The 27th Leavenworth St. Patrick's Day parade is today.

Most marriages are tough, mainly because of all the things they don’t tell you before you tie the knot. Which brings me to Francis Bibbo, a science teacher and inventor of the “Better Marriage Blanket.”

We’ve been watching the slow strangulation of a venerable institution since the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970 granted unions the right to negotiate wages and benefits of postal workers.

One of the most difficult things about aging is loss. The loss may be as simple as realizing that your body aches more after a workout than it used to. Or it can be as profound as experiencing multiple friends dying in the same year.

Several weeks ago I read a new survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation that found kids spend more than 7 1/2 hours a day with electronic media, up from about six hours in 1999.

Something as simple as an electrical plug poses a danger in computing. Ignore this and you could lose your data or, worse, your system.

I can’t wait until Mother’s Day on May 9 to celebrate our moms. Besides, today is Mothering Sunday in the United Kingdom.

As grocery prices climb and landscapes start to green, planting your own vegetable garden is a sound choice for those of us living a frugal lifestyle.

I do not think I am a man whose belief structure is easily broken, but I will say that if my cult leader, for instance, told me that my path to eternal salvation lie in the purposeful ingestion of snail mucus, I would absolutely, positively, think about finding a new false idol in an entirely different poorly lit one-bedroom apartment.

The Net has converted our newspapers and magazines into freebies. The TV fat cats no doubt are much smarter.

If you have a clear, open view to the west, this is a good time to marvel at the wonders of the universe after you finish dinner.

I’m losing my wife to a health guru. Recently, I noticed the signs: the gazing at magazine covers in supermarkets, the little name drops in conversations, the sudden interest in new activities and the change in eating habits.

I’ve joined the texting world, and I’m only five years late.

What do “chutzpah,” “pitted prunes” and “as well as” have in common? They’re among the words and phrases I’ve been asked about within the past few months, and I’m finally getting around to writing about them. And there are more to come.

Every school system is facing uncomfortable cuts. Discussions have involved trimming programs, laying off teachers and even consolidation. But for urban school districts, this economic shortfall is threatening the ultimate collapse of district services. Wednesday night, the Kansas City, Mo., School Board voted 5-4 to close almost half of the district's buildings including schools.