http://www.thedailystar.com en-us Copyright CNHI All Rights Reserved. 5 Mon, 12 Oct 2009 10:23:00 +0000 http://www.thedailystar.com/lisacolumn/local_story_285040032.html http://www.thedailystar.com/lisacolumn/local_story_285040032.html In the Oct. 5 edition of Newsweek, columnist Julia Baird bemoans America's "obsession with smiley-faced happiness" and poses the question, "Is this endless pursuit of happiness just making us all miserable?" Baird says studies show that Americans are no happier today than they were 30 years ago, despite steady economic growth and an increasing focus on positive thinking seen everywhere from best-selling self-help books to coffee mugs to corporate trainings. Sat, 19 Sep 2009 10:21:00 +0000 http://www.thedailystar.com/lisacolumn/local_story_262040037.html http://www.thedailystar.com/lisacolumn/local_story_262040037.html Like many who cheered from the sidelines as Oneonta embarked on its quest to become Soccertown, USA, I was surprised and disappointed by the closure of the National Soccer Hall of Fame earlier this month. Sat, 29 Aug 2009 09:07:00 +0000 http://www.thedailystar.com/lisacolumn/local_story_241040032.html http://www.thedailystar.com/lisacolumn/local_story_241040032.html We've shopped for sneakers and backpacks and stockpiled 15-cent notebooks and glue sticks. Now, as we count down to earlier bedtimes and new routines, my kids are getting a little stir-crazy, and I'm running out of creative responses to my 5-year-old's perpetual question: "What can I doooo?" If not for board games, we'd be climbing the walls. Sat, 08 Aug 2009 12:33:00 +0000 http://www.thedailystar.com/lisacolumn/local_story_220040029.html http://www.thedailystar.com/lisacolumn/local_story_220040029.html President Obama's commitment to health care reform was one reason he got my vote. Tue, 21 Jul 2009 08:34:00 +0000 http://www.thedailystar.com/lisacolumn/local_story_202073327.html http://www.thedailystar.com/lisacolumn/local_story_202073327.html Forty years after the world watched Neil Armstrong take those historic first steps on the moon, space exploration has never been more important. Sun, 21 Jun 2009 14:21:00 +0000 http://www.thedailystar.com/lisacolumn/local_story_172142120.html http://www.thedailystar.com/lisacolumn/local_story_172142120.html We were in the Greater Plains sixthgrade wing after school, and my 5-year-old daughter, Allie, was begging for a glimpse of her older sister’s classroom. “Please, can I see it?” she asked, tugging on my hand. “I just want to see the castle.” Sat, 09 May 2009 09:43:00 +0000 http://www.thedailystar.com/lisacolumn/local_story_129041505.html http://www.thedailystar.com/lisacolumn/local_story_129041505.html A 60-plus-year-old tradition continues this weekend, when more than 300 area sixth-graders _ including my oldest daughter, Abby _ travel to Washington, D.C., Arlington, Va., and Philadelphia for a four-day sightseeing tour. Sun, 19 Apr 2009 12:08:00 +0000 http://www.thedailystar.com/lisacolumn/local_story_108041508.html http://www.thedailystar.com/lisacolumn/local_story_108041508.html There's a lot to be optimistic about this Earth Day. A new study by the National Center for Atmospheric Research predicts it's not too late to avoid many of the catastrophic effects of global warming _ if the world comes together now to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 70 percent. Sat, 07 Mar 2009 10:52:00 +0000 http://www.thedailystar.com/lisacolumn/local_story_066041628.html http://www.thedailystar.com/lisacolumn/local_story_066041628.html Parents today have more ways than ever to keep tabs on their children. With the right gadgets, it only takes a few clicks for tech-savvy parents to find out exactly where their teen driver is, how fast he is driving and whether he's wearing a seat belt. Parents have the technology to monitor where their children go on the Internet, who they e-mail, text and talk to; and even whether they bought ice cream or chips with their school lunch. Sat, 14 Feb 2009 10:53:00 +0000 http://www.thedailystar.com/lisacolumn/local_story_045040005.html http://www.thedailystar.com/lisacolumn/local_story_045040005.html The kitchen table was covered with pink and red construction paper, white doilies, markers, crayons, glue sticks, scissors, stickers and an assortment of stars and hearts from the closet where I stash scrapbooking supplies and abandoned craft projects. Sat, 13 Dec 2008 07:19:00 +0000 http://www.thedailystar.com/lisacolumn/local_story_352002355.html http://www.thedailystar.com/lisacolumn/local_story_352002355.html I’m a long way off from buying a new vehicle, but I already have a vision of my dream car. It’s reliable, safe and green as can be _ powered by batteries, hydrogen, solar energy or some yet-undeveloped renewable fuel. Sat, 22 Nov 2008 07:49:00 +0000 http://www.thedailystar.com/lisacolumn/local_story_327040104.html http://www.thedailystar.com/lisacolumn/local_story_327040104.html They painted with brushes and bubbles and string. They blew paint through a straw and squirted it from plastic bottles. They painted to music and by themselves and with a friend. Sat, 11 Oct 2008 15:57:00 +0000 http://www.thedailystar.com/lisacolumn/local_story_285040020.html http://www.thedailystar.com/lisacolumn/local_story_285040020.html It's more than three weeks until Election Day, and my internal hard drive is already just about maxed out. In this Too-Much-Information Age, we have 24/7 access to news _ and opinion _ on every step (and misstep) the presidential candidates take, every questionable association they ever had, every exaggeration, every innuendo, every fact taken out of context. Sat, 20 Sep 2008 15:59:00 +0000 http://www.thedailystar.com/lisacolumn/local_story_264040007.html http://www.thedailystar.com/lisacolumn/local_story_264040007.html The sunflower was a surprise. It grew up tall and fast in the perennial patch in our front yard; too confident to be a weed, so I let it grow even though I had no idea how it got there or what it would become. Sat, 30 Aug 2008 16:00:00 +0000 http://www.thedailystar.com/lisacolumn/local_story_243040043.html http://www.thedailystar.com/lisacolumn/local_story_243040043.html Ah, summer vacation. Trips to the pool and the park and the lake, leisurely dinners and late bedtimes, barbecues and ice cream cones, camping trips, amusement park rides and days at the beach.