Do you want it? Or need it? Depends
There’s one reason to shop at Wal-Mart and it has nothing to do with customer service. No, the only time I deal with the headache that is the CityPlace parking lot is when it’s time for new slippers. I know what you’re thinking: Can’t Jim forgo this travesty [...]

Holiday Travel Editon
We’d all like to pack our suitcases and hop a flight to Switzerland (or even just San Francisco) for the holidays, but for many of us, “winter vacation” typically translates into “sleep over at Mom and Dad/Grandpa and Grandma’s” . . . you know, at their house in Cerritos. This year, though, for [...]

I wasn’t looking for a new hair product, but there it was, For Men Hair Slick, prancing in front of my eyes at The Body Shop. My girlfriend was off somewhere—the temptation was too much. I stared and I paced. I picked it up, I put it down. After a few laps around the shop, [...]

Do you want it? Or need it? Depends
At first blush, the idea of hiring a personal Christmas shopper might come off as cold, lazy and distant, but I encourage you to look deeper: shopping for your family is not only laborious, but perilous, too. Unwanted purchases can leave both the giver and receiver with total, [...]

Do you want it? Or need it? Depends.
I bought a Sirius Satellite Radio because there ain’t shit on the regular airwaves, and now I love it so much you’d think I was on their payroll. Everyone knows about Howard Stern, so I won’t say anything about him other than his show alone is worth the [...]

If you’re scratching your head about what to plant in that bare patch of dirt behind the house— or just need some inspiration on what to put in those vacant terracotta pots littering your balcony—then get down to the LBCC Horticultural Club’s Friday Plant Sale. Organized and run by the Horticultural Club for nigh 40 [...]

If flexing your tree-hugger cred while you’re alive just isn’t enough, go granola post-mortem with a purchase you can’t make twice: your coffin.
A safely biodegradable, 100 percent recycled paper coffin, the Ecopod is a radical, “green guilt”-free alternative to conventional chipboard and laminate caskets that leak toxins into groundwater and soil. Inventor Hazel Selina describes [...]

Do you want it? Or need it? Depends.
It’s not the biggest nor the best attraction-turned-haunted-house in Southern California, but the Queen Mary’s Shipwreck Halloween Terror Fest is definitely worth your money. For starters, any excuse to board the ol’ majestic ship is reason enough for me—not to mention the boat is reportedly haunted, which makes [...]

Do you want it? Or need it? Depends.
MiniMANIACS “Bling Bling” bibs might not snag your precious drool bucket a Guinness World Record like rapper Lil Jon and his $500,000 “Crunk Ain’t Dead” diamond necklace, but they will make your little one look like a rock star—and for a hell of a lot less.
When Seal Beach [...]

Do you want it? Or need it? Depends.

The biennial Mid-City Studio Tour isn’t something you can buy (admission is free) but it is something you definitely want: a peek inside the studios, homes and in most cases home studios of some of Long Beach’s most recognized visual artists. Organized by artists Cynthia Evans, Annie Stromquist [...]