“I’ve only worked here a couple weeks,” the man hand-shaping the individual crusts announced. “I was so impressed – I mean, this is the best pizza I’ve ever had – I asked if I could work here. We bonded over pizza dough and that was that.” With such a promising sales pitch (who can resist the...

Author’s note: my suggested title was “What Do You Know about GMOs?”  Apologies to anyone (understandably) offended by the use of the words  “defective kids.” GMOs or genetically modified organisms are plants and animals whose genetic material has been altered...

Peter Merriman’s Monkeypod Kitchen in Wailea offers a broad menu “dedicated to handcrafted food, drink, and merrymaking.” Eager to partake in the culinary party, the first item on board was the Crispy Rock Shrimp and Calamari ($13.95). This is an enjoyable appetizer that, until recently, was...

Years ago, at a critical juncture in my life, a friend handed me a copy of Debbie Ford’s THE TWELVE QUESTIONS. The book, a slender tome filled with simple but insightful self-inquiries, was as wise as it was helpful. I suspect Jasmyne Boswell’s similarly concise book, WHAT IF THE PROBLEM’S...

Maui author Eric Micha’el Leventhal’s collection of 108 original poems, essays, and aphorisms urges the reader to explore the nature of love, identity, and reality itself. Named from a passage in J.R.R. Tolkien’s THE FELLOWSHP OF THE RING, the book raises questions and explores personal...