At the age of 34, I watched a PBS TV special on Aikido, and it was love at first sight. I was astounded and drawn by its graceful dance-like movements. I crafted a careful plan to overcome my anxiety over entering a martial arts dojo for the first time. I would fall in love, move from the Bay Area to Seattle, get married (yes, it did h...

How do you learn something new about your life mate* after being together for decades? Undertake a big project together, for example, write a book. In our case,How to Be a Care Consultant and Care Manager: Working With Elders and Their Families With Compassion and Respect. Most of our collaboration did not yield a whole lot of learning...

There’s an old joke: “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not all after you.” In these times of widespread surveillance, you don’t have to be paranoid to believe they’re all after you. As usual, I do the research to satisfy my own needs and curiosity. I do the essays to pass that information on to family, friends, and who...