Last weekend, as the Sun ganged up with combustible Mars in Scorpio, the second SpaceX Starship test flight took place in Texas. Unlike that of its predecessor in April, this iteration’s liftoff was perfect. But Elon Musk’s $5 billion Starship suffered two explosions, ending its trial run in eight minutes. Still, it’s being hailed as progress, since this version made it to … [Read more...]

A few years back, I built an altar for Dia de Los Muertos to honor my parents. We have no Aztec or Spanish blood in our lineage, but I’ve always loved the tradition. Creating the altar was a labor of love that involved hauling a lot of stuff to the Sherman Heights Community Center, including candles and marigolds. But it was worth it to share Mom and Dad’s lives with others via … [Read more...]

On a sweltering May afternoon in 2015, D’Arcy Downs-Vollbracht heard an unearthly scream. She ran out of her Bullhead City, AZ ranch house and saw three neighboring dogs viciously attacking her pet goats. The protective mama managed to save one of the goats, but then the dogs turned on her. During the melee, the horses in the nearby pasture froze – all except Fortune. An … [Read more...]

About a month ago, during her summer vacation, eleven-year-old Esma Gljiva from Sarajevo, Bosnia, started creating folklore-style Barbies with Balkan costumes like headdresses and decorative aprons. The timing was interesting, given the enormous success of the new Barbie movie, released in mid-July. But Esma hadn’t seen the film. Her project was inspired, she says, by her … [Read more...]

  “Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It’s not something you learn in school. But if you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven’t learned anything.” –Muhammad Ali   Comedian and talk show host Dick Cavett once stopped by to see his friend Muhammad Ali being filmed in New York. “The producer said Ali was being … [Read more...]