Lifestyles

Few workers -- barely 1 in 5 -- will be able to maintain their lifestyle upon retirement, with women at a disadvantage because of their longer life spans and lower pay. On average, employees are projected to replace just 85% of their income in retirement, compared with the 126% they would need when factoring in inflation, longer life spans and medical costs, a study by Hewitt Associates found. The study looked at the projected retirement levels of nearly 2 million current workers of varying ages at 72 large U.S. companies and used actual employee balances.

Artist Kharlene Boxenbaum knows the power of a focal point. At her modern Beverly Hills home, it's the 23-foot-long steel plinth, covered in quartz CaesarStone, that seems to float from her patio into the landscape. Boxenbaum thinks of the shimmery surface, a gathering spot for parties and barbecues, as "functional sculpture." "It has a kind of James Turrell look," she says, referring to the artist who uses light and indeterminate space to extend and enhance perception.

In Southern California homes, indoor and outdoor blur, the color and light of our gardens spilling into our interiors, the energy of kitchens and living rooms splashing onto patios. Our fabled setting inspires spaces designed to take full advantage of the long seasons when beautiful days slide into gentle, temperate nights. And this year, in particular, forces both interior and exterior are conspiring to put a new emphasis on the outdoor room.

Independent film producer Gail Katz longed for a place to sit outdoors by a fire--a comfortable retreat with a kitchen setup for easy meals and a small bar for blending smoothies for the kids and margaritas for her friends. But her backyard was the land that time forgot. "There was a large pool that took up almost the entire yard," says Katz. "We never used it; the kids didn't hang out there. . . . Once in a while we chipped at a golf ball--and that was about it."

For PEOPLE already diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, waiting for research breakthroughs is disheartening. But life can still be lived with hope, says Wantland J. Smith, 69, a retired architect who was diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer's at age 66. Smith, of Los Angeles, takes medications to treat his symptoms, attends support-group meetings and even does volunteer advocacy work for the Alzheimer's Assn. in Los Angeles.

It happened with cigarettes. It happened with red meat. And carbs. And SUVs. And now it's happening with e-mail. The preferred communication channel of millions of Americans is no longer cool. According to a growing number of academics, "technologists" and psychologists, our dependence on e-mail -- the need to attend to a constantly beeping in-box -- is creating anxiety in the workplace, adversely affecting the ability to focus, diminishing productivity and threatening family bonds.

The water is flat and the wooden boat slips past a shuttered villa toward the reeds. The fisherman crawls to the bow to check his nets; the boat drifts, but not to worry, he knows the Nile, its bends and banks, and the muddy shoals where the ferries dock and the day's catch is hauled to market. The nets are empty -- no surprise. The fish will come when the moon does, when the water is cool and dark and the din of the crowded city quiets.

IN COUNTLESS spa treatment rooms, therapists knead muscles and array rocks on chakras to the sound of tinkling chimes, muffled chants and meandering guitars. The person lying under the sheets likely will emerge from the treatment calm and relaxed, still smelling the scented massage lotions, but with virtually no recollection of the music wafting through the room. And some would say that's a blessing.

On the worst days, Keith Kang's commute from his home in Corona to his graphic design business in Fullerton could almost equal a quarter of the workday. So when he learned about SoCo Walk, a mixed-use project in downtown Fullerton that opened in late 2006, he thought he had found a perfect solution. Kang and his wife grabbed one of the town homes and now run their business on the first floor. But the experiment in urban living isn't working out the way Kang had imagined.