"Grown-ups have lived their lives and made their wars. We kids didn't start these wars or make these messes. We deserve a chance to live our lives." This is a paraphrase from Anne's line in "The Diary of Anne Frank" at the Park Square Theatre in St. Paul. I attended this performance as a chaperone with about 200 eighth graders from Forestview Middle School. It was stunning. The cast of characters were exactly how I have pictured them through my readings, imagings, and visit to the Annex in Amsterdam.

Lately I have found myself becoming more educated on the appeals of online and social media. At the age of 24, there really was little time that the world wide web was not a presence in my life.

We took classes beginning in 6th grade to improve our typing and even created our own webpages that same year. None of this of course compares to the iPad phenomenon that is now replacing books in schools or the fact that kids are more familiar with technology in many cases than even I am — my nephew recently taught me how to play 'Cut the Rope'...he's four.

"The older I get the more offensive I hope to be," Mark, from the play "Art," by Yasmina Reza, currently playing at the Central Lakes College Dryden Theatre. Serge bought a piece of art for a hefty sum. He's criticized and ridiculed by his friend Mark. Yvan, the third friend in the triangle, tries to be a peacemaker, but ends up causing more strife. At times you feel the two against one scenario that happens in groups of three. Conversations are held in pairs, and the third one is left out, talked about, and later on the defensive.

Want to live longer? The American Heart Association (AHA) reports for every hour of regular exercise, a person gains two hours of additional life expectancy. That’s even true, the AHA notes, if you don’t start until middle age.
The good news is you don’t have to get it all in one lump. The AHA says three 10-minute periods of moderate activity are almost as beneficial to overall fitness as one 30-minute session. And just 30 minutes has proven health benefits, the AHA says.