No one wants to think about losing a parent. But not planning for it makes it worse.

I sold my mom’s house in Florida in December. I didn’t discuss it with her, which is weird because we discuss everything. Or we used to, before her Alzheimer’s disease worsened. I’ve learned to edit myself in conversations and to consider what is worth stressing her out (if she remembers what I’ve said).

It’s all part of the guessing game I have been playing since 2012, when, at age 77, she became one of the 5.4 million Americans diagnosed with the cognitive disorder, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. She refused to discuss it with me, insisting that her forgetfulness was just part of the normal aging process. She remained in denial, even when she was ordering pizza every other night because she couldn’t remember to grocery shop, or when her Medicare coverage lapsed because she forgot to renew it.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/on-parenting/how-to-make-talking-about--and-planning-for--a-parents-end-of-life-care-easier/2017/02/20/0ce0caac-ec99-11e6-9973-c5efb7ccfb0d_story.html?utm_term=.f98b870b418f

The debate over muni broadband expansion

As communities across the country continue to clamor for high-speed broadband, the number of critics speaking out against municipal broadband is growing.

At the heart of the debate is whether governments or private industry should have jurisdiction over broadband. Those who favor private industry point to the historical success of capitalism, while “broadband populists,” as a new report by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) calls them, favor government regulation and operation much like other city services.

https://gcn.com/articles/2017/02/10/municipal-broadband-debate.aspx

A lesser-known yoga style focused on internal health is gaining popularity in the U.S.

During a 75-minute kundalini yoga and meditation class at Lighthouse Yoga Center in Petworth one Saturday morning, eight women stood and bent at the waist, letting their arms hang loosely as they swung them side to side in gradually larger swoops for about seven minutes.

This twist through the thoracic spine opens the shoulders and chest, instructor Julie Eisenberg told the group — pretty standard stuff for a yoga class. But this move has another goal: to “get the lymph flowing through your body to pick up toxins and get them out,” Eisenberg said.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/a-lesser-known-yoga-style-focused-on-internal-health-is-gaining-popularity-in-the-us/2017/01/06/2b52b2f4-cdf2-11e6-a87f-b917067331bb_story.html?utm_term=.70486bfdfdeb

How Tough Mudders and ‘Ninja Warrior’ turned primal fears into big business

“It takes a special breed of person,” said Janice “JJ” McClean as she watched veterans of NBC’s popular obstacle course show “American Ninja Warrior” and “Ninja” hopefuls scale a 14-foot-3-inch warped wall, an intimidating concave structure that mimics one on the show. Then they took turns walking tightrope-style across a slackline — essentially a strap tied to two poles. Next they competed to see who could hold a handstand the longest.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/how-tough-mudders-and-ninja-warrior-turned-primal-fears-into-big-business/2017/01/07/5c94dade-d1dc-11e6-945a-76f69a399dd5_story.html?utm_term=.8d1943acea4f