O, The Oprah Magazine articles from January 2007

O, The Oprah Magazine archives from January 2007

Live from Boston.(this issue: the back story)
January 1, 2007... SEVERAL THOUSAND O READERS gathered in Boston on October 7 to attend health, life coaching, and fashion workshops with some of our experts. Gayle King chatted with Suze Orman (who came on the stage dancing to "I Wanna Be Rich"), Yale professor...

We hear you! Innocence lost.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2007... I was impressed by "Please Daddy, No" [by Jan Goodwin, November]. My own children are victims of incest, and though their father, the perpetrator, has been dead for eight years, the effects of his abuse remain a constant in their lives. Incest...

We hear you! Nature versus needle.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2007... I'm appalled that O would publish an article as irresponsible as "The Experts--What Women Doctors Know About Skincare (That You Should, Too)" [by Jenny Bailly, November]. Since when is self-mutilation an acceptable form of beauty in our...

We hear you! The worry curve.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2007... Though the circumstances of my story are different, the outcome resembles that of Lisa Wolfe's experience in "Saving Nico," her November essay about being mugged while pregnant. I, too, was a worry junkie; I'd never dealt well with emergencies....

We hear you! Floral therapy.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2007... I was delighted to read "The Healing Power of Flowers," by Michele Owens [November]. Gardening also provides me with joy, peace, and relaxation. It's a time for meditation: As I yank each weed, I purge my worries, hurts, and disappointments....

We hear you! Be the change.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2007... I recently left a job of 21 years to dedicate my life to helping the homeless--something I had always dreamed of doing but that had been sidelined by the security of a paid position. So the Nuggets you featured in November's O-Zone--one from...

Corrections.(Correction notice)
January 1, 2007... In November "Better Off Red" (page 86) should have read "50 percent of the profits from each Gap Product Red sale goes to the Global Fund...." Also, Gap launched 40 Red products, not 50. [paragraph] Maria Chabot's photograph Georgia O'Keeffe...

Here we go!
January 1, 2007... IT'S A BRAND-NEW YEAR, and that means a brand-new shot at making some really healthy changes. Easier said than done? You'd better believe it is! But that doesn't mean you can't do it. This month we're taking a long, hard, very amusing,...

Live your best life.
January 1, 2007... In fact, the ability to start out upon your own impulse is fundamental to the gift of keeping going upon your own terms, not to mention the further and more fulfilling gift of getting started all over again--never resting upon the oars of...

Baby, it's cold outside: how do O readers cope with the January chill? An oprah.com poll found out.(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... GO FIGURE OUR OSCAR PICKS, MR. SHAKESPEARE GOES TO WASHINGTON, HOLLYWOOD SIBLINGS & MORE 50[degrees] Temperature below which about a fifth of respondents consider it too cold outside 35 Percentage who engage in thermostat wars at...

And the Oscar Should Go to ...(magazine's picks for Academy Award)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... WE'RE THE FIRST to admit that an Academy Award is not always the best measure of cinematic artistry. (See Forrest Gump, winner of six.) So we couldn't resist picking our own Oscar favorites--the actors, directors, and films we'd love to see...

God Grew Tired of Us.(Movie review)
January 1, 2007... First-time director Christopher Quinn's documentary tells the story of three Lost Boys, the name given to some 25,000 Sudanese youths who were driven from their villages in the late 1980s during their country's protracted and bloody civil war....

Nugget.(O-ZONE)(Quotation)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... "There are three types of listeners: empathic, problem-solving, and sharing. One of the most common problems in marriage occurs when she wants empathy and he's trying to fix things. Tell your partner what kind of listening you want in a way...

Sibling Revelry.(successful siblings)
January 1, 2007... Sibling Revelry Could showbiz success be a genetic trait? We'd argue yes. This month brothers Rob and Nate Corddry, former Daily Show correspondents hailing from Weymouth, Massachusetts, join a pack of boldface-named siblings who've climbed the...

TivoThis.(Annie Leibovitz: Life Through a Lens, television programs)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... * A legendary photographer steps out from behind the camera for the PBS documentary Annie Leibovitz: Life Through a Lens (January 3). Directed by her sister Barbara, the film benefits from unprecedented access to the personal and professional...

The place to be (or not to be) Washington: raising the Bard.(Shakespeare in Washington theater festival)
January 1, 2007... JUST AS THE NEW CLASS OF congresspeople arrives in the capital, a spectacle of a different sort will be taking over D.C. theaters. The first ever Shakespeare in Washington festival, a six-month citywide event, kicks off on January 6. Hosted by...

Josh Groban's aha! Moment: almost overnight he'd gone from okay kid to uncool teenager. Then the singer discovered that you don't have to change yourself to belong--you can change your world.(advice, etc.)(Interview)
January 1, 2007... DURING THE SUMMER BETWEEN seventh and eighth grades, everything changed--or at least it seemed like everything at the time. We'd become teenagers. Kids were rapping along with Vanilla Ice and mastering yo-yo tricks. I was the boy who liked to...

Dr. Phil: "you and the children shouldn't have to fight for your husband's time": Phillip C. McGraw, PhD, on getting a spouse's attention ... asking hard questions about a stalled marriage ... and helping a friend through sorrow.(advice, etc.)(Interview)
January 1, 2007... Q The biggest problem in my marriage is that my husband spends so much time on his hobbies, including watching football, playing video games, restoring a Jeep, playing softball, participating in Fantasy Football leagues, and traveling to...

Suze Orman: "I'm not going to let you off the hook for settling for less than you deserve": should I leave a job I love for one that pays more? How do my parents collect on an overdue loan? Can I buy a home if my finances are shaky?(advice, etc.)(Interview)
January 1, 2007... Q I'm a 52-year-old single mother receiving no child support. Several years ago, I filed for bankruptcy, and we now live on my take-home income alone--no credit cards or loans. My job in the nonprofit sector pays around $40,000 a year. This...

Something to think about.(self change tips)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Self-Transformation 101 Most people who decide to change something about themselves leap headlong into action. But one theory suggests there are two stages that precede activity in a successful life transition: contemplation and...

The O List: "a few things I think are just great.".(Buyers guide)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Casual Cashmere "So soft, so warm. The big problem with these sweaters is trying to decide on a color." ($320, mai; mai-nyc.com) [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Not-So-Big Chill "These three-and-a-half-inch-high ice buckets are...

Dressed for success: whip up a batch of Colin Cowie's versatile vinaigrette on Sunday night, and glaze, drizzle, and splash everything from salads to chicken to fish all week long.(great food)
January 1, 2007... I ENTERTAIN A LOT, WHICH MEANS that four or five days a week I'm either dining out at a restaurant or inviting friends to my apartment for a home-cooked or store-bought improvised meal. I like to combine textures, temperatures, and colors, and...

Look what we found! You can take it with you, thanks to bags that practically organize themselves--with lots of cleverly pocketed and subdivided spaces, inside and out.(getting dressed)(Buyers guide)
January 1, 2007... CACHET AND CARRY American practicality meets European chic (think A-list luggage) in singer and designer Gwen Stefani's latest: a logo-print coated-canvas and leather bag with a buckled strap down the middle and a beautifully finished,...

Look what we found! A rainbow of eye palettes, an uplifting shampoo, and the most intoxicating body cream ... here's what O's beauty editors--Valerie Monroe and Jenny Bailly--fell in love with this month.(beauty)(Buyers guide)
January 1, 2007... Look What We Found! * Bali High With months to go before the sweet promise of spring, we're more than ready for a sunny escape. Unfortunately, the closest we're going to come to an island experience this winter is a weekend on the...

You've got nails! Real or fake? With the new generation of acrylics, gels, and wraps, only your manicurist knows for sure. Jenny Bailly reports.(BEAUTY REPORT)
January 1, 2007... WE HAVE NO PROBLEM with faking it--beautywise, at least. The blonde streaks in our hair aren't from the sun. And we rarely leave the house without a couple of coats of mascara. When it comes to nails, though, we've always left well enough...

Ask Val: you've got questions? Our beauty director, Valerie Monroe, has answers.(beauty)(Interview)
January 1, 2007... Q Do I need a special treatment product for my neck? Your question reminds me of a story our senior beauty editor, Jenny, told me recently about her aunt. Jenny once asked her if there was anything in her life she regretted. Her aunt took a...

Bob Greene's best life diet: the basics: post these cards on your fridge or mirror; stick them in your wallet. They'll help rev up your motivation, curb your appetite, and pinpoint exactly how hungry you are (or aren't).(O TO GO)
January 1, 2007... 3 Big Questions Before you start any program, I want you to give some serious thought to one thing: yourself. If you've dropped and regained pounds many times over, it's an indication that you may not be facing up to the reasons you misuse...

The way to eat: David L. Katz, MD, sorts out the healthy, the harmful, and the hype.(body wise)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Q I read that drinking a glass of water with a teaspoon of vinegar in it will suppress your appetite. It seems to work. Why? And is it safe? --BARBARA MANNING Lee's Summit, Missouri Some research indicates that vinegar, which...

The way to eat: David L. Katz, MD, sorts out the healthy, the harmful, and the hype.(body wise)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Q I am 5' 8" and weigh between 135 and 140. What's the best way to find out how many calories I need to eat in a day? Should I trust the online calculators? --LAURA HAMLYN Cary, North Carolina The only way to know exactly how many...

The way to eat: David L. Katz, MD, sorts out the healthy, the harmful, and the hype.(body wise)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Q Are there blood tests that can determine which nutrients my body may be lacking? --SHARON LA MACCHIA Saukville, Wisconsin Such blood tests are commonly used in alternative medicine circles. Some of the analyses look for...

Finders, keepers ... hoarders, weepers: what would your house look like if you never got rid of anything? Michelle Herman found out the hard way. But with the help of 360 garbage bags, one gigantic Dumpster, and tons of emotional fortitude, she finally reclaimed her home.(clean up your life)
January 1, 2007... I'D LIKE TO SAY IT WAS the mice that pushed me over the edge. It should have been the mice. But I ignored the evidence of their presence just as I ignored the towers of books and papers, the mountains of stuff everywhere. Housekeeping has...

Clutter control: antichaos theory: the right storage solutions can change your life, clarify your mind.(Buyers guide)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Flower boxes: It's child's play to keep things tidy with whimsical metal containers--great indoors or out. (Mobos, $50 each; wall-mounted 48" bar, $40; ilovemobos.com) [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] It's a file box... a corkboard... a pencil...

Outta here! Professional purgers' tips on getting rid of all that stuff.(clean up your life)
January 1, 2007... YOU KNOW THOSE closets and drawers and cupboards that are so full, they won't quite close? It turns out they could be bad for your health: Every time you look around and feel anxious that the mess is getting out of hand, your body releases...

The burning question: it's the eternal dilemma of the journal keeper and letter writer: toss your private papers into the fire, or leave them for your heirs to be captivated (or scandalized, or bored) by?(clean up your life)
January 1, 2007... I WAS 51 WHEN I BEGAN TO KEEP a journal. I think it was because I was in a panic about my first novel. And because my father had recently committed suicide. I needed somewhere to cry and complain, a place where I didn't have to perform. Unlike...

Lisa Kogan tells all: Julia has three mommies. ... Well, actually just one, but our ever-resourceful columnist is exhausted enough and smart enough to know that sometimes it takes a Kosovar village and an extended Colombian family to raise a 21st-century woman.(connections)
January 1, 2007... THE LOVE OF MY LIFE IS SEEING other women. It started innocently enough, a bite to eat, a stroll through the park--the stuff I never have time for. Then came the private jokes, the pet names, the stolen kisses, the bubble baths. At first I was...

Other people.(reading room)(Brief article)(Cartoon)
January 1, 2007... Cut to the Chast Why does a Roz Chast cartoon make you chortle before you've even read it? Because you recognize that frumpy suburban housewife in the set of Bad Mom playing cards ("Promised to take daughter to the mall after school--and then...

Magical history tour: the great Thomas Pynchon is back with a fantastical, wildly populated tour de force.(reading room)
January 1, 2007... GREAT NOVELISTS SERVE AS OUR X-ray machines, having trained themselves, over many years and with great effort, to see what is invisible to the rest of us. Thomas Pynchon is one of the two or three greatest novelists of his generation. His...

Gotta dance.(reading room)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... IN Dancing in the Streets (METRO-politan), Barbara Ehrenreich champions the life-affirming pleasures of community and the joys of collective celebration. In medieval Europe, ecstatic religious rituals gave way to exuberant festivals that mocked...

Biblio 1 of 4.(Bibliography)
January 1, 2007... BIBLIO 1 of 4 LOVE HEALS The 7-year-old girl expected every man she met to fondle her. The frantic little boy raged because his clueless caretaker, a dog breeder, had kept him in a cage. In The Boy Who was Raised as a Dog (Basic),...

Our own bloomsbury: Susan Cheever on the U.S.'s literary inner circle.(American Bloomsbury)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... Susan Cheever's famous father, John, warned her not to "reduce literature to gossip," and now she suspects he is "spinning in his grave." Her investigative, speculative, suggestive biography, American Bloomsbury (Simon & Schuster), examines...

London calling: a funny, pointed novel of privileged women's lives.(Arlington Park)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... ARLINGTON PARK IS ONE OF THOSE GEORGIAN SUBURBS THAT circle London, a place that inspires a smug sense of self-satisfaction in some of its residents and a mind-numbing claustrophobia in others. In her wonderfully nuanced Arlington Park (Farrar,...

The pleasure of her company Calvin Trillin's loving tribute to his muse, Alice.(About Alice)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... "Now that it's fashionable to reveal intimate details of married life," Calvin Trillin once wrote, "I can state publicly that my wife, Alice, has a weird predilection for limiting our family to three meals a day." About Alice (Random House) is...

Girl meets rat ... girl loses rat. Girl doesn't know when she's well off.(Him Her Him Again the End of Him)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... IT'S BEEN SAID A WOMAN NEVER FOR-gets her first lover. (Men do?) But if he's a narcissist and she's a world-class neurotic, how long does she pine? Him Her Him Again the End of Him (Scribner), a first novel by Patricia Marx, is a wildly funny...

Heaven help us: a journalist finds fascism right in our own backyard.(American Fascists )(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... The word Fascism," wrote George Orwell in 1946, "has now no meaning except in so far as it signifies 'something not desirable.'" Orwell's statement seems even more pertinent, and more ominous, today, when despite what you might have heard, a...

Pryor commitments.(Jokes My Father Never Taught Me)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2007... Rain Pryor didn't officially meet her father, Richard, until her mother (his ex) took her to his Hollywood mansion, where the famous comedian dazzled the 4-year-old with his glittery celebrity and enveloping hugs. Later she coped with his...

Books that made a difference to Ellen Pompeo: the best medicine for the Grey's Anatomy star? Nonfiction (an unconventional memoir! A gutsy travelogue! Economics! Spirituality! Men!), plus a head-scratching dose of Robertson Davies.(The Feeling of What Happens)
January 1, 2007... I READ A LOT OF NONFICTION--especially books about the brain. I'm interested in Howard Gardner's theories of multiple intelligence. He believes that the standard IQ test measures only one kind of aptitude but that it doesn't account for other,...

Building a dream: it started as a wish--for a first-class school that would nurture, educate, and turn gifted young South African girls from impoverished backgrounds into the country's future leaders. Last summer it was time for Oprah to eagle-eye the final details, choose the uniforms, and handpick the first 75 students. Pamela Gien reports from Johannesburg.(Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls-South Africa)
January 1, 2007... ON A SEEMINGLY ORDINARY AUGUST morning, the last nip of wintry wind gusts across the city of Johannesburg, the surrounding veld still dusty brown, thirsty for rain. Yet this will be no ordinary day. Oprah, in the springtime of her most...

Why is it so damn hard to change? She wanted to exercise more. But rain, fatigue, looming deadlines, and bad sneakers (that's right--blame the sneakers) got in her way. What was really going on? Rebecca Skloot explores why dieters falter and armchair athletes remain seated. Turns out it's not about "weakness" ...
January 1, 2007... (We can all stop beating up on ourselves right now!) And what we're learning about the brain points to new strategies that will really--finally!--make all the difference. NORA VOLKOW WANTS MY CHOCOLATE. I'm sitting at a round...

O's smoking challenge: you couldn't find a smarter, nicer, kinder bunch than the women in our online stop-smoking support group. So why were they still lighting up? We took five stubborn cases and got them the extra help they needed. Chee Gates reports.
January 1, 2007... IT'S BEEN A LITTLE MORE THAN a year since we urged--no, dared--O readers to chuck their cigarettes ("Cut It Out!" November 2005). Since then hundreds of you answered our call to join the quit-smoking community on oprah.com, and many of you have...

"Hi, my name is Amanda ... and I might be an alcoholic": she never threw china, drove under the influence, or sabotaged her marriage. But drinking was taking over her life, one wineglass at a time. Amanda Robb finds a new kind of happy hour.
January 1, 2007... I REMEMBER THE EXACT MOMENT I developed my drinking problem. I was writing a scene for the NBC soap opera Sunset Beach. The show's sweet young thing had just been abducted by a Mayan-themed cult, and my boss told me to "up the drama and make it...

Stop nagging! You sound like a broken record. And everyone has tuned you out. So why waste your breath? Lisa Belkin finds a better way.
January 1, 2007... WE ALL HATE TO BE NAGGED. You're having another piece of cake? When was the last time you exercised? Those cigarettes are going to kill you. Did you clean the basement yet? We all hate to nag, too. Sit up straight. That's enough...

Taking the weight off ... again: tired, anxious, food obsessed: It's just another day in the dieting lives of two Lisas who've lost about 40 pounds each--and gained it right back. (In the case of one Lisa, more than once.) Now what? Martha Beck has a simple explanation for why most dieters fail--and a new way to achieve lasting Thinner Peace.(PROJECT LISA)(Lisa Romeo, Lisa Kogan)
January 1, 2007... The Lisas do not have the time or energy to stay thin. They agree on that point from minute one of our mutual project. Lisa Romeo, a 47-year-old part-time freelance writer and former public relations executive, now a candidate for an MFA...

Lisa K.'s diet diary.(Diary entry)
January 1, 2007... SEPTEMBER 5: It's D-day. My diet-and-exercise program starts this morning. Two weeks earlier, in anticipation of the big event, I began my Farewell to Food 2006 tour. And as a result, I've gained an additional six and a half pounds. Weight is...

Lisa R.'s diet diary.(Diary entry)
January 1, 2007... AUGUST 22: When Martha and I first talk, I tell her how much I know about the forces that drive weight gain. She tells me I need someone who can help me to not only lose weight--hell, I know how to do that, as I have demonstrated so many times...

Breathing space.
January 1, 2007... LORI FLYING, NEW PALTZ, NEW YORK, 1999 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Photograph by George Holz

The great! Easy! Fast! Healthy! Tasty! Dinner kit.
January 1, 2007... A young couple learning to cook as a team. A time-starved working woman. A family of five picky eaters. How to get everyone fed well without falling back on frozen meals or turning into a short-order cook? The trick is to have the right staples...

Have you let yourself go? There are times when our lives veer out of focus--we're too busy, stuck, shy, sad, or exhausted to take care of ourselves. Four women get their clarity, confidence, and good looks back with the help of O's team: clinical psychologist Rita Freedman, PhD; master hairstylist Frederic Fekkai; celebrity makeup artist Mally Roncal; and TV fashion stylist Clinton Kelly.
January 1, 2007... Before Angela Dougan, 28 Prosecutor The Back Story * HOW ANGELA LOST THE FOCUS ON HERSELF: "When I was in law school, my grandmother--who was my role model and second mother--became sick with lung cancer. Three months after she...

Knit wit: they've always gone with rosy cheeks, hot cocoa, ski slopes--but now winter caps are chic enough for ch-ch-chilly city streets.(Fashion)(Buyers guide)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... All the news that fits: A peacock blue paperboy cap delivers in a soft, chunky knit. ALDO, $15; aldoshoes.com. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] White stripes break up a red background; the earflaps and pom-pom add whimsy. AMERICAN EAGLE...

The rescue squad: did the gorgeous makeovers on page 190 inspire you to curl your lashes? Use concealer? Shape your eyebrows? Good! We've picked eight products to make it easy for even the most out-of-practice beauty dropout to get back in the game.(Beauty)
January 1, 2007... 1. You're already wearing a moisturizer with sunscreen every morning (right?), so why not use one that has a tint (like Beauty Addicts Mineral Sheer Tint SPF 20, $30)--no extra step, but the added benefit of even skin tone. "A tinted...

The great! Dinner kit: Nina Simonds's sumptuous grilled shrimp, ginger-and-cumin-zinged salmon, kid-pleasing chicken with noodles ... (for story, see page 182).(THE RECIPES)
January 1, 2007... THE COUPLE THAT COOKS TOGETHER Grilled Shrimp with Mango Salsa This is an easy dish to make for company. Leftovers can be served in a salad, stir-fry, or as a garnish for store-bought butternut squash soup spiked with roasted...

Shop guide (all prices are approximate).(Buyers guide)
January 1, 2007... COVER Sweater, Agnona, $1,180, Bergdorf Goodman, NYC; 212-872-8789. Shell, the Wrights, $265; 212-391-2150. Pants, Tevrow + Chase, $295, Saks Fifth Avenue, NYC; 212-753-4000. Earrings, Annette Ferdinandsen, $730, Ten Thousand Things, NYC;...

What I know for sure.
January 1, 2007... ANOTHER JANUARY! IT'S TRUE WHAT they say--getting older makes time fly. And it's also true that you have to work harder to stay healthy. I've been on Bob Greene's "Best Life" plan (page 87) since the summer. I eat what I want, when I want, and...