Have you ever stopped to consider how much thought and effort went into the design of the spaces you visit every day? You may not realize it, but your favorite restaurants, neighborhood grocery store and go-to movie theater follow some very specific design principles in order to create a unique space that is both visually appealing and user friendly.

The resignation of CIA Director David Petraeus incited a number of political time bombs, including one of the more contentious speculations, a White House cover-up over the attack on the U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya. But the latest episode in the scandal propels a more sensitive issue, one that targets the American people as a whole, through government surveillance and the possible imposition of U.S. law.

Going for Gold in the Golden Years

‘Tis the season for at-home entertaining—food, friends, family, fun and yes, even fires.

Many people spend their entire time in Puerto Rico enjoying the beaches and never get to the countryside.

Often demonized in current events, the Arizona millionaire—average age 63—is suffering an identity crisis.

On Sept. 10, thousands of Chicago public-school teachers went on strike, leaving some 350,000 students without schooling and forcing parents to decide whether to stay home from work, fork out the extra money for childcare, or leave their children at home to fend for themselves.

In all the years writing this column, I have never entered into the minefield of prognostication. But I’m going to take that step now.

During a recent rainy day in Phoenix, I began reading the journal I kept when my husband, Michael, was dealing with esophageal cancer.

Dear Old Bag: I salute the “Solution-Minded” person who wrote a letter last month suggesting that we turn illegal immigrants into the solution, rather than the problem.

Our lives are busier than ever. Trying to balance the demands of work and home life is no easy feat.

I had to kick off the fall harvest season with two of my very favorite pumpkin recipes. Grandma Gertie’s Pumpkin Pie will put a grin on your face while you’re licking the plate clean. Many thanks to Sharman Hickman of Hickman’s Family Farms for sharing her Grandma’s treasure.

From Jane Austen to ‘Downton Abbey’

Love it or hate it—if you can even understand it—the new health care reform is coming. Arizona health care professionals tell us what changes we can expect.

You might feel a gradual welling up of pleasure, or boredom, or misery. Whatever the emotion, it’s more abundant than you ever dreamed. You can no more contain it than your hands can cup a river. And so you surrender and suck the air. Your esophagus opens, diaphragm expands. Poised at the crest of an exhalation, your body is about to be unburdened, second by second, cell by cell. A balloon deflates. A kettle hisses. Your shoulders fall while muscles slack — at last.