PHILADELPHIA -- Christina Simms wouldn’t call herself an artist.

The Howard University student was a budding scientist visiting to do research at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Her main objective was to do lab work.

Yet as her summer internship entered its final weeks, she faced the daunting task of creating a piece of artwork ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Anja Steyn has three disparate loves: puzzles, horror movies and magic.

And during her show at the Magic Castle two weeks ago, she not only predicted the horror film someone was thinking of — she produced an almost-finished puzzle of the movie poster, with the last piece in the unsuspecting audience member's possession.

"Some...Read more

Q. I must admit, the transition from being a couple to being single has been difficult to juggle. I’m not always angry and sometimes I think it might be cool to hang out with my ex. So, when he had the kids this weekend I showed up on Sunday and asked if they all wanted to go to breakfast. The kids were very excited and wanted to go, but their...Read more

Hydration has officially become the cure for whatever ails us.

Feeling sluggish? Hydrate! Dry skin? Hydrate! Joints hurt? Hydrate! High blood pressure? Hydrate! Ingrown toenail? Hydrate! Don’t know what to make for dinner? Hydrate!

To join the wave of adequate hydration, one of our daughters thoughtfully gifted me with a pink XXL insulated ...Read more

ATLANTA — A silver medal in Macon, a gold in Griffin — Atlanta resident Suzanne Ockleberry has a passion for pickleball. It’s not trophies she’s after though. She’s forging friendships one serve at a time.

The New Jersey native has turned her love for the game into a rapidly growing community, called the Atlanta Pickleball Queens, now...Read more

Dear Kid Whisperer,

I’m struggling with my kids using their tablets so much. How much should I allow them to use them? I feel like they’re always on them, and that my wife and I don’t talk to our kids much anymore.

Answer: I was recently on a cruise ship that stopped at a private island. Thousands of my fellow cruise-goers, my family and...Read more

MIAMI -- The past two years have been rough for Christopher Saunders.

Saunders, originally from Ohio, moved to North Miami Beach in 2023 seeking a warmer climate to relieve his arthritis. Things were going fine, until costly car and rental bills forced him into chapter 13 bankruptcy. Around the same time, the rent on the 43-year-old’s less-...Read more

CHICAGO -- While festivalgoers swarmed Chicago's Grant Park over four days at Lollapalooza and artists graced the stages, caterers behind the scenes set up their extensive lineup of gourmet VIP meals to feed the performers and their crews each day.

But a lot of that food goes to waste, said Maria Brunner, founder of Musically Fed, a national ...Read more

With apologies to Mick Jagger, my kidneys have produced more rolling stones than he’s ever had. That’s why I got satisfaction from a radiology report showing that my career as a rock star could mercifully be over.

On orders from my urologist, who must feel like a miner because he has excavated more than half a dozen stones from my kidneys ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Treyton Blackburn always thought he wanted to be a director.

Growing up in Pikeville, Kentucky, he was involved with community theater, mainly as an actor. He studied theater at the University of Kentucky, where he got into directing through the department’s student-led theater department.

“I was always curious about ...Read more

ST. LOUIS — Jordan Hughes strode to the lectern and looked around.

The eyes of hundreds of his fellow St. Louis Community College graduates were on him. He’d been practicing his valedictory address for weeks, but it still felt unreal.

“If you had told me five years ago that I could be the commencement speaker today, I probably would have...Read more

In my son’s high school journalism class a few months ago, the teacher introduced them to “All The President’s Men,” the Oscar-winning film about Watergate, based on the explosive book by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the Washington Post reporters who took down President Richard Nixon and forever changed American history and ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA -- On a Friday last November, staff at the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia were in the midst of conducting an audit of the medical history museum’s collection of some 6,600 human remains when they found a box in the library stacks of their Center City building.

The tag on it read, “Two mummified infant heads,” said Erin ...Read more

Summer is winding down, and it’s almost time for back-to-school shopping. If your state offers a sales tax holiday — fewer than 20 states do this year — you might be able to give your wallet a bit of a break.

And that’s true whether or not you have children: These sales-tax holidays can be a good time to buy new clothes, a computer or ...Read more

In my son’s high school journalism class a few months ago, the teacher introduced them to “All The President’s Men,” the Oscar-winning film about Watergate, based on the explosive book by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the Washington Post reporters who took down President Richard Nixon and forever changed American history and ...Read more

This is a wonderful time to be a gardener, particularly for those whose passions aren’t just blooms, but also bees, birds and butterflies. I say that because new agastache varieties are showing up in every plant company. Such is the case with Proven Winners new Maestro Coral and Maestro Gold.

These new varieties follow close on the heels of ...Read more

Dear Anna,

I've been dating my boyfriend for two months, and while he's incredibly kind and caring, I'm struggling with something that's making me feel insecure. He regularly makes comments like “we should go to the gym together” or “when are you going to start going to the gym?” He works out multiple times a week, follows fitness ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — An Apple Valley, California, mother just went 4 for 4 on her kids all being born on the date 7/7.

Just before Nauzhae Drake, now 26, delivered her firstborn, she called her mother while driving to school. She told her that she saw a license plate that ended in four sevens — her lucky number. Drake's mom took it as a sign.

"...Read more

It happens all the time. You match with someone online. You ask a thoughtful question about their profile, and they respond… with no questions about you back. You try again with a question. They respond with no questions back. Now what?

I want to introduce a concept called 2QS, or Two Questions and a Statement.

Here’s how it works: Give ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. -- Beth Weinstein isn’t known for walking away from a battle.

The liberal activist from Tarpon Springs, Florida, regularly rallies against Republican politicians, taunts anti-abortion protesters and trolls online opponents of LGBTQ+ rights.

Raised in what she called a racist Long Island neighborhood by a mom who taught her to be ...Read more