ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Growing up on a farm in Pearl Lake, John Wicker went to Holy Cross Catholic Church every Sunday.

He attended the church’s parochial school, played softball on the parish’s ballfield and still raises money for the annual fall fish fry. And he’s already purchased his plot in the parish cemetery.

But now that church —...Read more

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Nick Huffman played Prince Charming in Disney World for 10 years, but about a year ago, he felt a bit uncharming.

His hair loss began to bother him, and Huffman, now an Orlando real estate agent, decided he would head to Turkey, an increasingly popular destination for hair transplants.

Last year, Turkey’s estimated 5...Read more

Another day, another batch of dating questions — some about losing hope in finding a partner, some about defining the relationship, and some about date planning. Perhaps one will especially resonate with you.

Q: We’ve been dating for three months. I’m ready to define the relationship. I'm afraid he might not be ready yet. Bring it up or ...Read more

CHICAGO – DeCarla Burton remembers the day when her 4-year-old daughter returned from daycare, saddened with the question: ‘Mommy, am I Black like a skillet?’

“The teacher was talking about skin tones…but the kids got the wrong idea; made her feel inferior instead of beautiful, like she is,” Burton said.

Pulling out a skillet and ...Read more

CHICAGO — One hundred years ago, a few thousand miles away across the Atlantic, a quiet moment in history rippled across northwestern Europe.

The day was April 18, 1926. Ireland was coming off centuries of British rule and a bloody civil war and hadn’t paused to understand where it stood, or how it had changed, in years. But the young ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The Sacramento Zoo welcomed a litter of capybara pups last weekend, zoo officials announced Monday. The six pups are the second litter delivered by a capybara named Peppermint Patty, who also gave birth to five pups in October.

The new litter was born on April 18 at the Land Park attraction. The zoo said the pups were in ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Since its dedication 100 years ago, Los Angeles Central Library has survived demolition threats, major arson fires and earthquakes. This week, the historic site's halls will come alive as it celebrates its centennial with an after-hours festival that is quintessentially L.A.

Dubbed Night at the Library, the four-hour ...Read more

I’ve rotated our cold-weather clothes with our warm-weather clothes so many years, I could do it in my sleep. From the looks of some of our clothes, I may have been doing it in my sleep.

Neither the husband nor I are clothes horses. We’re more like clothes turtles.

I could use some new pants, but I’m waiting until the styles change. The ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS -- Five Saturday weddings featured something old, something new, something borrowed and something red. Make that something “read,” since the weddings happened at Minneapolis Central Library.

The weddings took place in 15-minute intervals in Pohlad Hall, with receptions in a nearby meeting room. Each couple were allotted 25 ...Read more

Dear Kid Whisperer,

I'm dealing with a lot of sass and talking-back with my 13-year-old daughter. Her dad and I are divorced. She is a really sweet and intelligent kid, but her dad lets her behave this way at his house, so she thinks she can do it with me, as well. How do I get her back to being the sweet kid I know she is?

Answer: While I ...Read more

Q. My ex-wife and I divorced four years ago. We had a son via IVF — my egg and a donor father — but she carried our baby. I share this background to show how complicated our story is. We have both found new partners. She has remarried a woman who has two children. Bottom line, there are a lot of people wanting to celebrate Mother’s Day ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- In bright sunshine, with the Pacific Ocean sparkling far below, two middle-aged men hopped on mountain bikes and started climbing a steep dirt road above Zuma Beach in Malibu. They pedaled up more than 2,000 vertical feet, chatting comfortably about marriage, careers and early retirement.

They did not discuss the fact that, until...Read more

There is an ottoman empire in our house. That’s because my wife, Sue, ordered yet another ottoman.

It was recently delivered and put in the family room to replace the old ottoman, which was not discarded but instead was pushed against the wall, making three ottomans (ottomen?) in the same room.

There’s another one in the living room.

And ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota’s toughest food critic is a fluffy orange cat named Milo.

Milo sees what you’re eating and he is (urp) appalled.

Pizza slice? Chicken nugget? Potato? Milo greets them all with a suspicious sniff, a look of slowly dawning horror, followed by cartoonishly exaggerated gagging — tongue out, eyes wide, hope lost.

As...Read more

DENVER — The smell of sauteed shrimp wafted across the event hall behind Hot Shot Coffee in north Denver. Cody Peeler, standing behind a rice cooker and hot plate and next to trays of condiments, worried the aroma would offend the cafe’s clientele.

But to the dozens of people who’d gathered on a Saturday morning in January to play mahjong...Read more

CHICAGO — Government reports tend to make for less-than-scintillating reading. That’s the nature of the beast. Data can be dry.

But for the better part of the 20th century, the covers of these reports were works of art.

“Transporting Watermelons in Bulk and Bins by Truck,” a 1982 report for the Department of Agriculture, features an ...Read more

Planting season has begun in earnest in the South and, as they say, it will be matriculating your way wherever you live. I visited a garden center this week and it took my breath away with the giant selection. There was the new Supertunia Vista Cool Jazz Petunia too.

With the addition of Cool Jazz, the Vista group has grown to seven and now ...Read more

MIAMI — South Florida has no shortage of fitness centers — but how many teach you to get kicked in the gut and then properly fall? Or tumble onto the ground from a high-wire? What about getting pushed around on a crash mat?

Miami Action Design, co-founded by a Miami native, is carving out a unique niche as the region’s first stunt studio....Read more

When Chelsea Clinton finished the Boston Marathon on Monday, I had a surprising (to me) reaction.

Something like pride, I suppose. Though I played no role in her run. Something like joy, I suppose. Though that doesn’t quite capture it. Something like satisfaction. Though that's not quite sufficient.

I’ll start here: My grandmother loved ...Read more

As a dating coach, I get a lot of questions along the lines of, “Are there questions I can ask early to know if someone’s for me long-term?” Or the more blunt, “How can I tell early if I’m about to waste my time?” (For starters, that attitude isn’t helping.)

I’d like to explain an analogy I use called Chicken Nugget Theory.

...Read more