]

Driving in a taxi from one of New York’s airports to Manhattan (or in our case, downtown Brooklyn) is always a feast for the eyes.  The skyline in the distance, the billboards, the brownstones, the endless stream of taxis . . . it all just adds to the excitement when visiting one of the world’s [...]

We are inundated with “green” products everywhere, from local shops to the web.  Friends have been sending me all kinds of web sites that showcase green products for review.  I’ve seen “green” underwear, green dog accessories, green kitchen gadgets–my favorite is the plastic wishbone that vegetarians can snap instead of killing a chicken and snapping [...]

Those of us who lived a relatively sheltered suburban childhood in areas such as my old stomping grounds, Silicon Valley, are often first intimidated by big cities.  As a kid, San Francisco always seemed so daunting–admittedly, I almost always took BART, CalTrain, or the ferries to the city by the bay because driving just raised [...]

Overall, I like Michael Bloomberg. His leadership of New York City seems solid, he is more focused on solutions than dogma, and does not seem to give a hoot what his rivals think. But I was disappointed that he has allowed his SUV’s to run idle for long periods at a time, as the Associated [...]