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Wrecking a home and career

Dear Annie: Recently, I met “Todd” through a friend of a friend. I went back to school to study graphic design a couple years ago and will be graduating this fall. Todd is also a graphic designer, so our mutual friend introduced us so that Todd could give me career advice and maybe even get me a job or apprenticeship at the company where he works. When I met Todd, instantly, sparks flew. We met at a coffee shop and it was only supposed to be a half-hour chat about graphic design, but we ended up talking for more than two hours about our favorite artists, our backgrounds — pretty ...

Matters of health and HR

Dear Annie: I’ve been working at the same company for the last 10 years. It’s a small office that trains temps, so we have new people all the time. I train them on office work. Though I’m friendly with each new employee, it’s rare for me to get to know people on a deep level when they only stay for a few months or so. So, we normally talk about TV or what we’re eating for lunch or light gossip around the office. We recently hired a new girl for the temp program, and I’ve never seen her eat more than a few veggie sticks for lunch. I jokingly asked about it the first day. She ...

Let Venezuela decide its own destiny

“Who would be free themselves must strike the blow... “By their right arms the conquest must be wrought.” So wrote Lord Byron of Greece’s war of independence against the Turks, though the famed British poet would ignore his own counsel and die just days after arriving in Greece to join the struggle. Yet Byron’s advice is the wise course for the United States, and for the people of Venezuela who seek to free their country of the grip of the incompetent and dictatorial regime of Nicolas Maduro. Let the Venezuelans decide their own destiny, as did we. As of today, ...

Making mountains out of molehills

Dear Annie: I just turned 39 and am freaking out about my next birthday, when I will go from being a young person to a middle-aged person. I remember when I was a child everyone making such a fuss over my parents turning 40. And now here I am turning 40. Do you have any suggestions for coping with this monumental change of life? — Scared of Aging Dear Scared: It’s as monumental as you make it, and try not to make a molehill into a mountain. Your actual age is nothing but a number, and, as they say, 60 is the new 40. And if you keep a good mental attitude and take care of yourself ...

A museum fuels hatred of America

BILBAO, Spain — The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is a masterpiece of American architecture, a swirl of curved configurations crafted out of sheets of titanium by Frank Gehry. But step inside the stunning structure, and the celebration of America is over. Most of the second floor is dedicated to the works of American artist Jenny Holzer, who seems to be filled with loathing for the land of her birth. As you enter one gallery, you are greeted with an exhibit called the “Inflammatory Essays,” a series of posters printed on colored paper and containing the artist’s various manifestos. ...

Assessing relationship expectations

Dear Annie: My boyfriend and I have been together for seven years. We have lived together for nearly five years and been engaged for the past three years. We are both in our late 50s. He has never been married and had no children. He has been very successful in his business. I have been married twice and have three children. We get along great. We go to movies, eat out, go on vacation together, and we laugh all the time. He treats me like a queen and my children as if they were his own. So here’s the problem: Everything we have is in his name only — house, cars and ...