Our Columns

In honor of the 10th anniversary of “Let Inga Tell You,” and having run out of pretty much anything else to say (not that this will stop me from writing the column), I have been mining my memories of Pleasantville High School Class of ’65 and our subsequent reunions in my last two columns. Try to contain your excitement. In order to get people to read past the first paragraph, I’ve been intentionally inserting the name of my Pulitzer-prize-winning classmate, Dave Barry.

LET INGA TELL YOU: Well, after last week’s column, I haven’t heard from my high school classmate Dave Barry’s lawyer asking me to cease and desist writing about him, so I’m going to continue taking advantage of our extremely distant association to reminisce about the Pleasantville High School Class of 1965’s 40th and 50th reunions.

LET INGA TELL YOU: Astonishingly, I am approaching the 10th anniversary of writing Let Inga Tell You, a gig I thought might last three months.

Wouldn’t it be lovely to peel off your fake warty nose or Halloween mask and have a pristine complexion underneath? Here are a few remedies to keep your skin radiant, glowing and glabrous.

Today’s butter substitutes are savvy and sophisticated, spreadable and versatile, plant-based and healthy without harmful trans fats. Here’s a run-down of choices to suit your family’s dietary restrictions.

Besides the most popular white variety, cauliflower comes in vibrant Technicolors. The lime green Broccoflower is a hybrid cross with broccoli, the orange “Cheddar,” with a rich store of beta-carotene, is a mutant strain from our neighbors to the north, while the purple curd, called “Graffiti,” with a load of deep pigmented anthocyanins found in blueberries and dark grapes, is a cool-season biennial that gives a pop of eye candy and antioxidant oomph. Of course, pale green Romanesco, which resembles a prehistoric breed with tightly packed spiky florets, although a broccoli hybrid, resembles cauliflower more in flavor and texture.

FRONTLINE CANCER: Oncology is going through an immense transformation, like the Internet in the early 1990s, and academia-industry partnerships are playing an increasingly critical role in this revolution.

FRONTLINE CANCER: Some of you may recall what I hope was a heartwarming holiday column about one family, a doctor and their unified hope for a new beginning (in the Dec. 26, 2018 La Jolla Light, “Frontline Cancer : The season for family, health, hope and new beginnings” at lajollalight.com/scott-lippman/cm-ljl-frontline-cancer-jan3-2019-20190102-story.html) I’d like to update you on their journey and share an amazing story of an uncommon partnership in rare disease that has accelerated strategic alliances and rare cancer research, specifically SDH-deficient Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor (GIST) research, all in the last three years.

FRONTLINE CANCER: When cancer hits home, people want to know why.

NATURAL LA JOLLA: Last week, I spotted a little furry creature poking out of its burrow in the middle of a manicured lawn — it was a pocket gopher!

NATURAL LA JOLLA: Birding could not be better than at La Jolla Cove right now.

NATURAL LA JOLLA: It was an exceptionally warm fall here in La Jolla, with record high temperatures being observed day after day.