O, The Oprah Magazine articles from April 2006

O, The Oprah Magazine archives from April 2006

We hear you! Struck by February's love issue, readers marvel at Ellen Tien's trial by illness, proclaim David Sedaris the ultimate treat, weigh their diet priorities, and more....(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2006... I rarely write to magazines. But I thought "After the Beginning," by Michael Vincent Miller, PhD [February], was one of the best articles I've ever read. His insight into the disappointment phase of relationships explains a lot about why it's...

Here we go!(Editorial)
April 1, 2006... I believe there's beauty in you. It seems to me that everybody has at least one feature worth feeling good about. It might be the way your hair shines, the color of your eyes, the sway of your hips, or the curve of your shoulders. Chances are...

Live your best life.
April 1, 2006... "We want the spring to come and the winter to pass. We want whoever to call or not call, a letter, a kiss--we want more and more and then more of it. But there are moments, walking, when I catch a glimpse of myself in the window glass, say, the...

April.(Calendar)
April 1, 2006... "In each person I catch the fleeting suggestion of something beautiful and swear eternal friendship with that."--George Santayana "But if we are truly happy inside, then age brings with it a maturity, a depth, and a power that only...

From India, with edge.(Almost Famous)(Lisa Ray)(Interview)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... By the time Lisa Ray signed on for the lead role in Water, a new film about the mistreatment of widows in mid-20th-century India, protests by Hindu fundamentalists had already shut down production, forcing director Deepa Mehta to move...

On a Clear Day.(MUST-SEE LITTLE MOVIE OF THE MONTH)(Movie review)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... IN LESS CAPABLE HANDS, On a Clear Day, Gaby Dellal's film about a middle-aged man who decides to swim the English Channel, could easily have been sunk by sentimentality. But thanks to this debut director's fresh, artistic eye--plus a taut,...

Oh, bee quiet!(Trend Fatigue)(Akeelah and the Bee)(Movie review)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Enough. E-N-O-U-G-H. Enough. First came Spellbound, Jeffrey Blitz's fantastic nail-biter of a documentary that pitted nerd against nerd at the national middle school spelling bee finals. The kids sweated and squirmed and racked their brains,...

The short list.(movies)(Don't Come Knocking)(Movie review)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... There's only one thing you need to know about Don't Come Knocking: It puts a classic acting couple, Sam Shepard and Jessica Lange, onscreen together for the first time in 20 years. Okay, two things: The genius Wim Wenders (Wings of Desire,...

Bess in show.(TV)(Elizabeth I)(Television program review)
April 1, 2006... For a "virgin," Queen Elizabeth I sure gets around. The regal redhead has strutted her stuff on the big and small screens as much as any royal, and she'll flaunt it again this month in HBO's two-part miniseries Elizabeth I (April 22 and 24)....

Whitney's sampler.(Art)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... This month New York's Whitney Museum once again checks the state of the zeitgeist in its massive every-other-year exhibition, the Whitney Biennial. The theme for 2006, "Day for Night," takes its name from Francois Truffaut's 1973 film that...

The short list.(art)
April 1, 2006... Inspired by Hurricane Katrina, Kara Walker at the Met: After the Deluge, at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art (March 21-July 30), combines Walker's cut-paper murals (left) with water-themed paintings from the Met's collection to examine...

A twang and a prayer.(Must Hear)(Fox Confessor Brings the Flood)(Sound recording review)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... NEKO CASE KNOCKED AROUND THE UNDERGROUND for years, playing drums in nondescript punk bands, before becoming indie music's favorite honky-tonk angel. Fox Confessor Brings the Flood (Anti-Records) is the Washingtonian's sixth solo album, and her...

What's playing in Roberta Flack's ear?(Music)(The Very Best of Roberta Flack)(Sound recording review)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Roberta Flack can't just talk about music--she has to sing, too, or sit at the piano and play a bit. Her new disc, The Very Best of Roberta Flack (Rhino), includes "Killing Me Softly with His Song" and other classics you can hum without...

Unhooked Generation.(NUGGET)
April 1, 2006... "The one thing that marriage can most reliably deliver--companionship--just doesn't rate very high on the desire scale anymore. The prospect today of living a lifetime with someone who gives you only stability, a family, and companionship?...

One's a crowd: the very funny Lisa Kron returns to Broadway in a solo show with lots of other people in it. Whaa--? Here's a snippet.(Theater)(Well)(Excerpt)
April 1, 2006... LISA KRON DEscribes her autobiographical show, Well (opening at Broadway's Longacre Theatre on March 30), as a "theatrical exploration of universal issues." In other words, it's a hilariously ironic kvetchfest about her mother. In this "solo...

Moving images.(What a Concept!)(Gabrielle Revere)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... After ten years of shooting celebrities for glossy magazines (Vanity Fair, Glamour, and Entertainment Weekly, among others), fashion photographer Gabrielle Revere decided that she "wanted to stress that beauty is more than a symmetrical face."...

No rude awakenings.(Gizmo)
April 1, 2006... You probably know that after you hit the pillow at night your body goes through sleep cycles, and that if you're woken at certain points of those cycles, grogginess ensues. For most of us working stiffs, there wasn't much to be done about this....

Dailycandy A To Z: An Insider's Guide to the Sweet Life.(NUGGET)(Excerpt)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... "'Never say never.' People like to say that. Why? Beats us. Some things really are impossible. And sometimes, just sometimes, you should say 'never.' Never round up when guessing someone's age. Never allow your friends to drink and dial. Never...

"To talk to a human being, press #3".(Site to See)(Paul English)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... OUR NOMINEE FOR THE 2006 NOBEL Peace Prize: Paul English. After watching his father tussle with an automated menu during a phone call, the 42-year-old Massachusetts engineer started a list of customer-service numbers with shortcuts to real,...

We're all on thin ice.(O to go)
April 1, 2006... Polar bears are drowning. Why? Because polar ice caps are melting. But the fact is, we're all on thin ice. Scientists say the recent upsurge in catastrophic storms like Katrina is linked to global warming, with more mud slides, landslides, and...

Dr. Phil: "don't use your sisters' yardstick to measure your worth"; Phillip C. McGraw, PhD, on how to quit comparing yourself with others, teach your child empathy, and keep an ex-wife at a comfortable distance.(advice, etc.)
April 1, 2006... Q I can't stop feeling like a failure compared with my sisters. They're successful, motivated, and intelligent. Two are doctors, and one is married to a doctor. I'm a 26-year-old teacher and recently completed my master's. I thought my degrees...

Mary Tyler Moore's aha! moment: gazing into a pair of melting brown eyes, the actress saw something that changed her world.(advice, etc.)(Column)
April 1, 2006... I'VE ALWAYS BEEN A PATSY FOR anything with a face. Walking home from school one day when I was 9, I saw, out of the corner of my eye, a man beating a dog with a stick. I yelled for him to stop, but he just kept at it. So the next thing I knew,...

Suze Orman: "your guilt is so strong, you're making financial decisions you know aren't good for you"; Saying no to cosigning a loan, turning a hobby into a career, and ending a billing dispute.(advice, etc.)
April 1, 2006... Q My son is 25 years old and learning disabled. About 14 months ago, he applied for a car loan and was rejected. Because he really needed a way to get to work, I felt guilty and cosigned the loan. Three weeks later, he lost his job. I made a...

Something to think about.(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... True beauty can take our breath away. But why should it always be someone else who leaves us breathless? Instead of looking around, look at yourself. It's time to appreciate your own good looks. Consider the following: 1. How much time and...

The O list.(fabrics)(Buyers guide)
April 1, 2006... "A few things I think are just great."--OPRAH Where the Rubber Meets the Road "The fabric lining keeps feet comfy enough to wear these waterproof loafers come rain or come shine." ($75, Tamara Henriques; oliveandbettes.com) ...

Look what we found: jackets that work; You don't need to wear a suit to look serious. Break out a jacket, snap it up with accessories, and you're in business.(getting dressed)(Buyers guide)
April 1, 2006... The Color of Money The way the average office dresses, you'd think there was an anti-brightness policy. Break away in a Kelly green blazer (As is Alvin Valley, $485) with a shapely waistband that makes boyish bodies look curvier. The pique...

Look what we found! The best of spring makeup: five gorgeous new trends, plus insiders' tricks for how to play with color, shimmer, and the freshest textures you've ever touched.(beauty)(Buyers guide)
April 1, 2006... Vibrant Shadows WHY YOU'LL LOVE THEM: Despite their intense pigments, these powders are supersilky, so they glide and blend evenly across the lids--leaving behind a sheer veil of color that's an instant eye-opener. HOW YOU'LL WEAR...

Ask Val: your makeup mysteries, hair issues, and skin problems solved! This month Valerie Monroe, O's beauty director, fields your questions about foundation.(beauty)
April 1, 2006... Should I wear foundation all over my face? A: Not necessarily. You can apply it only where you see uneven skin tone, hyperpigmentation, or ruddiness, says Troy Surratt, global consulting makeup artist for Maybelline New York. For many of...

12 big, fat beauty lies: ice water shrinks pores? Chocolate causes breakouts? Pluck one gray hair and three grow back? Ladies, we've got to stop falling for this stuff. Jenny Bailly debunks a few doozies.(beauty)
April 1, 2006... Lie: Eighty percent of your lifetime sun damage occurs before age 18. Truth: "This statistic had become almost a mantra among dermatologists," says Katie Rodan, MD, adjunct assistant professor of dermatology at Stanford University School...

Turquoise & silver: a combination best known for its earthy, Southwestern vibe is now being reinvented as a simple and polished way to light up your style.(comfort zone)(Buyers guide)
April 1, 2006... Modern artisans are taking turquoise and silver in a sleeker, more minimalist direction, yet some of the objects here still refer obliquely to a Native American ethos: a sterling bowl with a woven look, a slim bolt of blue stone set in wood....

Tofu: to know it is to love it; We've been told we're supposed to eat it, but, er, why exactly? And the more challenging question--how? Catherine Newman was totally stymied by this pale, bland, flavorless block of food until she discovered that with a few spices, braises, and blackened pans, tofu was actually incredibly delicious.(dish fulfillment)
April 1, 2006... IT WAS, AND ALSO WASN'T, LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT. MICHAEL roller-skating past me on his way to Buddhism IOI: yes. Tofu: no. We were college students, living in a vegetarian co-op called the Zoo, where everybody doused themselves in patchouli and...

Could ginkgo prevent ovarian cancer?(body wise)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... BREAKING RESEARCH BY scientists at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston suggests that the herb ginkgo biloba may lower the risk of developing ovarian cancer. Daniel W. Cramer, MD, and Bin Ye, PhD, questioned more than 1,300 women with and...

Babelicious--and disabled.(body wise)(Doin' It: Sex, Disability, and Videotape)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... IT'S NOT OFTEN YOU FIND WOMEN wheelchairing down the aisles of a sex shop. But there they are in Doin' It: Sex, Disability, and Videotape, a new documentary by and about the Empowered Fe Fes, a Chicago-based group of young, disabled activists....

Decaf debate.(body wise)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Years of scientific controversy percolating over whether coffee is linked to heart disease may have convinced you to start asking for decaf. But according to the first nonindustry-funded coffee study, after eight weeks of downing three to six...

Invisible fitness move: hip flexors.(body wise)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... AFTER YOU'VE SPENT years sitting (at your desk, behind the wheel, on the couch), your hip flexors--the worker-bee muscles that help you walk, run, and kick--shorten, says Anthony Carey, founder of San Diego's Function First corrective exercise...

Night moves: counting lambs before bedtime? Try counting asanas instead. Dana Sullivan on how yoga can put you to sleep.(body wise)
April 1, 2006... SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE? YES, AND JUST ABOUT EVERY OTHER city, county, town, and state in this country. Sixty million Americans lie awake at night, tossing and turning, praying for REM, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human...

The way to eat: David L. Katz, MD, sorts out the healthy, the harmful, and the hype.(body wise)
April 1, 2006... Q | I'm 45, my periods are coming further apart, and I've lost my sex drive. Could this be caused by my dropping 99 pounds in 15 months (I'm 4'11" and 144 pounds now)? Or is it the beginning of menopause? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ...

My dinner with Marion (breakfast and lunch included): nutritionist Marion Nestle knows food the way Tina Turner has a passing familiarity with legs. So what's it like spending a day eating side-by-side-by-Nestle? Patricia Volk chows down on the challenge.(body wise)(Interview)
April 1, 2006... WHAT MARION NESTLE KNOWS about food could fill a book. Make that four. Her latest is What to Eat (coming out from Farrar, Straus & Giroux in May), and O assigns me to spend a day with her. This is better than a day with George Clooney. I'm a...

Couples: love with a twist; A recovering alcoholic, he could drink again, right? And she wasn't about to give up her glass of wine with dinner, was she? And their relationship wasn't really deteriorating as quickly as it seemed, was it? Just in time, a lightbulb went on in Natalie White's marriage.(connections)(Column)
April 1, 2006... LAST SUMMER MY HUSBAND and I got into an argument about changing a lightbulb. When I couldn't unscrew it, I asked him to try. Within seconds he was swearing in frustration. The only hope, he said, was to rip the fixture out of the ceiling. I...

The doctor is on: life is good. Life is bad. Life is messy--and you can't fix it if you won't admit it's broken. Take it from psychologist Robin Smith, PhD, The Oprah Winfrey Show's therapist-in-residence, who's wowing viewers with her own brand of levelheaded empathy. Aimee Lee Ball sits down with a straight-shooting star.(connections)(Biography)
April 1, 2006... IT WAS A STRIKING IMAGE: a stalwart wide receiver for the NFL--the epitome of masculine strength--admitting to Oprah Winfrey and a television audience of millions that he had been sexually abused at gunpoint by his stepfather almost every night...

Letters to my younger self.(connections)
April 1, 2006... If you could write a note of advice to the girl you were back then, with all the benefits of wisdom and experience you have now... what would you say? That's the question ELLYN SPRAGINS asked three very accomplished women--writer Naomi Wolf,...

Oprah talks to Meg Ryan: what the actress found in India changed her perceptions forever. So did a 14-month-old baby-size bundle of smarts, sweetness, and beauty named Charlotte true. Meg Ryan's had an unforgettable year....(use your life)(Interview)
April 1, 2006... When I heard that Meg Ryan was going to India with CARE, the international aid organization, I got excited. Like Meg, I believe that empowering impoverished women is the key to transforming our world. I was even more convinced after reading...

"If you empower women, you can change the world".(use you life)(Meg Ryan)
April 1, 2006... Can the women of richer nations unite with the women of third world nations? Meg Ryan thinks so--and during a recent journey through an impoverished region of northern India, she was delighted, moved, awed, and heartened by a cadre of young...

One woman's town: the legendary Helen Levitt prowled the city she loves, seeing--and snapping--what other people didn't. The result is a quirky, captivating, teeming-with-life collection.(reading room)(Slide Show)(Brief article)(Book review)
April 1, 2006... For more than half a century, the famously private and charmingly fierce Helen Levitt has been taking photographs on the streets of New York, and no one has ever made the city's residents--old and young, black and white, middle-class and...

Sex and sensibility: a mischievous novel of a young woman's literary dreams and erotic aspirations.(reading room)(Memoirs of a Muse)(Brief article)(Book review)
April 1, 2006... LARA VAPNYAR EMIGRATED from Russia to the United States in 1994 and in less than a decade composed, in English, There Are Jews in My House, a book of impish and mysterious stories. Her first novel, Memoirs of a Muse (Pantheon), arrives now with...

The love you save: Abide with Me--a shimmering tale of loss, faith, and human fallibility.(reading room)(Brief article)(Book review)
April 1, 2006... The minute you begin to read Abide with Me (Random House), the superb new novel by Elizabeth Strout (Amy and Isabelle), you feel yourself in the hands of a master storyteller. On an irresistible current of prose, she takes you into the life of...

Out far and in deep: a poet reminds us of the way poetry teaches us to see, feel, and think.(reading room)(Poet's Choice)(Brief article)(Book review)
April 1, 2006... POETRY, WRITES EDWARD Hirsch in Poet's Choice (Harcourt), his new book of short, provocative explorations of this essential art, "creates a space for reverie, for night mind. Through poetry I enter a primary zone where silence reigns and the...

A writer's writer.(reading room)(Richard Temple)(Brief article)(Book review)
April 1, 2006... The English novelist Patrick O'Brian, who died in 2000, was the fantastically successful author of 20 historical novels of the sea, including H.M.S. Surprise and Master and Commander, which became the film starring Russell Crowe. Many of his...

O brother, where are we? A fierce little fable of loyalty and redemption.(reading room)(Fortunate Son: A Novel)(Brief article)(Book review)
April 1, 2006... WALTER MOSLEY HAS ALways had great charms as a writer--he's demonstrated over and over again in his superb Easy Rawlins mysteries that he can dissect the bonds between men and women, bring Los Angeles to pulsating life, and keep us on the edge...

Laughing matters: a British legend goes way beyond the fringe in this moving, motley, and mostly hilarious collection.(reading room)(Untold Stories)(Brief article)(Book review)
April 1, 2006... THE BRITISH PLAYwright Alan Bennett takes a wry view of his celebrity. A bicycle messenger, he reports, once asked to shake his hand: "The trouble is, I sold all your plays for a gram of speed about five years ago." Americans know Bennett for...

Get up and go.(reading room)(Dragonslippers)(Book review)(Brief review)
April 1, 2006... Rosalind B. Penfold is the pseudonym of a smart, independent woman who discovered to her horror and confusion that she was in an abusive relationship. Dragonslippers (Black Cat) is her riveting, unflinchingly detailed diary in words and...

BibliO: truths about passion, food, belief, and happiness.(reading room)(The Book About Blanche and Marie)(Book review)
April 1, 2006... * How do we survive love? That's the burning question behind Per Olov Enquist's historical novel The Book About Blanche and Marie (Overlook). Marie Curie is the early-20th-century discoverer of radium and the desperate lover of a married man;...

Books that made a difference to Aaron Eckhart: the Thank You for Smoking star inhales modern and ancient masterpieces (including a juicy detective novel) with heroes who just won't quit.(reading room)(Interview)
April 1, 2006... I READ A LOT OF STUFF. SOMETIMES, though, the places and the cases in contemporary novels begin to feel familiar. It seems like a swear word suffices to express anger. That's when I go back to classics--or the occasional spy novel. I like...

It's a guy thing; Manliness: what is it? Who has it? Does the world need more of it--or less? Elizabeth Gilbert goes woman-a-mano with the Harvard professor who's written the book--the thoughtful, vexing, and ultimately irresistible book--on the subject.(Q & A)(Harvey Mansfield)(Interview)
April 1, 2006... LET'S BE HONEST, ladies. Is there anyone among us who doesn't know what manliness is? Or exactly how we feel when we meet it in person? In a Sicilian market, I once encountered a handsome butcher who exuded manliness with such force that I...

True crimes, false confessions.(special report)
April 1, 2006... When 20-year-old Kenzi Snider admitted to the brutal murder of her friend Jamie Lynn Penich, it looked like a slam dunk for the prosecution. Except for one little thing: Kenzi didn't do it. Her case spotlights the bizarre, complex, and...

Do you think you're beautiful?
April 1, 2006... Do we hear laughter? According to recent studies, there's hardly a woman in America who's content with the way she looks. Most of us have some (real or imagined) flaw that's driving us crazy. We hate our hair. Our thighs. We think we need a...

Mix it up! Call it beauty without borders--it's a gorgeous new world out there, where an infinite variety of skin tones, hair textures, and features harmonize and surprise. The faces here (and the families and neighbors you're about to meet) prove that love, after all, changes everything.
April 1, 2006... GLENIS FRANK Thirty years ago, you wouldn't have found a model like Glenis in an American magazine. "The modeling market has opened up tremendously to make space for a new definition of beauty," says Glenis, whose Indian mother is from...

Breathing space.(Brief article)(Photograph)
April 1, 2006... Wide-eyed, take in the split image of a Botswana landscape along the Kwai River as the setting sun reddens sky and water, and multitudes of wild birds call through the twilight. PHOTOGRAPH BY THEO ALLOFS

Greeting from paradise; Lost: your reluctance to wear prints. Found: a field of big, gorgeous florals that practically say aloha. It's like taking your summer clothes to the South Seas.(Buyers guide)
April 1, 2006... Slender in the grass, opposite page, is how you'll look in a sexy yet comfortable dress (Sophie Theallet for Motu Tane) that works for almost any body--we're especially grateful for the breathable ease of the elasticized waist. The huge...

Just squeeze me: when life gives you lemons, enliven soups! Tart up a pasta! Surprise shrimp! Do a tang-up job on spring vegetables! And create the creamiest, sweet-and-sour-iest dessert you've ever tasted (pass the gingersnap crust)!(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... THE OLD MASTERS REVERED LEMONS FOR THEIR beauty and gave them a starring role. Gorgeous specimens with glossy, bright skins appear in Dutch paintings half-peeled and placed like jewels next to green glass goblets and braces of pheasants. In the...

Luxe, be a lady tonight.(Fashion)(lingerie)(Buyers guide)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Vera Wang's chic, pared-down lingerie focuses on sexy texture: the sensuous gleam of charmeuse, a subtle flutter of chiffon. 1. The baby doll ($265) grows up, in deep, sheer purple--Wang's sophisticated alternative to black. ...

Just squeeze me: lemons help you tart up everything from chicken soup to pasta, shrimp, lamb--and a lushly tangy dessert (for story, see page 290).(THE RECIPES)
April 1, 2006... For all the following recipes, unwaxed organic lemons are the best option. Spaghetti al Limone [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 1 pound spaghetti 1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (3 to 4...

What I know for sure.(Auschwitz)(Column)
April 1, 2006... I'M SITTING IN A HOTEL ROOM IN KRAKOW, LISTENING TO ARETHA FRANKLIN sing "Amazing Grace." Poland is having an unseasonably cold winter. I've got on gospel music to both open and steel myself for the journey ahead. In a few hours, I will be...