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If I had a time machine I would go back 30 years and show up at my grandmother's apartment before the gargantuan meals she would serve and I would help her.

For more than 40 years, I have advocated the creation of a 'round the clock' community. This would mean, at the least, housing, schools and shops of various kinds alongside the commercial buildings. That kind of community had appeared in lower Manhattan in nascent form before Sept. 11, 2001.

You can never turn the clock back and, since we're talking about mental health, I would stress that.

I write about times and places I would visit in a time machine, like ancient Rome or the Wild West.

They took away time, and they gave us the clock.

Sometimes things happen in life, sometimes they don't. Don't get me wrong: I have no regrets - if I could turn the clock back 10 or 20 years, I wouldn't want to fundamentally change the path my life has taken.

As a kid, I did want to be an old-timer, since they were the ones with the big stories and the cool clothes. I wanted to go there. Now, I guess I want to bring that with me and go back in time.