Alex Ballantyne thought he'd finally found some stability after spending much of his adolescence searching for a home where he felt safe and accepted.

Then, shortly after he collected his high school diploma, his longtime foster family in the Santa Clarita Valley kicked him out.

He found himself homeless, aging out of the Los Angeles County ...Read more

Last fall I met a guy.

He had a thick mustache and was, by my estimate, at least 10 years my junior. We happened to sit next to each other at a dinner event at my social club. I'd recently watched "Wild Wild Country," a documentary series on a religious cult, and it was all I wanted to talk about. It turned out that he loved documentaries on ...Read more

Dear Anna,

My primary partner, who I’ll call Alex, and I have been in a loving, committed relationship for five years, and for three of those years, we've been in a closed triad with Sam. Our relationship with Sam grew organically and became a significant part of our lives, deeply intertwining with our daily routines and social circles.

...Read more

Sitting on my driveway right now are three Luminary Sunset Coral tall garden phlox, Phlox paniculata. Just saying that color makes me expect a bolt of lightning to strike, and a mysterious voice to say it’s not nice to fool Mother Nature. This variety, still new to most everyone, is so beautiful in color and defies description.

There was a ...Read more

Brandon Hurst has built a loyal social media following and a growing business selling plants on TikTok, where a mysterious algorithm combined with the right content can let users amass thousands of followers.

Hurst sold 20,000 plants in three years while running his business on Instagram. After expanding the business he launched in 2020 to ...Read more

Bill Guardino stands amid the nearly unfathomably large collection of music memorabilia that overwhelms the house he shares with his wife Janet and his dog Zappa in Gilroy

“I don’t know where to begin,” the 69-year-old fan says as he is about to guide me on a private tour of his artifacts, curiosities and undeniably cool stuff.

So, I ...Read more

When there’s a new couple around, it’s natural to ask, “So, how did you meet?” Most of the time, it’s one of these answers: through friends, at work, or on a dating app. Gone are the days when connecting through Tinder or Bumble came with an elaborate lie about a meet-cute that stemmed from sitting together on a plane … it’s so ...Read more

Since becoming a father a few months ago, I’ve been nursing a grudge against something tiny, seemingly inconsequential, and often discarded: instructional manuals. Parenthood requires a lot of gadgetry to maintain a kid’s health and welfare. Those gadgets require puzzling over booklets, decoding inscrutable pictographs, and wondering whether...Read more

Mother’s Day isn’t just about buying cards and gifts; it’s about acknowledging the unique bond between a mother and her children, and all maternal connections. However, for some, this holiday can be a painful reminder of loss, grief or a complicated relationship. If you find yourself dreading the second Sunday in May (even the days leading...Read more

If you suspect that you or a loved one might one day end up in a nursing home, and you breathed a sigh of relief when the Biden administration announced increased staffing requirements on April 22, you may need to pull a Larry David and curb your enthusiasm.

Biden's follow-through on an earlier promise was applauded by many, given the dark ...Read more

As a parent, you’ve likely experienced the frustration and embarrassment of calling your child by their sibling’s or your pet’s name. You’re not alone, and you’re not losing your mind. In fact, a recent TikTok video has brought a 2016 Duke University study back into the spotlight, revealing this phenomenon is extremely common.

The ...Read more

Dear Kid Whisperer,

My 4-year-old was having a good day at preschool, but when I arrived to pick her up, she had a meltdown. After getting her to calm down and talk with me, she walked out fine, but it was only a matter of time -- she had another meltdown.

Then, when I got her in the car, her boot fell off. This began a massive power struggle ...Read more

Artist Joel Coplin has spent the better part of three years painting what he sees through the window of his studio:

A woman showering with a hose beside barbed wire; a body lying still at an intersection under a streetlight.

Then there's an unfinished piece he calls "The Land of Nod," an homage to the men and women who seem to defy gravity as ...Read more

The physical changes of impending motherhood are stunning. Though new curves and nausea can be dramatic, physical changes are only the beginning. The changes that create the deepest imprints happen in the heart.

The first change you notice is a depth love you never knew existed. You cradle that newborn in your arms and a deep swell of wonder ...Read more

Q. Each Mother’s Day I am faced with a dilemma. Now that I am in college, I can easily say I love my mom, but I also have a very close relationship with my bonus mom and each year I like to acknowledge her as well. My mom and Jessi get along just fine. We often have brunch together each Mother’s Day. But my family gets even more complicated....Read more

Most people would say — especially in the winter, when insects are vacationing in Florida — that they wouldn’t hurt a fly. Not my wife.

Sue wouldn’t hurt anything else, including me, even though I’m the biggest pest in the house, but she doesn’t like flies.

Or ants. Or spiders. Or any other winged invaders or creepy crawlers that ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Meagan Culberson, 32, was on a third date with a guy she met on Hinge when she decided it was time to ask him a make-or-break question: What are you looking for?

They'd gone on fun dates and she was interested in getting to know him better, but only if they were on the same page. She wanted a long-term relationship.

When she ...Read more

My phone would not talk to my car. They were miffed with each other because of a software update. "Don't look at me," said the car, "I didn't install some new code." "No, I suppose not," said the phone, "you haven't gotten a proper firmware update since 2019."

I went online to find a solution, and of course the first 10 options were videos. I ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — On Saturday morning, I told my husband I was heading to the park. Be careful, he told me.

His concern wasn’t totally ungrounded. I was heading to Clara Muhammad Square in the 4700 block of Lancaster Avenue in West Philadelphia, the site of a shooting that took place only weeks ago. At what was meant to be a joyous occasion �...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — On Saturday morning, I told my husband I was heading to the park. Be careful, he told me.

His concern wasn’t totally ungrounded. I was heading to Clara Muhammad Square in the 4700 block of Lancaster Avenue in West Philadelphia, the site of a shooting that took place only weeks ago. At what was meant to be a joyous occasion �...Read more