O, The Oprah Magazine articles from July 2002

O, The Oprah Magazine archives from July 2002

Letters.(Letter to the Editor)
July 1, 2002... We Hear You! Readers comment on the need for fun, the importance of a healthy heart, the joys of virtual travel, and more.... I just finished reading the "Fun" issue [May] and I feel like a friend is telling I'm on the right track. I'm 27...

Your excellent adventures. (Here we Go!).(Editorial)
July 1, 2002... YES, THAT'S ME ON THE COVER, BACK IN THE saddle again after eight years of being afraid to ride. I decided that since our theme for this issue is adventure, I would head to Arizona and have an adventure of my own. I've found that few things...

Extreme living: adventure isn't about risk or thrill seeking or proving your mettle. It's about going for something with all your heart. (Live your Best Life).
July 1, 2002... IN MAY OF 1989, A 28-YEAR-OLD AMERICAN rock climber named Lynn Hill was climbing a limestone cliff in the south of France. Gripping holds no bigger than the edges of matchbooks, she confidently made her way to the top of the short, steep crag....

Dr. Phil: "get past the awkwardness of talking about s-e-x!". (Tell it like it is).
July 1, 2002... What if you don't want it and he does? Or the other way around? Phillip C. McGraw, PhD, takes on the number on source of conflict in a relationship (and tells you how to bring back that lovin' feeling). HAVING DEALT WITH THOU-sands of...

Suze Orman: "What's your money personality?" Are you a penny-pincher, a financial wreck, a spender, a daredevil, or on the right track? Take Suze's quiz to figure yourself out. (Financial Freedom).
July 1, 2002... MOST OF US LIVE WITH the results of how we deal--or don't deal--with our money The small choices we make daily have a huge impact on what kind of financial life we have. Our money choices form a pattern, and this pattern becomes a money...

While her guitar gently leads: she was an idealistic Harvard college student--until a few incomparable blues musicians turned Bonnie Raitt's destiny on its ear. (Aha! Moment).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... I THINK PEOPLE MUST WONDER HOW a white girl like me became a blues guitarist. The truth is, I never intended to do this for a living. I grew up in Los Angeles in a Quaker family and for me being Quaker was a political calling rather than a...

"Is there anything about me I don't seem to see?" You keep dating the same jerks. You think you're fat and you're not. You have--ta-da--a blind spot. Martha Beck leads you on a vision quest. (Beck on Call).
July 1, 2002... "OH, MY GOSH," I SAID, "I'm HUGE!" I was looking at an image of myself, though not in a mirror or photograph. I'd just finished running a computer graph that summarized input from a class of psychology students. Each person was represented as a...

The girl who couldn't say no: Laura thought she was simply disorganized. But mess can be just another word for an unsorted heart. Julie Morgenstern helps a multitasker focus on the real task at hand: herself. (Taming the Chaos).
July 1, 2002... SOMETIMES WHAT LOOKS LIKE DIS-organization is a mirage: From a distance you see an inability to manage, but when you get close you learn the real problem lies elsewhere. This was the case with Laura, 32, who wrote to me desperate for help...

Food the fear factor: he'd trekked around the world, sampling quail eggs, snails, blood sausages, and kidneys. But for Peter Smith, the time was tripe to confront (and swallow) his three culinary nightmares. (Dish Fulfillment).
July 1, 2002... I HAVE A SMALL CONFESSION. FOR someone who loves cooking and eating, I've always been repulsed by certain foods. I wasn't raised to be a pampered, choosy eater, either. My parents were both gourmet cooks, and I grew up under a no-nonsense...

The O list: "a few things I think are great.".
July 1, 2002... Let the Good Times Roll "This portable bolster is terrific in the small of your back on a long flight, behind your neck at the beach, or under your ankles if you just want to put your feet up and relax." (Bolster with protective cover,...

Fight stress with a dress: so you were due at work five minutes ago. Or you're about to be unfashionably late for a party. One piece is all you need to be on your way fast. Eight women rediscover the dress. (Fashion).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Musical theater actress (she plays Laurey in the current revival of Oklahomal! On Broadway) DRESS CODE "I Like floaty dresses-things that kick out when I move. Those biascut 1940s-style frocks are fantastically flattering: They're like...

The Little Mermaid: you are cordially invited to: the seashore. Place: your bathroom. Time: all summer long. Bliss: guaranteed. (Beauty Girls Toys).(bathroom decorations, toiletries)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... YOU KNOW HOW YOU THINK YOU LOVE THE BEACH-TILL you're trudging to the perfect spot and suddenly the sand is burning through your sandals? Sometimes it's more fun to get that beachy glow without the scorching. Start with (above, clockwise...

Glad all over: want to lift your spirits, rejuvenate your skin, and feel like a dream come true? Leesa Suzman goes under wraps with the head-to-toe facial. (Beauty).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... I AM LYING ON A MASSAGE TABLE as Regina Viotto, spa director at Paul Labrecque Salon & Spa in Manhattan, smoothes pure, heated shea butter from my shoulders to my soles. She's rubbed me with a blend of lavender oil and mineral salts and removed...

The well-dressed salad: bowls to hold it, servers to toss it, oil and vinegar to drizzle on it (not to mention salt and pepper to season it). Here's every thing a salad needs to look--and taste--good.(utensils for salad preparation, service)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 2002... When it's too hot to move, who needs to cook? Instead, take some farmers' market baby lettuce, mustard greens, broccoli rabe, and black radish shavings for a spin. Show them off in a red glazed ceramic bowl, $27, Sur La Table. Horn-and-palm...

The good-mood diet; you know what it's like: You're high energy one minute, slumped over the next. Why? Blood sugar. Lisa Davis gets to the bottom of her daily ups and downs. (Minding your Body).
July 1, 2002... HALF THE TIME, I BEAR A STRONG resemblance to a shrew (the animal version, not the Shakespearean kind): I'm small, fast moving, and cute from a distance-but I'll chew right through you if you get between me and a meal. The rest of the time, my...

Vitamins: what you need to know now; have you been hitting the bottle too hard? Melissa Gotthardt reports on the pros (and definite cons) of vitamin mania. (Minding your Body).
July 1, 2002... YOU WAKE UP AND REACH FOR YOUR DAILY fix. One multi. An extra C. A couple of calcium chews. It's the healthy American way, right? About half the people in this country pop at least one supplement on a regular basis, and many don't stop there,...

Paula Zahn undercover: all work and practically no time to play makes the newscaster a harried, passionate reader. (Books that made a Difference).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE who has questions about everything--and books have certainly helped me indulge that fascination. Books have not only helped me see the world through other people's eyes, they have actually fostered my love...

Bookshelf.
July 1, 2002... Pride and Prejudice BY JANE AUSTEN I remember feeling a sense of dread when I learned I had to read this for my English class. I couldn't imagine that a book written in the early 1800s would have anything to do with my life. Was I...

After life: Alice Sebold gives gripping voice to a murdered girl and the lives she left behind. (Reading Room).
July 1, 2002... IN THE BEGINNING WE KNOW THAT 14-year-old Susie Salmon is dead--brutally, horrifyingly murdered on her way from school. In the end, thanks to the miraculous narrative talents of Alice Sebold, we know that Susie Salmon is one of the more...

Memoir of a medicine woman. (Reading Room).(Interview)
July 1, 2002... Jamie Weisman is a doctor who takes illness personally. Since the age of 15, she has suffered from a rare and incurable immune deficiency that makes even a cold potentially lethal. She lives from day to day with the knowledge that only regular...

Portrait of the artist as a lonely young man: a great novelist remembers the awkward, yearning years before he became himself. (Reading Room).(Youth)
July 1, 2002... THE EXTRAORDINARY THING ABOUT memoirs by literary people is exactly how literary their lives have been-how deeply they live inside a dreamscape of unique associations and shared aspirations. J.M. Coetzee, the South African novelist, is one of...

Malaise: a taste of Nancy Lemann's pensive new novel of manners. (Reading Room).(Excerpt)
July 1, 2002... Now when you move around as much as I do, a certain derangement of the mind sets in pertaining to all the different houses you have lived in. You pine for your other houses. You reminisce about them. You compare them incessantly to each other....

Bright stuff. (Reading Room).(book American Anthem: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Sophy Regensburg's Bohemian Glass, No. 2 (1972) adds its charm to the celebratory spirit of American Anthem: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum, published by Abrams in conjunction with the museum's current exhibition (through...

Venture forth! Alain de Botton gets to the bottom of our get-up-and-go. (Reading Room).(The Art of Travel)
July 1, 2002... WHY IN THE WORLD DO WE TRAVEL? WHAT makes otherwise sensible people trade the comforts of home for the anxieties and disturbances of an exotic adventure? The search for an answer to these questions provides the itinerary for The Art of Travel...

Biblio: from our shelf to yours. (Reading Room).(The BOX Children; Girl from the South; Lucky in the Corner; The Whore's Child and Other Stories)
July 1, 2002... * Sharon Wyse's The BOX Children (Riverhead) builds on furtive journal entries made by a young girl growing up in a tough household in north Texas in the 1960s. Lou Ann Campbell hides her writing (and herself) from a sadistic mother and a...

How we became strangers: a sexy courtship, a marriage, a young son. And then a courteous drifting apart. But an icy glimpse into her future brought Jill Bialosky back to the love of her life. (Couples).
July 1, 2002... I SAT AT AN OUTDOOR CAFE WITH AN OLD friend I hadn't seen in nearly a year. It was spring. The pond was beginning to thaw The daffodils were in bloom. Triangles and rectangles of pale yellows lay patchwork style around the trees. A teenage girl...

Oprah talks to Brandy and her mother Sonja Norwood: what happens when a teenage daughter has power to burn but no self-esteem to speak of? How two determined women recaptured a life that was spinning out of control. (The O Interview).(Interview)
July 1, 2002... WE'VE ALWAYS KNOWN HER AS A GOOD GIRL WITH A CHARMED LIFE, THE SINGER WITH THE hip-yet-wholesome lyrics who also starred in a squeaky-clean teen sitcom. But behind her bright smile, the real-life Brandy was grappling with an emotionally abusive...

Just Peachy; sink your teeth into a little bit of heaven on a stem: fresh tree-ripened peaches from a beloved family farm by the ocean. As in peach pancakes. As in peach pie, peach chutney, and Oprah's weakness peach salad. As in-hope-summer-never-ends.
July 1, 2002... A LONG ISLAND PEACH FARMER CONFESSES: SHE WAS raised on canned peaches. She also admits that her conversion to the peach faith was opportunistic--there were few other peach farmers in the area, and she saw a market niche. But peaches grew on...

Making light of summer.(fashion)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... White for summer is kind of like black for winter: pure, strong, indispensable. It makes pale skin seem rosier, dark skin richer and deeper. These well-priced pieces will help you breeze through the day, look cooler than cool at night. So...

Seeing the possibilities.
July 1, 2002... Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! Hey, it's you-or is it? Are you chicken about bounding outward? Is daring inherited or can you learn it? Robert Kolker investigates the how, why, when, and wow of opening up your life. ...

Adventurous thinkers: Susan J. Helms, astronaut and air force colonel.(Interview)
July 1, 2002... Helms, 44, spent almost six months in orbit aboard the International Space Station, which launched in March 2001. WHAT GAVE HER THE NERVE TO LIVE IN ORBIT: Before becoming an astronaut, I flew a jet fighter in the air force. I loved getting up...

Imagine ampagne, candlelight, a man at the door who craves commitment--structure it Lisa Kogan praises the headiest Adventure of all: Fanasizing.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... HERE'S THE FANTASY: A RUSTIC CABIN IN THE WOODS, PINK CHAMPAGNE, AND Benicio Del Toro. Here's the reality: a cramped studio in the city, Diet Snapple, and a guy who hogs the remote. Don't get me wrong, I've got nothing against the keeper of my...

Women in nature: at sea on a run with the whales, Brenda Peterson finds solace, satisfaction, and where she--and each of us--fits into the grand scheme of things.
July 1, 2002... ALL NIGHT, CAMPED ON THIS DESERT lagoon, we hear them breathing--sonorous sighs of the mothers accompany the short responses of their newborn calves. It is an otherworldly but intimate lullaby of new life in a remote Baja, Mexico, nursery for...

Adventurous thinkers: Vonetta Flowers, olympic bobsled champion.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Flowers, 28, and her partner, Jill Bakken, 25, competed as underdogs in the 2002 Winter Olympics-and slid away with the gold. Flowers also became the first African-American ever to win gold in the winter games. HOW IT HAPPENED: Since I was...

Wild at heart: you want safety? Get a helmet. You want passion? Sometimes you have to kiss common sense goodbye and take a change on love. Lise Funderburg talks to three couples who fell head over heels for their partners in adventure.
July 1, 2002... IT WAS 1991. MARIE JHIN, THEN 24, had decided that during the summer break after her first year of medical school she would travel. Wanting a companion, she proposed the trip to Rollan Kim, a friend she'd met in college. Rollan, 28, had quit...

Adventurous thinkers: Tina Susman, national correspondent for newsday.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Reporter Tina Susman, 43, spent ten years in some of the world's most terrifying war zones--Rwanda, Zaire, Liberia, Pakistan, Sierra Leone. In 1994 while working in Mogadishu, Somalia, she was kidnapped and held captive for 20 days. she's now a...

My mother, the adventurer: some daughters inherit their mother's cheekbones. Laura Fraser inherited an audacious I-can-do-that spirit. And then there was her grandmother.(narrative)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... The most annoyed my mother has ever been with me was when I was traveling alone in Egypt and didn't call home for a month. She wasn't exactly happy when I went to Iraq just before the Persian Gulf War, either, and interviewed Yasir Arafat in a...

Adventurous thinkers: Jill Yesko, writer and yoga instructor.(traveler)(Interview)
July 1, 2002... After traveling solo all over the world, Yesko, 43, embarked on the defining trip of her life two years ago: a yearlong trek beginning in Curacao in the Caribbean and ending in Spain. WHY SHE'S SO ADVENTUROUS: When I was 6, my mom and dad...

"Rightnow you are one choice away from a new beginning". (What I Know for Sure).(finding path to self-realization)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... I'VE NEVER BEEN A WHITE-WATER-RAFTIN', bungee-jumpin' kind of girl--that's not howl define adventure for myself. What I know for sure is this: The most important journey of our lives doesn't necessarily involve climbing the highest peak or...

Hello, my name is Linda, and I'm a beauty-holic": are you caking on the mascara? Loading on the lipstick? Is your hair seven skyscrapers high? 0's experts show six women that a little goes a long, beautiful way.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... YOUR INTENTIONS ARE GOOD: YOU want to build on your natural assets, highlight your finest features. But sometimes, due to enthusiasm or just habit, your hand's a little heavy and you wind up going overboard without even realizing it. A dusting...

New and improved: a whisper-soft blow-dryer. All-in-one shampoo and shower gel. The future is now, and so are today's smartly upgraded beauty tools. (Practical Matters).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... I CALLED IT TUB TAN, AND IT WAS GOING TO REVO-lutionize self-tanning. Okay, maybe just my tan at first. I dreamed it up seven years ago after a botched self-tanning experience. Back then I was still foolishly convinced that I looked prettier,...

The white touch: what goes well with pina coladas and moonlight sails -- inexpensive extras like a shell-trimmed bag or eyelet skirt. Inspired by "Making Light of Summer." (Practical Matters).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... TRY EYELET Bring a crisp, pretty touch to any top you own. Cotton eyelet skirt, $188, Rebecca Taylor for Garnet Hill. OFF THE CUFF A white bracelet with faux stones looks amazing on your bare arm. Enamel cuff, $155, Kenneth J....

An Oasis in the desert: on location with Oprah and the O staff at Arizona's Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... For our July cover and the fashion story "Making Light of Summer" (page 148), Oprah and the 0 crew of models, photographers, and stylists stayed at Arizona's Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North, a world-renowned golf facility. Set in...