In the days following the death of Richard Nixon, a series of reminiscences about the battered political warrior began to appear in the pages of the Union-Tribune. Editor Jerry Warren, once a Nixon press aide, …

Dear Man hew Alice: What is the origin of the tall, puffy hat traditionally worn by chefs? We expect it has some mysterious purpose since a simple hair net would adequately protect hair from falling …

Dear Matthew Alice: How did Jeopardy! get its name? What does it have to do with the game and how it's played? Besides the obvious jeopardy of not winning and having to take home a …

Monday, November 9, 1992 “San Diego Estates,” Mama says on the phone, “was zoned for 'second housing.’ They couldn’t zone it for regular housing because of no water — it was the only way they …

One disturbing element of the Mercado Apartments is its parking facilities. The two lots accommodate 100 cars each, and until shade trees (jacarandas and other flowering species) take over, will invite comparisons to a small Wal-Mart.

I was afraid Sarah hated me, afraid that my relationship with my mother would duplicate itself. Hadn’t my mother disapproved this second child, hadn’t she said, “How can you take care of two?” with the emphasis on “you”?

Prayer today seems old-fashioned and irrelevant – a fossil from an era when explorers risked sailing over the edge of the known world. For some, it intrudes where it does not belong and must be …

Dear Matthew Alice: When and why did croutons suddenly go giant size? They used to get moist from the salad dressing and blend right in. These "gourmet” monsters are so big you forget you're eating …

Friday, November 6, 1992 They Pulling the shades to see the blue mountains. That they escaped there, into them. That I didn’t know this before. That the core Mesa Grande Indians are the original Ramona …

Grasses indigenous to North America did not produce good lawn; they were rough after cutting and green only during the growing season.

Monday, November 2, 1992. La Noche de las Velas. Can You Go Home Again? I flew from Asheville, North Carolina, the town made famous by Thomas Wolfe's book You Can't Go Home Again and ancestral …

My wife and I have noticed that several houses in our neighborhood have two or three jars of water on their front lawns. The jars are sealed with clear, colorless water in them. They aren't …

Dear Answer Man: My question has to do with earthquakes that seem to occur around five or six or seven in the morning. An equal tug upon the earth’s crust, as with the tides, could …

Dear Matt: I’ve got a question (obviously). I’m approaching 40, and I’ve noticed something unusual. While I’ve no gray or white hair on my head, I DO have two, yes TWO white pubic hairs. Why? …

I'm not a regular at Kobey's Swap Meet. I've only been four times, but I already have "friends" there. Peggy and Jim Ciriello ask whether I’ve used the cast-iron corn bread skillet I bought from …

Dear Matthew Alice: In Rex Reed's People Are Crazy Here, in the chapter on Alfred Hitchcock, he writes, “His favorite people in history are Lizzie Borden, Jack the Ripper, and a man who murdered his …

Dear Matthew Alice: As usual, my hubby tells me some off-the-wall things, most of which I can’t find out for sure at the local library. In this one, he said that in Cheyenne, Wyoming, the …

Let me see if I can’t sort out my current feelings about videos, after only recently having come through one of my irregular stretches of watching some. Upside: Cost. I start out with this point, …