This week the extravagant festival known as Carnival exploded onto the streets of Brazil, most notably in the cities of Rio De Janeiro and Salvador. Salvador, the capital of the northeastern state of Bahia, is known for hosting the wilder celebration.

A few weeks ago however, crime and violence broke...

Back in December, when the Santa Ana winds blew through Southern California, I heard that a celebrity had off-handedly described his neighborhood as left "like Beirut." This was at the same time I was traveling through Lebanon with my toddler daughter. It occurred to me then that when most Americans...

One week after my daughter Lulu was born, my ex admitted to committing numerous infidelities throughout my pregnancy. While I was still recovering, fresh from surgery, he chose to leave our family. Three months later we were enmeshed in a custody battle where he fought to have our baby girl...