In fifth grade, my BFF Diane dumped me for some girl named Helen. Diane and I had been inseparable for years and it took me what felt like forever to get over feeling betrayed. I agonized over what I had "done" to deserve such mistreatment, and spent months eating my...

Years ago, someone told me about a phenomenon that developed as the death toll rose in the Vietnam War. When a U.S. soldier died in combat, the military would send a clergyman and a ranking officer to knock on the family's door and deliver the news in person. But the...

On the first day of high school in 1964, I nervously stood in an alphabetized line behind a new student who had moved to the district over the summer. I was a B; she was a B. I remember thinking that since she was new and knew no one at...

A few years ago during a job interview, a young recruiter asked what I hoped to be doing in five years. I suppressed a guffaw. It's a question recruiters have been asking for decades with the goal of learning about an applicant's career ambitions. The fact that I was pushing...

There are some gifts that we all know not to give a man of any age -- a tie being principal among them. But as men grow older, the list of things they will surely appreciate as gifts dwindles. The reason is that the older they are, the greater the...

I am fond of telling people that I became a journalist because I wanted to make a difference. Actually, what I wanted to do was change the world. I suppose to some whose stories I've told over the past 40 years, I have made a difference. But the goal of...

What's wrong with us anyway? I walked into the office the other morning and immediately rejected the compliment a co-worker paid about my new dress. Actually, what she said was "Wow! You really are losing weight."

Well, yes, I really am. Ten pounds in eight weeks, thank you very much....

Aging is not without its joys -- or surprises. While of course everyone's experience as they move into the middle years is different, here are a few universal truths that nobody tells you about.

1) You sweat less.
Actually, you just perspire differently. The need for underarm anti-perspirant diminishes...

"This Is What ... Looks Like" is a Huff/Post50 series delving into the extraordinary accomplishments and adventures of post 50s at every stage of life. Want to share your experiences? Email us at sayitonhuffpost50@huffingtonpost.com.

Joseph Datsko, at 92, has pedaled more miles in his life than many people rack up...

There are lots of ways to measure the health of the housing market: the number of sales, number of listings, days on the market and of course, sale prices. But we have what we think is a surefire thermometer -- and a far more fun way -- to conclude that...

Some people shake off their home's cobwebs by redecorating and slapping up a coat of paint in the dining room. Not Mr. Die Hard.

Actor Bruce Willis, who back in February listed his Manhattan apartment at $11.65 million, has now has put his Beverly Hills mansion on...

"Summertime, and the living is easy," so said George Gershwin in the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess. Gershwin clearly lived a long time ago. Summertime brings a new set of challenges to midlifers and as Memorial Day -- the unofficial start to the summer season -- is upon us, we...

Former “L.A. Ink” reality TV star Kat Von D hopes to sell her Gothic castle-style home (what, were you envisioning her in a tract development ranch?) for $2.5 million. She bought the place in 2011 for $2.175 million.

The massively body-decorated Von D has been romantically linked to several bad...

For the past few years, baby boomers have been telling survey-takers that they plan to work until they drop, an attitude that undoubtedly could be tied to the recession that cost many their jobs, the housing crisis that devalued their homes, and the stock market crash that wiped out their...

About two months ago, I discovered the popular Words With Friends app. Yes, this probably makes me the last person on the planet to do so, but I quickly made up for my delayed discovery by playing the game constantly in those small time gaps of my day....

Rhetorically speaking, how many mansions does one celebrity couple actually need? Add this Santa Barbara stunner to the real estate portfolio of Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi. Public records don't yet say what they paid for it, but it had been listed at $26.5 million.

The 13-acre estate,

Pop mega-star Katy Perry is the proud new owner of $11.2 million worth of real estate in the Hollywood Hills. She is most definitely now a California Gurl.

Perry bought two properties -- neither was listed for sale at the time -- that include two houses on...

Never mind "if you like it, put a ring on it." If you like it, buy her a $5 million home in her mother's name so that your new wife-of-60 years-your-junior has a roof over her head when you go off to the big Playboy Mansion in the sky.

Hugh...

Shortly after his 60th birthday, my husband -- who is 15 years my senior -- took a buyout from his employer of 32 years to follow a life-long dream: He became a thoroughbred racehorse owner -- briefly.

He had dabbled in the ponies while still employed and when the opportunity...

Jennifer Love Hewitt -- she of the $5 million breasts -- just spent $3.25 million on a house in the Pacific Palisades. In a week where Angelina Jolie taught us the real value of boobs, we can't help but question if Hewitt's are really...