In any economic environment it is important to have your investments organized, but in challenging economic times it is more essential than ever. Your investments need to be moni- tored and evaluated just as your clothes closet needs a regular spring-cleaning.

Socotra Island, Yemen, is a place that simply blows away any notion of what is considered “normal” for a landscape found on Earth. Imagine waking up on Socotra Island and taking a good look around you (let’s say your buddies pulled a prank on you and delivered you there, [...]

Where are you taking your vacation this year? California? Hawaii? Europe? How about outer space? For those with the money and the nerve this will soon be the destination.

Since the discovery of stars and planets, earthlings have been obsessed with the concept of outer space. Popular in the 1950s and 60s, space-inspired Googie architecture further increased our fascination with what could be in future ages

The most alien environment on Earth lies deep within the sea. Not only does the vast blackness of the ocean’s bot- tom resemble the far reaches of outer space, but it is also populated by creatures that might have sprung to life from our fantasies about invaders from the distant galaxies of our imagi- nation.

I want to blame it on being female. Or maybe I should blame it on being emotional. Maybe I should take out the word “blame” and replace it with “credit.” However I say it, it will never do it justice: Be as in Beauty dug straight to my heart and is one the best books I’ve read in years.

SPRING CLEAN WITH A FRESH, NEW BEGINNING AND TWO WELL-LOVED CLASSICS.

Cindy Oyen found she had fallen into a new career. Literally. After years of working for the family business and training champion horses, Oyen needed a new challenge. A family friend enrolled her in realty classes, and after a bit of persuasion she accepted the proposal. Eighteen years later, Oyen still loves her job.

Modern furniture from baby chairs to eco smart fire.

Last year, when 47-year-old San Diego resident Linda Qua had her gall bladder removed, her doctor took it out through her vagina as part of a clinical trial for a procedure known as “natural orifice surgery,” or NOTES (Natural Orifice Translumenal Endoscopic Surgery), in which surgeons operate through the mouth, vagina, or even rectum, eliminating the need for a large incision.

Processed meat patties and deep-fried potato pieces? Please. Today’s culture has shifted to a faster, more convenient mindset, and in doing so, has lost track of its priorities. Luckily, there is a way to get fast, delicious food that is actually healthy: growing a personal herb garden.

W hen we hear the word “alien,” a great many visions appear before our eyes. For example, to some people, “alien” means someone from another planet, a fabulist’s version of outer space, a creature with bulging eyes and antennae growing from its head. Actually, we need go no further than the tabloid rack in the local super- market’s checkout aisle to do research on this kind of alien.

For many celebrities, fame offers a chance to lose staggering amounts of money in a winery. For others, the wine business is paying off. Celebrity wine makers have about one per cent of the American wine market, adding about $42 million per year to their wealth, up almost 20 per cent from last year.

Imagine, if you will, gazing from a helicopter at the beautiful, grapevine covered valleys of Dry Creek and Sonoma, CA, followed by a gentle landing on a tree-shaded hill. A white-uniformed and toque-sporting master chef waits with a gourmet meal he has prepared for you, an experience enhanced by wines that perfectly marry to each dish served.

Automotive design has long served as a bridge between science fiction and reality. Car designers have historically displayed a panache for packaging new and potentially influential technologies into shapes that embody our preconceptions of what the future will look like, while simultaneously pushing the boundaries of our collective imagination.

Who does not seek a youthful appearance? Every generation has attempted to unearth the secret, magical potion to postpone aging. From Cleopatra soaking in honey milk baths to Ponce de Leon searching for the fountain of youth, the quest for rejuvenation has been unending. Magical concoctions aside, today’s top anti-aging methods come closer than ever before to achieving the desired results.