O, The Oprah Magazine articles from July 2004

O, The Oprah Magazine archives from July 2004

We hear you! Readers give an old-fashioned "Hurrah!" to the New Girls, send Stevie Wonder their love, find sexual pow! With a little help from Dr. Phil, and more....(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
July 1, 2004... I respect Irshad Manji for coming out and sharing her experiences as a progressive lesbian Muslim ["The First Annual Chutzpah Awards," May]--she is a courageous person from whom we can all learn. Still, I am concerned that her book The Trouble...

Corrections.(Correction Notice)
July 1, 2004... Corrections: In May's O List, the slides from Weave Tree are $98. In May's "Meet the Dress" the shoes on page 116 are by Belle by Sigerson Morrison. In June's Comfort Zone, a credit on page 102 was inadvertently left out. Underneath...

What have you done for you lately?(Here We Go)(Editorial)
July 1, 2004... IT'S SUMMER: DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR JOY IS? This issue is packed with ways to help you find and renew it. We've got remedies for everything from a scattered mind to the blahs ("The How Are You, Really Checkup" page 142), the 411 on why sex can...

Restore yourself: for the July calendar, lift this page.(Calendar)
July 1, 2004... July "Come out into the open, into a clearing,/And rest." --John Ashbery [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [TABLE OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [TABLE OMITTED]

Dr. Phil: "you need to get over yourself, get over your guilt, and get back in the game": Phillip C. McGraw, PhD, on passing up the pity party ... coping with the death of a loved one ... and confronting a drill-instructor husband.(Tell It Like It Is)
July 1, 2004... Q I constantly feel guilty for not practicing the religion I grew up with (I'm not sure it's what I believe anymore). I feel guilty that I don't visit my parents as much as they would like; guilty about the number of people I slept with prior...

Suze Orman: "dealing with gifts of money is an emotional and financial challenge": a couple's salary difference ... stolen-identity strategies ... and trying to reason with a husband.(Financial Freedom)
July 1, 2004... Q My boyfriend and I work in the same industry, but he earns significantly less than I do, which is a source of tension between us. He thinks I'm extravagant, and I always feel I have to justify my purchases to him. We can't even discuss our...

Live your best life.(Poem)
July 1, 2004... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When your eyes are tired the world is tired also. When your vision has gone no part of the world can find you. Time to go into the dark where the night has eyes to recognize its own. There you...

What's playing in Denyce Graves's ear? The mezzo-soprano finds glory in gospel, pluck in bluegrass, and passion in Alanis Morissette.(Music)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Denyce Graves doesn't just sing--she holds a high C for eight seconds. Yes, we timed her. She's also a world-class juggler: She performs about four nights a week, hosts a weekly XM satellite radio show, appears in a PBS series, lectures and...

You smell delicious.(Treat)(Book Review)
July 1, 2004... ONE OF OUR EDITORS HERE AT O SAYS that whenever she eats something exceptionally fragrant, she thinks, I'd like to bathe in that. The book of her dreams hits stores this summer. Aroma (Artisan), written jointly by a perfumer (Mandy Aftel) and a...

Aisha Tyler's Aha! Moment: in spite of moldy motel rooms and pizza-flinging audiences, the comedian found what she needed to get through the tour from hell.(Turning Point)(Column)
July 1, 2004... The summer of 1994 was the summer of my extreme discontent. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Only weeks after I'd gotten married, I was asked to join a group of stand-up comedians on a national tour. I couldn't say no to such a great...

What we're looking forward to this month.(Anticipation List)(Calendar)
July 1, 2004... FILM * The Manchurian Candidate, Jonathan Demme's remake of the pulpy Cold War thriller, stars Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, and Liev Schreiber, and yeah, they're okay if you happen to like seeing brilliant actors at the top of their...

Do the write thing: a juicy roman a clef takes on the African-American high life, Manhattan division.(LYBL)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Like most authors of juicy society novels, Tonya Lewis Lee and Crystal McCrary Anthony insist that the people and events in Gotham Diaries are purely fictional. But they do cop to using their all-access passes to Manhattan's African-American...

Something to think about.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... When you're busy or stressed or feeling unappreciated, it's easy to lose sight of your vast potential. Find a quiet place and reconnect with that magnificent creature--your deepest self--waiting to burst forth. In which areas of your life...

You spot it, you've got it: my friend is lazy, willful, and self-absorbed. Wait--could that actually be me I'm talking about? Martha Beck on what we can learn about ourselves from the funny little phenomenon called projection.(Martha Beck)
July 1, 2004... "THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF PEOple I can't stand," says Michael Caine's character in the epically low comedy Goldmember, "those who are intolerant of other cultures, and the Dutch." I love this line, not because it slams the Dutch (for whom I feel...

To sleep, perchance to scream.(Satellite Sisters)
July 1, 2004... Q Ah, summer vacation. You and some friends rent a condo in the mountains. Yet you've ended up in a tiny room near the washer and dryer while a couple waltzed into the best bedroom. Question for the SATELLITE SISTERS: Do you say something or...

How's the weather up there? For a long time, Peter Smith's height (6'7") made him twitchy, forlorn, self-conscious. These days, he's happy to change your lightbulb. A tall drink of water confesses all.(O Man)(Column)
July 1, 2004... AT AGE 17, IN DESPAIR, I QUIT MEA-suring myself. Head level, chin out, spine pressed flat against the basement door, I drew out the tape measure, cinched it with two fingers, pivoted slowly, then stared down at the boldfaced results: 6'6"....

Just say ahhh ... let go. Chill out. Drift. Dream. Post these brain-soothing cards as a reminder to give yourself a break.(To Go)
July 1, 2004... "He who cannot rest cannot work; he who cannot let go cannot hold on...." --Harry Emerson Fosdick "To do nothing at all is the most difficult thing in the world, the most difficult and the most intellectual." --Oscar Wilde "Be...

The O list.
July 1, 2004... "A few things I think are just great."--OPRAH [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] And to top it all off.... "Ralph Lauren has come up with a strong, bright, sexy, confident shirt--now all you have to come up with is the strong, bright,...

You paid what? If you don't tell what this stuff costs, people will never guess--it's that good. Six women get dressed, head to toe, for under $250.(Style Fashion)
July 1, 2004... REGINA MUMME-WHITAKER Homemaker, 45 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Shopping policy: A good fit is key. "The sleeve should be well tailored; the shoulders shouldn't be stiff." Regina used to like loose clothes, "but now they seem dowdy. I...

The White House: we're not saying color is superfluous--only that losing it for a while (on the table, in a corner) is clarifying, cleansing, and altogether beautiful.(Comfort Zone)
July 1, 2004... Cool world: To detox your mind and gather quiet energy, create some white space in your life. ALL CREAM and no coffee? We don't think so. An absence of color can feel clinical, as if your life were an episode of ER. But used discreetly--a...

The Pavlova response: in answer to her grandmother's elaborate but inedible cakes, Mimi Pond whips up a simple and sensational Pavlova. (Applause, applause.).(Dish Fulfillment)
July 1, 2004... WHEN MY BROTHERS AND I WERE teenagers, nothing spelled doom so much as the sight of our grandmother padding up our walk in her dainty wedgie slides, a cake in hand, fresh from her cake-decorating class. Week after week she'd arrive with yet...

Look what we found! The most delicious summer beauty treats, a pretty little power tool, the way to pedicure perfection, and more ... Here's what O's beauty editors--Valerie Monroe and Jolene Edgar--fell in love with this month.(Beauty Girls' Toys)
July 1, 2004... Shaving Grace [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Let's talk metaphorically for a moment: Would you shape your rosebush with a chainsaw? We didn't think so. But maybe what you have been using isn't getting the job done...

Ask Val: questions about summer hair? You've come to the right place. O's beauty director, Valerie Monroe, gives you the straight story.(Beauty)
July 1, 2004... I recently discovered a new hairspray containing sunscreen. Come on: Does my hair really need sun protection? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Only if you care about the way it looks. I guess you're thinking that because hair isn't living...

Peel me a grapefruit.(Body Wise)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Grapefruit, in all its tart glory, has been a mainstay of the slim-bound since the 1930s. Now a study shows that these weight-watchers may be onto something. Researchers at the Scripps Clinic in San Diego divided 100 obese volunteers into...

Need a tune-up?(Body Wise)(innovative body therapies)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... You've pulled your back, your shoulders are up around your ears, you're tense from eyebrows to fingertips... where do you turn? Here's a quick look at some of the most innovative body therapies: [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Craniosacral...

What's up, docs?(Body Wise)(safety warnings for prescription medications: Crestor, Meridia and Serzone)
July 1, 2004... After reviewing available data, Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer watchdog group in Washington, D.C., has issued safety warnings for three common prescription medications. We asked members of LLuminari, O's panel of medical experts, for...

The way to eat: do herbs count as health food? Is there such a thing as negative calories? Can you get iron without eating meat? David L. Katz, MD, gives you the nutritional 411.(Body Wise)
July 1, 2004... Q I know that the fresh herbs we sprinkle on food have medicinal qualities, but are they nutritious? --SUSAN C., NEW YORK CITY Most herbs--fragrant leaves valued for flavor and health benefits--pack a powerful nutrient-for-calorie...

Let them eat cake ...: ... bread, popcorn (especially in the afternoon). Michelle Stacey has good news about our most maligned food group. Carb your enthusiasm!(Body Wise)
July 1, 2004... HERE'S A QUESTION FOR THE AGES, OR CERTAINLY FOR OUR AGE: What is the most telling sign that a food fad has reached critical mass? In the case of the rampant carbohydrate phobia, for instance, is it the fast-food bandwagon (the Burger King...

Book bliss: if you're looking for something great to read now, look no further.(Reading Room)(Bibliography)
July 1, 2004... It's summer, and you're lounging with a hot new book. It's satisfying, but you can't really say you're enthralled with it. Not the way you were with the one that kept you sane when you were a wild-hearted teenager, a stressed-out young...

Paging Julianna Margulies: a Russian heroine (for the summer), a short-story master (for the subway), and Dante's Inferno (for the hell of it) lead off the actress's wide-ranging best-books list.(Books That Made a Difference)(Bibliography)
July 1, 2004... WHAT'S EXCITING ABOUT LIFE IS THAT there's so much to read, you should never be bored. I have a great group of friends who love to read, and my eldest sister and I are constantly exchanging books. She's in a book club. I don't have time for...

Painting outside the lines: Shay Youngblood was a poet, a playwright, a novelist--but 9/11 left her stuck, speechless, out of words. Then she picked up a brush and painted herself out of a corner.(Healing)(Biography)
July 1, 2004... "We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us." --Joseph Campbell When I was about 5 years old, I showed my teenage uncle a page from my coloring book. I wanted to impress him...

Our lunch with Andre: when the perfect time came to invite the boss to his finally finished country house, Oprah's hairdresser, Andre Walker, pulled out all the stops and put together a menu that had her reaching for seconds.
July 1, 2004... Ever feel like you're running on empty? The question is, When do you hop off the hamster wheel, catch your breath, have a laugh, and get back to the woman you were before family, friends, work, and life started rearing their worthy but highly...

The how are you, really checkup: scattered? Paralyzed? Approaching meltdown? Maybe you don't need two months in the Caribbean--maybe you just need to diagnose what's going on with you. Sean Elder helps you play doctor.
July 1, 2004... WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO RESTORE yourself? We're not talking about quick-fix de-stressers--the chocolate, the remote, the tub. We're not even talking about stress per se but rather the need to come home to your self, to refresh and revive. That...

Putting yourself first: think it's selfish? Think again.
July 1, 2004... I learned the hard way how to put myself first. Almost 20 years ago, my husband's identical twin brother killed himself. He was addicted to drugs. My husband--also addicted, I soon discovered--began a rapid descent along the same ruinous...

Eyes wide open: it's the middle of the night, and--boiiing!--you're awake. Should you pop a pill? Read a book? Or decide to get a 4 a.m. jump on your day? Depends. Karen Stabiner has the latest on treating insomnia and finds out how some women deal with their (wanted or unwanted) gift of time.
July 1, 2004... IT IS 4 O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING, and Los Angeles is asleep--except for Robin, who is painting, and Diane, who is listening to National Public Radio, and Joan, who is reading a trashy novel. They're not alone--more than half of women ages 30 to...

The rescue squad: what do sachets in the South Bronx, a dilapidated Kentucky town, a neighborhood's first yoga studio, and 10,000 daffodil bulbs have in common? Four women who have made an art of restoration. Amanda Robb on how they renewed their work, themselves, and others.(Directory)
July 1, 2004... Teresa Kay-Aba Kennedy After graduating from Wellesley College with a double major in sociology and studio art, Teresa Kay-Aba Kennedy earned an MBA from Harvard Business School. At 24 she went to work for MTV--often working until 1:30 in...

Throw yourself a line: call them mantras, mind tools, or--our favorite--O-phorisms. They're the soothing, energizing, sanity-restoring phrases that can get you through any situation. Until you find your own, Katherine Russell Rich has some suggestions.(stress management)
July 1, 2004... RECENTLY, AT LUNCH WITH A FRIEND, the talk turned to stress. My friend said she handled it in a word. Literally. "When things fall apart, I stop and tell myself, Breathe," she said. "Just: Breathe. It instantly takes me out of confusion."...

Comedy cures: five years ago, Saranne Rothberg was diagnosed with cancer. Her rebel response was to reach for a Bill Cosby video and start a charity that brings laughter to, and from, those who need it the most. Patricia Volk reports.(Comedy Cures)
July 1, 2004... SARANNE ROTHBERG IS 41. SHE LOOKS 17. The woman is actually dewy. "Chemo exfoliates," she explains. "It's the chemo facial." [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] We crack up. After 11 misdiagnoses, three surgeries, four chemotherapy protocols, and...

What's so funny?!(American comedy)
July 1, 2004... COMEDY IS RARE AND essential and highly subjective. All we know with any degree of certainty is that the Three Stooges were never funny and never will be, the Marx Brothers were always funny and always will be. Dennis Miller and Eddie Murphy...

You can take it with you: when is a spa visit more than just a few days of terry-cloth-swaddled pampering? When it changes the way you eat, breathe, live your life--and sends you back into the world with all the tools you need to keep that glow of well-being from this stay forward. Christine Fellingham reports.(health resorts 101)(includes related article "How to spot a good spa")
July 1, 2004... IMAGINE FOR A MOMENT BEING AT A PLACE WHERE your only appointments are for seaweed wraps and lemon verbena facials, where activities involving any kind of exertion are completely optional, and all your delicious meals are prepared by somebody...

Breathing space.(Illustration)
July 1, 2004... Wander down this road in California's Santa Monica Mountains and listen to an afternoon breeze rustle through the shady canopy of ancient oak trees. PHOTOGRAPH BY ALICE CAHILL

Woman in white: some colors absorb the sun's rays; white bounces them back--so it's the airiest thing going on a hot day. Wear nothin' but, and we swear you'll feel cooler.
July 1, 2004... Imagine a T-shirt crossed with a sheath, and you get this cotton jersey dress (McGinn, $155). Although it's made of sporty, stretchy, everyday fabric, its style references are plenty sophisticated: Greek goddess (the draped blouson top),...

The mighty chick flick.(50 greatest movies)(Bibliography)
July 1, 2004... Women's pictures used to be guilty pleasures: No more! Now they're kicking butt, getting respect, and grossing huge. From frothy romances to whale-riding adventures, these films show us who we are, where we've been, what we can take, and better...

Give tees a chance: top off your summer with bold scoop necks, hot colors, a sexy fit. Pop one on--or take two (layering is big news right now).(Fashion)
July 1, 2004... 1. A drape-necked top has the glam of a 1940s movie star. Note the bejeweled brooch. Beau & Eros, $46; 415-256-8380. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 2. Off the shoulder and shapely, this...

The great Spa Give-O-Way.(Beauty)
July 1, 2004... Heal ye! Heal ye! Twenty lucky readers will win spectacular pampering packages created exclusively for O by some of our favorite spas across the country. Just pick the spot nearest you, send us a postcard to get your name in the game (for...

Our lunch with Andre: what could be more sublime than crab cakes, grilled vegetable salad with chicken, shrimp, and lobster, and white peach crisp ... (for story, see page 132).(The Recipes)
July 1, 2004... Roasted Potatoes with Chives, Bacon, and Maytag Blue Cheese [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 12 small Yukon gold potatoes 2 tsp. plus 1/8 tsp. salt 1 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil 1/8 tsp. freshly ground pepper 1/2 cup crumbled Maytag...

Shop Guide (all prices are approximate).
July 1, 2004... COVER/HERE WE GO P.21 Emilio Pucci silk blouse, $940, select Barneys New York stores, Linda Allard Ellen Tracy cotton pants, $205, select Bloomingdale's stores. Chanel J12 watch, $3,450, Chanel boutiques; 800-550-0005. YOU PAID WHAT? P.75...

A little restoration goes a long way.(What I Know for Sure)(Column)
July 1, 2004... I REMEMBER THE FIRST TIME, ABOUT A DECADE AGO, that a psychologist on my show urged women to prioritize their giving and put themselves at the top of the list. She was nearly booed off the stage. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "Why, the very...